Wally Campo Explained

Wally Campo
Birth Name:Wallace Joseph Campodonico
Birth Date:23 April 1923
Birth Place:Stockton, California, U.S.
Death Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation:Actor
Years Active:1956–2011 (film and television)
Spouse:Geraldine Matthews
Children:1

Wallace Joseph Campodonico (April 23, 1923 – January 14, 2023), better known as Wally Campo, was an American actor. He was known for his appearances in Roger Corman and Burt Topper films, as well as for narrating The Little Shop of Horrors (1960).[1] [2]

Life and career

Wallace Campodonico was born in Stockton, California on April 23, 1923.[3] He attended Stockton High School, and played the title role in the 1941 senior class production of Tom Cobb or, Fortune's Toy.[4] During World War II, Campodonico served in the U.S. Army,[5] enlisting in June 1942.[6] After the war, he worked as a stage actor. He appeared in a 1948 production of Ah, Wilderness! as part of The Stockton Community Players.[7]

Campo's best known appearance on screen was playing Joe Fink in The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), a detective who visits the shop after catching wind of recent disappearances. The character's persona has been described as a parody of the type of detectives featured in Dragnet. Campo also narrated the film.[8]

In 1969, Campo, then working as an acting coach, made his debut as a director on the film Mark of the Gun, starring Ross Hagen.[9]

Campo and his wife, Geraldine Matthews, had one son, Tony Campodonico, a musician who appeared as a child actor on General Hospital.[10] He later lived in Valley Village, Los Angeles,[3] and died in the Studio City neighborhood of Los Angeles on January 14, 2023, at the age of 99.[10]

Filmography

scope=colYearscope=colTitlescope=colRolescope=colReference
1956Inside DetroitRecreation Hall Manager[11]
1958Machine-Gun KellyMaize[12]
1958Hell SquadPrivate Russo[13]
1959Tank CommandoPvt. Sonny Lazzotti[14]
1959WarlockBarber[15]
1959Beast from Haunted CaveByron Smith[16]
1960Ski Troop AttackPvt. Ed Ciccola[17]
1960The Little Shop of HorrorsSgt. Joe Fink / Narrator[18]
1961Master of the WorldFirst Mate Turner[19]
1961War Is HellLaney[20]
1962Tales of TerrorBarman Wilkins[21]
1963Shock Corridor[22]
1964The StranglerEggerton[23]
1967Devil's AngelsGrog[24]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Weaver . Tom . Eye on Science Fiction: 20 Interviews with Classic SF and Horror Filmmakers . 2003 . McFarland . 327 . 9780786416578 . 23 January 2023.
  2. Book: Weaver . Tom . A Sci-Fi Swarm and Horror Horde: Interviews with 62 Filmmakers . 10 January 2014 . McFarland . 321 . 9780786458318 . 23 January 2023.
  3. Web site: Wallace Joseph Campodonico . Neptune Society . 23 January 2023.
  4. News: Seniors Will Give Romantic Farce . 24 January 2023 . Stockton Evening and Sunday Record . 10 June 1941 . Stockton, California . 10.
  5. News: Men in Service . 23 January 2023 . Stockton Evening and Sunday Record . 14 January 1943 . Stockton, California . 9.
  6. Web site: Wallace Joseph Campodonico . U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940–1947 . 23 January 2023.
  7. News: 'Ah Wilderness' Staff Kept Busy . 23 January 2023 . Stockton Evening and Sunday Record . 3 December 1948 . Stockton, California . 35.
  8. Web site: Pandolfi . Chris . The Little Shop of Horrors (1960) . Gone with the Twins . September 6, 2015 . 24 January 2023.
  9. Book: Albright . Brian . Wild Beyond Belief!: Interviews with Exploitation Filmmakers of the 1960s and 1970s . 27 January 2015 . McFarland . 61 . 9780786482504 . 23 January 2023.
  10. Web site: Barnes . Mike . Wally Campo, Actor in 'Little Shop of Horrors' and Other Roger Corman Films, Dies at 99 . . January 26, 2023 . January 27, 2023.
  11. Book: Blottner . Gene . Columbia Noir: A Complete Filmography, 1940–1962 . 17 March 2015 . McFarland . 108 . 9780786470143 . 24 January 2023.
  12. Book: Pitts . Michael R. . Charles Bronson: The 95 Films and the 156 Television Appearances . 17 September 2015 . McFarland . 148 . 9781476610351 . 23 January 2023.
  13. Book: Craig . Rob . American International Pictures: A Comprehensive Filmography . 15 February 2019 . McFarland . 184 . 9781476635224 . 23 January 2023.
  14. Book: Fyne . Robert . Long Ago and Far Away: Hollywood and the Second World War . 20 May 2008 . Scarecrow Press . 66 . 9780810866843 . 23 January 2023.
  15. Book: Reid . John Howard . 150 Finest Films of the Fifties . 11 October 2015 . Lulu . 312 . 9781329613119 . 23 January 2023.
  16. Book: Monte Hellman: His Life and Films . 28 June 2010 . McFarland . 197 . 9780786481880 . 23 January 2023.
  17. Book: Corman . Roger . Roger Corman: Interviews . 13 September 2011 . University Press of Mississippi . 9781617031670 . 23 January 2023.
  18. Book: Neibaur . James L. . The Essential Jack Nicholson . December 2016 . Rowman & Littlefield Publishers . 4 . 9781442269897 . 23 January 2023.
  19. Book: Pitts . Michael R. . Charles Bronson: The 95 Films and the 156 Television Appearances . 17 September 2015 . McFarland . 157 . 9781476610351 . 23 January 2023.
  20. Book: Edwards . Paul M. . A Guide to Films on the Korean War . 1997 . Greenwood Press . 106 . 9780313303166 . 23 January 2023.
  21. Book: Youngkin . Stephen D. . The Lost One: A Life of Peter Lorre . 30 September 2005 . University Press of Kentucky . 475 . 9780813123608 . 23 January 2023.
  22. Book: Eagan . Daniel . America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry . 2010 . Bloomsbury Academic . 592 . 9780826429773 . 23 January 2023.
  23. Book: Weaver . Tom . Earth Vs. the Sci-Fi Filmmakers: 20 Interviews . 28 June 2010 . McFarland . 378 . 9780786482177 . 23 January 2023.
  24. Book: Lisanti . Tom . Fantasy Femmes of Sixties Cinema: Interviews with 20 Actresses from Biker, Beach, and Elvis Movies . 20 May 2015 . McFarland . 229 . 9781476601168 . 24 January 2023.

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