fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

George Memmoli (August 3, 1938 – May 20, 1985) was a founding member of the improv troupe Ace Trucking Company and an actor. He was known for his corpulent presence in his roles, weighing as much as 450 pounds.[1]

This article needs additional citations for verification. (April 2012)

George Memmoli
Born	(1938-08-03)August 3, 1938 New York City, New York, U.S.
Died	May 20, 1985(1985-05-20) (aged 46) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor

He was a friend and frequent collaborator of director Martin Scorsese, appearing in Mean Streets as a pool hall owner (1973) and New York, New York (1977), and contributing to a documentary that focused on a mutual friend of his and Scorsese, American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince (1978).

Career

In other roles Memmoli played Philbin in Brian De Palma's Phantom of the Paradise (1974) and Jenkins in Scorsese collaborator Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978), and he had a small but memorable role in Rocky (1976) as the ice rink worker who, while sporadically counting down, allows Rocky and Adrian their rushed first date alone on the ice after closing. On the set of Blue Collar, co-star Richard Pryor hit Memmoli's head with a chair and fractured his skull. As a result, Memmoli filed a $1 million lawsuit against Pryor.

In 1979 he portrayed the engineer Earl during the first season of the McLean Stevenson sitcom Hello, Larry.

Memmoli's last TV appearance was as Paul "the Wall" Srignoli in the Hill Street Blues episode "The Rise and Fall of Paul the Wall," which aired on December 6, 1984. His final screen appearance was in the 1985 film The Sure Thing, as Uncle Nunzi.

At one point Memmoli reportedly had gotten his weight down to 190 pounds, but a 1975 accident in a stunt car while filming "The Farmer" put him in the hospital for three months, and during the six months convalescence that followed his weight ballooned back to 350 pounds.[2] Scorsese attributed Memmoli's early death to the accident, and cited it as a cautionary tale for young low-budget filmmakers who take too many chances.[3]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	Dynamite Chicken	Himself - Ace Trucking Co.
1973	The Harrad Experiment	The Ace Trucking Company	Uncredited
1973	Mean Streets	Joey
1974	Harrad Summer	Larry
1974	Phantom of the Paradise	Philbin
1975	I Wonder Who's Killing Her Now?	Nurse Dagon
1975	Hustle	Foot Fetish Man
1976	Hot Potato	Leonardo Pizzarelli / White Rhino
1976	St. Ives	Shippo
1976	Rocky	Ice Rink Attendant
1977	The Farmer	Passini
1977	The Domino Principle	Cab Driver	Uncredited
1977	Hot Tomorrows	Man in mortuary
1977	New York, New York	Nicky
1977	The World's Greatest Lover	Truck Driver
1978	Blue Collar	Jenkins
1979	Americathon	Pinky Fun
1979	Swap Meet	Luke
1981	Lunch Wagon	Andy
1985	The Sure Thing	Man in Bar	(final film role)

References

External links

• George Memmoli at IMDb
• George Memmoli at Find a Grave

---