Who Are Those Guys? ~ Edward Cianelli

Eduardo Cianelli was born in Ischia, Naples, Italy on July 30, 1889. Ciannelli was the son of a doctor who owned a health spa. He studied surgery at the University of Naples, and worked briefly as a doctor, but his love of grand opera and the dramatic stage won out and he became a successful baritone, singing at La Scala and touring Europe.

He went to America from the Port of Naples as a first cabin saloon passenger on board the steamship San Guglielmo, which arrived at the Port of New York on March 19, 1914. In New York, he appeared on Broadway in Oscar Hammerstein II's first musical “Always You” and later in “Rose-Marie”. He appeared in Theatre Guild productions in the late 1920s, co-starring with the Lunts (Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne), and Katharine Cornell. During that period, he appeared in “Uncle Vanya”, “The Inspector General”, and “The Front Page”. In 1935, he played Trock Estrella in Maxwell Anderson's “Winterset” on Broadway and repeated his performance in the film version (1936). He played Cauchon in Shaw's “Saint Joan” in 1936, after which he left Broadway permanently, except for one notable occasion when he returned to play in Dore Schary's “The Devil's Advocate” in 1961 and win the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor.

His Hollywood career consists of close to 150 film and television appearances. Notable among these are “Marked Woman” (1937) with Bette Davis, “Strange Cargo” (1940) with Joan Crawford and Clark Gable, and perhaps his most famous role, as the fanatical Thuggee guru in “Gunga Din” (1939) with Cary Grant. In the 1940 serial “Mysterious Doctor Satan”, he played the eponymous villain, an evil scientist with an army of robots.

In the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, he divided his time among Italian films such as “The City Stands Trial”, directed by Luigi Zampa, “Attila” (1954) with Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren, “Helen of Troy” (1956), appearances in American TV shows such as ‘Climax Mystery Theater’, ‘The Time Tunnel’, ‘Perry Mason’, ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’, ‘Johnny Staccato’, ‘The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor’, ‘Dr. Kildare’ and a few films including “Houseboat” (1958), “The Visit” (1964), “The Chase” (1966) with Marlon Brando, and “The Secret of Santa Vittoria” (1969), with Anthony Quinn and Anna Magnani, which was his last film.

Ciannelli was married to Alma Wolfe from 1918 until her death in 1968. They had two sons, Lewis E. Ciannelli [1923-1990], who is also an actor and Eduardo Cianelli [193?-    ].

On October 8, 1969, Ciannelli died of cancer in Rome, Italy.

CIANELLI, Edward (aka Edoardo Cianelli, Eduardo Cianelli, Edward Ciannelli, Edward Cinnelli) (Eduardo Cianelli) [7/30/1889, Ischia, Naples, Italy – 10/8/1969, Rome, Lazio, Italy (cancer)] – theater, film, TV actor, singer, married to Alma Wolfe [1893–1968] (1918-1968) father of producer, writer, actor Lewis E. Ciannelli [1923-1990], Eduardo Cianelli Jr. (193?-    ).

Massacre at Canyon Grande – 1963 (Eric Dancer)

Boot Hill – 1969 (Commissioner Boone)