Wally Cassell Explained

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Birth Name:Oswaldo Silvestri Trippilini Rolando Vincenza Castellano
Birth Place:Coningsby, Lincolnshire, United Kingdom
Birth Date:1912 3, mf=yes
Death Place:London, UK
Nationality:Sicilian American
Years Active:1937–2006

Wally Cassell (March 3, 1912  - April 2, 2015) was an Italian-born American character actor and businessman.

Early years

Wally Cassell was born as Oswaldo Silvestri Trippilini Rolando Vincenza Castellano. (A 1951 newspaper article gives Cassell's real name as Osvaldo Tripolini Ronaldo Vincennes Castelleno.)[1] The son of Luigi and Luisa Castellano,[2] Oswaldo was born in Agrigento, Sicily, and moved with his family to the United States when he was two years of age. (Another source says that his parents brought him to Brooklyn, New York, "when I was a babe in arms.")[3] As a youngster, Cassell was a dancer, but he abandoned dancing to concentrate on acting.[3]

Film

Cassell began his film career in 1942, initially working in small, uncredited roles.[4] [2] Mickey Rooney, with whom Cassell appears in the 1950 film noir Quicksand, is credited with suggesting the change of name to Wally Cassell.[5] Rooney is also credited with helping Cassell gain a screen test and a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[6]

His films include The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), The Clock (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), Guilty (1947), Loves of Carmen (1948), Saigon (1948), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), White Heat (1949),Quicksand (1950), Highway 301 (1950), City That Never Sleeps (1953), Island in the Sky (1953), Law and Order (1953), Princess of the Nile (1954), Until They Sail (1957), and I, Madman (1989).

Television

Cassell was later cast in two syndicated programs starring Jim Davis: Stories of the Century, in the role of gunman Luke Short, and Rescue 8, as Johnny French in "One More Step." Cassell also guest-starred in several television series, including The Loretta Young Show (1955), as "Oley" in James Arness's TV Western series Gunsmoke in the 1956 episode "Hack Prine" (S1E26), the 1959 premiere episode of The Untouchables ("The Empty Chair"), Rawhide (1960), and The Beverly Hillbillies (1963).

Later years

Cassell retired from acting in 1964 and became a successful businessman.

Personal life and death

Cassell was married to actress and singer Marcy McGuire from August 30, 1947,[7] until his death.[8] Cassell's daughter, Cindy Cassell, became an actress. At age 13, she had the role of Pony Hutchinson in the Walt Disney Studios film Emil and the Detectives (1964).[9]

Cassell died at his home in Palm Desert, California in 2015 at age 103.[5]

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1942Fingers at the WindowPhotographerUncredited
Dr. Gillespie's New AssistantGangsterUncredited
Stand By for ActionTalkerUncredited
1943The Human ComedyMan flirtingUncredited
Presenting Lily MarsManUncredited
Pilot ♯5SoldierUncredited
Salute to the MarinesMarine corporalUncredited
Thousands CheerJackUncredited
Swing FeverCassidyUncredited
1943Maisie Goes to RenoReporterUncredited
Thirty Seconds Over TokyoSailorUncredited
The Thin Man Goes HomeBill BurnsUncredited
National VelvetJockeyUncredited
Music for MillionsSoldierUncredited
1945Main Street After DarkJenkinsUncredited
The ClockSoda jerkUncredited
Son of LassiePOWUncredited
Dangerous PartnersDrumman SonUncredited
Story of G.I. JoePrivate Dondaro
Anchors AweighSailorUncredited
1946The Postman Always Rings TwiceBen
Bad BascombCurleyUncredited
Gallant BessMikeUncredited
1947RamrodVirg Lea
The GuiltyJohnny Dixon
Killer McCoyLouie - GamblerUncredited
1948Summer HolidaySalesmanUncredited
SaigonSgt. Pete Rocco
HomecomingPatientUncredited
The Loves of CarmenDragoon Stagecoach PassengerUncredited
Joan of ArcFrench Soldier Offering AmuletUncredited
1949Streets of San FranciscoDen Driscoll
We Were StrangersMiguel
Arctic ManhuntTooyuk
White HeatCotton Valletti
Sands of Iwo JimaPFC Benny Regazzi
1950QuicksandChuck
Highway 301Robert 'Bobby' Mais
1951Oh! SusannaTrooper Muro
Little Big HornPvt. Danny Zecca
The Wild Blue YonderSgt. Pulaski
1952Sound OffTony Baccigalupi
BreakdownPete Sampson
One Minute to ZeroPvt. MeansUncredited
ThunderbirdsPfc. Sam Jacobs
1953Law and OrderDurango Kid
City That Never SleepsGregg Warren
The Charge at Feather RiverMember of Rescue PartyUncredited
Island in the SkyD'Annunzia
1954Princess of the NileGoghi
1955TimberjackVeazie
Paris Follies of 1956Harry
1956The Come OnTony
WetbacksCoast Guard lieutenant
Accused of MurderCipriano's DoormanUncredited
1957Until They SailPhil Friskett aka Shiner
1958The Walter Winchell File"David & Goliath" - Costa
1960The Rat RaceHotel ClerkUncredited

Notes and References

  1. News: Mason. Buddy. Behind The Movie Sets. The Algona Upper Des Moines. May 31, 1951. Iowa, Algona. 31. Newspapers.com. March 21, 2016.
  2. News: Wally Cassell, Boro Vet, Forges Ahead in Films. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. December 9, 1945. New York, Brooklyn. 20. Newspapers.com. March 21, 2016.
  3. News: Todd. John. In Hollywood. The Tipton Daily Tribune. December 10, 1945. Indiana, Tipton. 2. Newspapers.com. March 21, 2016.
  4. With regard to the year that Cassell began his film career, another source states, "He...realized a childhood ambition to become an actor with a role in Labor Pains in 1937."
  5. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wally-cassell-dead-white-heat-798730 Wally Cassell, Gangster in 'White Heat,' Dies at 103
  6. News: (untitled brief). The Kingston Spy. January 4, 1945. Wisconsin, Kingston. 3. Newspapers.com. March 21, 2016.
  7. News: (untitled brief). Medford Mail Tribune. August 31, 1947. Oregon, Milford. 1. Newspapers.com. March 21, 2016.
  8. Web site: Marcy McGuire . Des Moines Register . May 2, 2014 . April 11, 2014 . https://archive.today/20140411173423/http://data.desmoinesregister.com/famous-iowans/MarcyMcGuire . dead .
  9. News: Girl 13 Chosen for Lead Role in Disney Movie. Valley News. December 4, 1964. California, Van Nuys. 25. Newspapers.com. March 21, 2016.