Henry Armetta
Henry Armetta
Born in Italy, Henry Armetta stowed away on an American-bound boat in 1902. While employed as a pants-presser at New York's Lambs Club, Armetta befriended Broadway star Raymond Hitchcock, who secured Armetta a small role in his stage play A Yankee Consul. A resident of Hollywood from 1923, the hunch-shouldered, mustachioed Armetta gained fame in the 1930s in innumerable roles as excited, gesticulating Italians. Often cast as barbers or restaurateurs, Armetta was so popular that he was frequently awarded with extraneous bit roles that were specially written for him (vide 1933's Lady for a Day). Laurel and Hardy fans will remember Armetta as the flustered innkeeper who is kept awake nights trying to emulate Laurel's "kneesie-earsie-nosie" game in The Devil's Brother (1933). In the late 1930s, Armetta was briefly starred in a series of auto-racing films, bearing titles like Road Demon and Speed to Burn. He also headlined several short-subject series, notably RKO's "Nick and Tony" comedies of the early 1930s. Henry Armetta died of a sudden heart attack shortly after completing his scenes in 20th Century-Fox's A Bell for Adano (1945). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmography of Henry Armetta:
- Colonel Effingham's Raid with Joan Bennett , William Eythe , Allyn Joslyn , Elizabeth Patterson , Donald Meek , Frank Craven , Thurston Hall , Cora Witherspoon , Emory Parnell , Roy Roberts , Charles Trowbridge , Frank Orth , Ferris Taylor , Grant Mitchell , George H. Melford , Harry Hayden , Charles Wagenheim , Olin Howland , Paul E. Burns , George Chandler , Charles Coburn , Ralph Dunn , Herbert Heywood , Edward Keane , Alma Kruger , Sam McDaniel , Charles Moore , George H. Reed , Phil Tead , Minerva Urecal , Cecil Weston
- Anchors Aweigh with Frank Sinatra , Kathryn Grayson , Gene Kelly , Jose Iturbi , Dean Stockwell , Rags Ragland , Billy Gilbert , Henry O'Neill , Edgar Kennedy , Grady Sutton , Leon Ames , James Flavin , James Burke , Chester Clute , Steve Brodie , Wally Cassell , Charles Coleman , William Forrest , John James , Milton Kibbee , Garry Owen , Milton Parsons , William "Bill" Phillips , Renie Riano , Ray Teal
- Once Upon a Time with Cary Grant , Janet Blair , James Gleason , Ted Donaldson , Howard Freeman , William Demarest , Art Baker , Paul Stanton , John Abbott , Eddie Acuff , Iris Adrian , Murray Alper , Charles Arnt , Lloyd Bridges , Billy Bevan , Lane R. Chandler , Cliff Clark , Charles Coleman , Pedro DeCordoba , Vernon Dent , John Dilson , Jeff Donnell , George Eldredge , Fern Emmett , James Flavin , Edward Gargan , Vaughan Glaser , William Gould , Harrison Greene , Frank S. Hagney , Esther Howard , Nolan Leary , Torben Meyer , Ida Moore , Jack Norton , Garry Owen , Emory Parnell , Barbara Pepper , Cyril Ring , Christian Rub , Sid Saylor , Harry Strang , Ray Teal , John Tyrrell , Emmett Vogan , Ruth Warren , Pierre Watkin , Cecil Weston , Isabel Withers , Ian Wolfe , William Austin , Mary Field , John Kelly , Tom Dugan , Tom Kennedy
- Stage Door Canteen with Cheryl Walker , Lon McCallister , Judith Anderson , Tallulah Bankhead , Ralph Bellamy , Edgar Bergen , Ray Bolger , Virginia Field , Virginia Grey , Helen Hayes , Katharine Hepburn , Hugh Herbert , Jean Hersholt , Sam Jaffe , Allen Jenkins , George Jessel , Otto Kruger , Gypsy Rose Lee , Aline MacMahon , Harpo Marx , Ethel Merman , Ralph Morgan , Alan Mowbray , Paul Muni , Merle Oberon , George Raft , Selena Royle , Martha Scott , Ned Sparks , Ethel Waters , Arleen Whelan , May Whitty , Ed Wynn , Elliott Nugent , Helen Broderick , Sunset Carson , Jane Darwell , William Demarest , Billy Gilbert , Roscoe Karns , June Lang , Charlie the Dummy McCarthy , Franklin Pangborn , Helen Parrish , Francis Pierlot , Ruth Roman , Johnny Sr. Weissmuller , Lloyd Corrigan , Xavier Cugat , Peggy Lee , Tom Kennedy
Henry Armetta Trivia
