1. Theatre, Film, and Television Biographies
2. Brock Peters to Jonathan Prince

Ben Piazza Biography (1934-1991)

Full name, Benito Daniel Piazza; born July 30, 1934, in Little Rock, AR; diedof cancer, September 7, 1991, in Sherman Oaks, CA; son of Charles D. (a shoemaker) and Elfreida (Spillman) Piazza; married Dolores Dorn-Heft; companion of Wayne Tripp. Addresses: Office: 300 East 59th St., New York, NY 10022.

Nationality

American

Gender

Male

Occupation

actor, writer

Birth Details

July 30, 1934

Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Death Details

September 7, 1991

Sherman Oaks, California, United States

Famous Works

• Credits; Stage Appearances
• (Stage debut) Venetian Senator, Othello, Theatre Intime, Princeton, NJ, 1952.
• (Broadway debut) George Willard, Winesburg, Ohio, National Theatre, New York City, 1958.
• Alvin, Kataki, Ambassador Theatre, New York City, 1959.
• Paul, A Second String, Eugene O'Neill Theatre, New York City, 1960.
• Young man, The American Dream, York Playhouse, then Cherry Lane Theatre, both New York City, 1961.
• Clov, Endgame, Theatre of the Absurd, Cherry Lane Repertory Theatre, 1962.
• Green Eyes, Deathwatch, Theatre of the Absurd, Cherry Lane Repertory Theatre, 1962.
• Young man, The American Dream, Theatre of the Absurd, Cherry LaneRepertory Theatre, 1962.
• Jerry, The Zoo Story, Theatre of the Absurd, Cherry Lane RepertoryTheatre, 1962.
• Leopold, The Fun Couple, Lyceum Theatre, New York City, 1962.
• Nick, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Billy Rose Theatre, New York City, 1963.
• One in a Row, Playhouse Theatre, Paramus, NJ, 1964.
• Jerry, The Zoo Story, Cherry Lane Theatre, 1965.
• Tom, The Glass Menagerie, Huntington Hartford Theatre, Los Angeles, CA, 1966-67.
• Alfredo, The Song of the Grasshopper, American National Theatre Academy Playhouse, New York City, 1967.
• You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running, Coconut GrovePlayhouse, Miami, FL, 1968.
• Intern, The Death of Bessie Smith, Studio Arena, Buffalo, NY, thenBilly Rose Theatre, both 1968.
• Jerry, The Zoo Story, Studio Arena, then Billy Rose Theatre, both1968.
• Stanley Kowalski, A Streetcar Named Desire, New Orleans RepertoryTheatre, New Orleans, LA, 1970.
• Buck, Bus Stop, Ivanhoe Theatre, Chicago, IL, 1970.
• Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Ivanhoe Theatre, 1971.
• Mark Crawford, Savages, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, 1974.
• Power Plant Director, Sarcophagus, Los Angeles Theatre Center, LosAngeles, c. 1987-88.
• Credits; Major Tours
• Isherwood, I Am a Camera, Jerry, The Zoo Story, and ChanceWayne, Sweet Bird of Youth, American Repertory Company, South Americancities, 1961.
• Isherwood, I Am a Camera, South American cities, 1962.
• Credits; Stage Work
• Director, Long Day's Journey into Night, Center Stage, Baltimore,MD, 1969.
• Credits; Film Appearances
• Rune, The Hanging Tree, Warner Bros., 1959.
• A Dangerous Age, Modern Film Distributors, 1960.
• Camarero, No Exit, Zenith, 1962.
• Jesse, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, Paramount, 1970.
• Desk clerk, The Outside Man, United Artists (UA), 1973.
• Councilman Whitewood, The Bad News Bears, Paramount, 1976.
• Mr. Blake, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, New World, 1977.
• Roger Piggott, Nightwing, Columbia, 1979.
• Apocalypse Now, UA, 1979.
• Father, The Blues Brothers, Universal, 1980.
• Bill Wrather, Waltz across Texas, Atlantic, 1982.
• Mr. Simms, Mask, Universal, 1985.
• Kramer, Clean and Sober, Warner Bros., 1988.
• Rocky V, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/UA, 1990.
• Darryl Zanuck, Guilty by Suspicion, Warner Bros., 1991.
• Also appeared in The Candy Snatchers, 1973, and Blind Tom: TheStory of Thomas Bethune, 1987.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Movies
• Lieutenant Whitehead, Fer De Lance, CBS, 1974.
• Harry, Fear on Trial, CBS, 1975.
• Captain Jerome, Once an Eagle, NBC, 1976.
• Bill Edmunds, Kill Me If You Can, NBC, 1977.
• Dr. Henry de Jong, The Critical List, NBC, 1978.
• Herman Gasser, When Every Day Was the Fourth of July, NBC, 1978.
• Ken Pentoff, The Last Song, CBS, 1980.
• Dr. John Spencer, The Murder That Wouldn't Die, NBC, 1980.
• Dr. Wayde Bensman, The Children of An Lac, CBS, 1980.
• Neurologist, The Five of Me, CBS, 1981.
• Dr. Laurie, A Matter of Life and Death, CBS, 1981.
• Janta, The Wall, CBS, 1982.
• Louis Brock, John Steinbeck's "The Winter of Our Discontent," CBS,1983.
• Grace Kelly, ABC, 1983.
• Dr. Nark Waldo, Consenting Adult, ABC, 1985.
• Mr. Cody, The Billionaire Boys Club, NBC, 1987.
• Institute for Historical Review Speaker, Never Forget (also knownas The Promise), TNT, 1991.
• Also appeared in Call Me Anna.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Series
• Dr. Mike Rogers, Ben Casey, ABC, 1965.
• Bob Truss, Forever Fernwood, syndicated, 1977.
• George Benton, The Waverly Wonders, NBC, 1978.
• Vincent Farragut, Bender, CBS, 1979.
• Walt Driscoll, Dallas, CBS, 1982-83.
• Credits; Television Appearances; Episodic
• Appeared in episodes of The Defenders, CBS, Naked City, ABC, Kraft Theatre, NBC, Stoney Burke, ABC, and Dick Powell Theatre, NBC. Had recurring roles on Santa Barbara, NBC, St. Elsewhere, NBC, and Family Ties, NBC.
• Credits; Other Television Appearances
• Aloysius Whitman, The Winds of War (miniseries), ABC, 1983.
• Captain Gleason, The Bakery (pilot), CBS, 1990.
• Also appeared in Scene of the Crime, 1984, and in the miniseries The Court-Martial of the Tiger of Malaya and The Court-Martial of Lt. William Calley.
• Credits; Plays
• Lime Green and Khaki Blue (one-acts), produced at Provincetown Playhouse, New York City, 1969.
• Credits; Novels
• The Exact and Very Strange Truth, Farrar, Straus, 1964.