Dom DeLuise (1933 - 2009)
Actor Appeared in American Tail, Secret of Nimh, Oliver & Company
May 6, 2009
Actor, comedian, producer, director and author Dominick "Dom" DeLuise died in his sleep on May 4th at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. He was suffering from kidney failure and respiratory problems following a long battle with cancer.
Best known for playing comedic characters in films like Blazing Saddles, Cannonball Run, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, DeLuise was also an in-demand voice actor, working in such animated productions as Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail and All Dogs Go to Heaven (plus their associated sequels and spinoffs), Disney's Oliver & Company and the Warner Bros. cartoon series Duck Dodgers.
Dom DeLuise: Actor, Comedian, Writer, Celebrity Chef
DeLuise was born on August 1, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. His father John was a garbage collector and his mother Vincenza was a homemaker. Showing an early aptitude for acting, he graduated from Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts (otherwise known as the Fame school) and attended Tufts University in Massachusetts.
His first film appearance was in 1964's Diary of a Bachelor, swiftly followed by one of his few dramatic appearances as Sgt. Collins in Fail-Safe. That same year, he became a regular on The Entertainers.
DeLuise's big break was on 1966's The Dean Martin Summer Show. With Dick Martin (of Rowan & Martin fame) acting as a volunteer from the audience, DeLuise played the hapless magician Dominick the Great, complete with catchphrase "No applause necessary, sava until the end." DeLuise went over so well that he immediately became a regular, and ended up getting his own short-lived variety show in 1968. It also permanently pigeonholed him as a comedy actor.
In 1970, DeLuise started a long-time association with comedy maven Mel Brooks, appearing in The Twelve Chairs. This set off a string of memorable appearances in Brooks' films: Hollywood choreographer Buddy Bizarre (Blazing Saddles), Dom Bell (Silent Movie), Emperor Nero (History of the World Pt.1), Pizza the Hutt (Spaceballs) and Don Giovanni (Robin Hood: Men in Tights).
He also appeared as the agent who convinces Kermit the Frog to go to Hollywood in 1979's The Muppet Movie.
He worked with Burt Reynolds in Smokey and the Bandit II, which led to DeLuise being cast alongside Reynolds in the hit Cannonball Run. A commercial rather than critical hit (Siskel and Ebert called it "the movie so bad it spawned a sequel"), DeLuise returned for 1984's Cannonball Run II, which also featured a young Jackie Chan.
Voice Acting in Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH, Disney's Oliver & Company
In 1982, DeLuise got his first major voice acting role when he played Jeremy in Don Bluth's The Secret of NIMH. He returned to work with Bluth in 1986, voicing Tiger in An American Tail and Itchy in 1989's All Dogs Go to Heaven (reuniting with Burt Reynolds). His work was so successful that DeLuise returned to voice those roles in several sequels, spinoffs and TV shows.
He also worked for Bluth's former employer, Disney Animation, voicing Fagin in 1988's Oliver & Company.
In 1989, he appeared as Uncle Nick on an episode of the TV show 21 Jump Street, acting with his two sons Michael and Peter. Peter DeLuise, along with Johnny Depp, was one of the lead actors on the long-running cop series.
Although Dom DeLuise never stopped working on film and television, in later years he indulged his interest in cooking and writing. He released 4 cookbooks starting with 1988's Eat This, It'll Make You Feel Better. He also wrote 7 children's books, many of which retold famous fairy tales such as Goldilocks, Hansel & Gretel and The Nightingale. He also appeared as a culinary expert on the syndicated radio show On the House With the Carey Brothers.
Although DeLuise was nominated for a Golden Globe and Daytime Emmy awards, and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, he only won a single award during his lifetime: a Razzie for his portrayal of Aunt Kate in 1986's Haunted Honeymoon.
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