George Memmoli
| George Memmoli | |
|---|---|
| Born |
August 3, 1938 New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died |
May 20, 1985 (aged 46) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Actor |
George Memmoli (August 3, 1938 – May 20, 1985) was an American actor. Memmoli was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Martin Scorsese, appearing in Mean Streets (1973) and New York, New York (1977), and contributing to a documentary focused on a mutual friend of Scorsese's and Memmoli's - American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978). He is also known for his portrayal of the engineer Earl during the first season (21 episodes) of the sitcom Hello, Larry, and he was a founding member of the improv comedy troupe Ace Trucking Company.
Career
Memmoli also played Philbin in Brian De Palma's 1973 Phantom of the Paradise and Jenkins in Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978), and he had a part as well in Rocky (1976). It was on the set of Blue Collar where co-star Richard Pryor, behaving erratically while under the influence of drugs, hit George Memmoli over the head with a chair and fractured his skull. As a result, Memmoli filed a $1 million lawsuit against Pryor.
Memmoli's last TV appearance was in the Hill Street Blues episode "The Rise and Fall of Paul the Wall," as Paul "the Wall" Srignoli, which aired on December 6, 1984. Memmoli's final screen appearance was in the 1985 film, The Sure Thing.