RIP Joseph Campanella

Veteran Character Actor Joseph Campanella Dies at 93

By Kirsten Chuba

May 16, 2018

Joseph Campanella, a character actor who appeared in more than 200 TV and film roles over his 50-year career, died at his Sherman Oaks, Calif., home on Wednesday, his daughter-in-law told Variety. He was 93.

Campanella appeared across five seasons of late ’60s and early ’70s crime drama “Mannix,” for which he earned a supporting actor Emmy nomination in 1968, and six seasons of ’70s sitcom “One Day at a Time.” He had a number of other co-starring roles on the small screen, including ’60s hospital drama “The Doctors and the Nurses,” the ’70s medical series “Marcus Welby, M.D.,” and ’80s primetime soap story “The Colbys.” In more recent years, the actor held a recurring role on daytime soap opera “The Bold and the Beautiful” from 1996 to 2005 and worked on “The Practice” and “That’s Life.”

Along with his on-screen roles, Campanella also built a career as a voice actor, voicing characters in ’90s animated shows “Spider-Man” and “Road Rovers,” along with narrating the “Discover” science series on Disney Channel. He appeared in three Broadway plays, with “The Captains and the Kings” in 1962, “A Gift of Time” in 1962, and “Hot Spot” in 1963. He was nominated for a Tony for his performance in “A Gift of Time.”

Campanella is the younger brother of fellow actor Frank Campanella, who died in 2007. He was born in New York City and attended Columbia University before moving to Hollywood. He is survived by Jill Campanella, his wife of 53 years, as well as his seven sons and eight grandchildren.

CAMPANELLA, Joseph (Joseph Anthony Campanella)
Born: 11/21/1924, New York City, New York, U.S.A.

Died: 5/15/2018, Sherman Oaks, California, U.S.A.

The Virginian (TV) – 1963, 1964, 1968 (Pedro Lopez, Corbett, Walker)

The Road West (TV) – 1966 (Tom Burrus)

Shane (TV) – 1966 (Barney Lucas)

The Big Valley (TV) – 1966, 1967 (Francisco De Navarre, Martinson)

The Wild Wild West (TV) – 1967 (Talamantes)

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1968, 1972 (Amos McKee, Jack Naorcross)

Lancer (TV) – 1969 (Douglas Blessing)

Alias Smith and Jones (TV) – 1971 (Jake Carlson)

Barbary Coast (TV) – 1975 (Austin Benedict)

Mission to Glory: A True Story - 1977

Guns of Paradise (TV) – 1990 (The Horseman)

Walker, Texas Ranger (TV) – 1996 (Victor DeMarco)

Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain – 1999 (Professor Hunnicut)

The Legend of God’s Gun – 2007 (narrator)