Tony Rosato

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Tony Rosato
Born(1954-12-26)26 December 1954
Naples, Campania, Italy
Died10 January 2017(2017-01-10) (aged 62)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)Actor, comedian
Years active1975–2017
Spouse
Leah Murray
​
​
(m. 2003; div. 2010)​
[1]
Children1[1]

Antonio Rosato[1] (26 December 1954 – 10 January 2017) was an Italian-Canadian actor and comedian, who appeared in television and films. He was best known as a cast member on both SCTV and Saturday Night Live, and for voicing Luigi in The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World.

Early life and career beginnings[edit]

Rosato was born in Naples, Italy, and came to Canada at age four. He was raised in Halifax, Ottawa, and Toronto. He graduated from Oakwood Collegiate Institute. He planned to study chiropractic medicine, but dropped out of the University of Toronto after he began doing improv comedy at The Second City.[2]

Career[edit]

Rosato first gained attention when he and Robin Duke joined the cast of the first incarnation of SCTV in its third season during the fall of 1980. His most well-known character on the program was the TV chef Marcello Sebastiano (a parody of Chef Pasquale).[3] Rosato then moved with Duke to the cast of Saturday Night Live for the 1981–82 season. Following Jean Doumanian's tenure during the sixth season and Dick Ebersol trying to retool the show (and relying on Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo to spice up the sketches),[1] Rosato only appeared on the show for one year before leaving due to differences with Ebersol and an expired contract.[4]

Rosato is one of three SCTV cast members (along with Duke and, later, Martin Short) to appear on Saturday Night Live and the first SNL cast member to not be born in either the United States or Canada.[5] Celebrities impersonated by Rosato on SCTV include: Lou Costello (whom he also impersonated when he was a cast member on Saturday Night Live), William Conrad, Danny Thomas, Woodstock co-organizer Chip Monck, SNL cast member John Belushi, Tony Orlando, Don Ho, and Ella Fitzgerald. His characters on SNL, despite his short tenure, were memorable as well, and included Ed Asner (in character as Lou Grant), Captain Kangaroo, and U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese.[6]

In 1983, he starred as Aldo, the busboy in the short-lived Bea Arthur series, Amanda's. The show was based on Fawlty Towers but was not well-received by audiences and was cancelled after 10 episodes.[citation needed]

Rosato next appeared on the Canadian police drama Night Heat, playing Arthur "Whitey" Morelli,[7] from 1985 through 1989. He continued to appear in television and film throughout the 1990s.[citation needed]

Voice work[edit]

In autumn of 1990, Rosato portrayed Nintendo's character Luigi on DiC's television show The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 (based on Super Mario Bros. 3).[8][9] He continued his role as Luigi in 1991 for the Super Mario World cartoon.[8] Rosato had a small voice part in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis as Dario Rosso and the titular creature. In Bakugan: Gundalian Invaders, he voiced Dharak.[citation needed]

Rosato also provided voices for many other animated series including Pelswick, George and Martha, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, The Adventures of Sam and Max: Freelance Police, Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend, Monster by Mistake, The Ripping Friends, Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge, Da Boom Crew, Get Ed and Odd Job Jack.

Personal life[edit]

Rosato married Leah Murray on 31 December 2003; together they have a daughter.[1] After seven years together, Rosato and Murray's marriage ended in a divorce in 2010.[1]

Legal and mental health issues[edit]

On 5 May 2005, Rosato was arrested and charged with criminal harassment of his wife Leah, who asserted that his deteriorating mental health had caused her to fear for her safety and that of the couple's infant daughter.[2] The charge was laid after Rosato complained repeatedly to Toronto and Kingston police that his wife, who had recently left him, and daughter had been abducted and replaced by impostors, a belief characteristic of Capgras delusion, a delusional misidentification syndrome with which the Crown's expert psychiatrist had diagnosed Rosato, according to Rosato's lawyer, Daniel Brodsky. It was alleged that the harassment occurred from 28 December 2003 and escalated until 21 April 2005. In spite of the diagnosis, Rosato, who denied mental illness and refused to plead insanity, was held for over two years without bail at a maximum-security detention centre. Brodsky, who called his client's two-year detention awaiting trial "shocking," asserted that Rosato "spent more time in custody on a harassment charge" than anyone ever convicted of the offence in Canada, estimating that "on average, someone convicted of criminal harassment spends one day in jail and two years on probation." The trial finally commenced on 7 August 2007, in Kingston and it ended on 5 September. Prosecutors downgraded the charge to a summary offence from an indictable offence, handing Rosato a conditional discharge, including a psychiatric hospital residence order, of which he ended up serving 19 months of a maximum of three years. Rosato was released from the hospital in March 2009 but remained on probation until September 2010.[10]

Death[edit]

Rosato died of a heart attack on 10 January 2017, at the age of 62.[11]

Tributes[edit]

Saturday Night Live paid tribute to Rosato at the end of its 14 January 2017 episode.[12] Also, a re-animated version of the Super Mario World episode "Mama Luigi", commissioned and directed by animation artist Andrew Dickman within a year with over 227 animators and artists participating, was dedicated to Rosato and his coworker Harvey Atkin (King Koopa), who had also died later on July that year. The video was released on 29 August 2017.[13]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1978 The Silent Partner Person Standing Outside Bank Door Being Unlocked
1979 Running Italian Athlete
1980 Nothing Personal Truck Driver
1980 Hog Wild "Bull"
1981 Improper Channels Dr. Arpenthaler
1983 Utilities Wendell
1985 Shellgame Chuck Television film
1986 Separate Vacations Harry Blender
1986 Busted Up Irving Drayton
1986 Popeye Doyle Wise-Ass Reporter Television film
1986 Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star Joe Devito (uncredited) Television film
1986 One Police Plaza Sol Television film
1987 Nightstick Tony Television film
1987 Sadie and Son Morris Television film
1987 Hearts of Fire Woody
1987 City of Shadows Rosie
1988 Switching Channels "Joker"
1989 Brown Bread Sandwiches Older Michaelabgelo Buonanotto (voice)
1989 Friends, Lovers & Lunatics Mat's Boss

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1980–1981 SCTV Various Characters Season 3
1981–1982 Saturday Night Live Various Characters
1983 Amanda's By The Sea Aldo 13 Episodes (3 unaired)
1985–1989 Night Heat Whitey 54 episodes
1987–1989 Diamonds Lou Gianetti
1990 The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 Luigi (voice) 26 episodes
1991 Sweating Bullets Malto Episode: "The Mariah Connection"
1991 Super Mario World Luigi (voice) 12 episodes
1994 RoboCop: The Series Kevin Frosh Episode: "Trouble in Delta City"
1996–1998 Stickin' Around Additional Voices (voice)
1996–2003 Monster by Mistake Dad (voice)
1998–1999 Mythic Warriors Orpheus, Male Peasant (voice)
1999–2000 George and Martha Duke (voice)
1999–2000 Relic Hunter Stewie Harper Season 1 (3 episodes)
2000–2002 Pelswick Quentin Eggert (voice)
2001–2004 Doc Don / Jake (2 episodes)
2002 The Ripping Friends Goat Waiter / Minister of War Episode: "The Infernal Wedding"
2003 Odd Job Jack Sheriff Ironsides (voice) Episode: "Odd Job John"
2003 Lucky Tony Episode: "Up the Steaks"
2004–2005 Da Boom Crew Namdra (voice)
2005 6Teen Zane (voice) Episode: "Unhappy Anniversary"
2005–2006 Get Ed Crouch (voice)
2011–2013 Scaredy Squirrel Additional Voices (voice)
2014–2016 Odd Squad Sabatino Confalone

Video games[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Resident Evil 3: Nemesis Dario Rosso / Nemesis

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Tony Rosato, of 1981-82 'Saturday Night Live' Cast, Dies at 62". The New York Times. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 17 January 2017.
  2. ^ a b Freed, Dale Anne (13 May 2007). "From jokester to jailbird". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  3. ^ "Tony Rosato, Canadian 'Saturday Night Live' and 'SCTV' alum, dead at 62". Global News. 11 January 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  4. ^ Hill, Doug; Weingrad, Jeff (15 December 2011). Saturday Night: A Backstage History of Saturday Night Live. Untreed Reads. ISBN 978-1611877090.
  5. ^ "Tony Rosato, cast member on both SNL and SCTV, dead at 62". CBC News. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  6. ^ "Tony Rosato, former "Saturday Night Live" cast member passes at 62". The Laugh Button. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  7. ^ Freed, Dale Anne (4 May 2008). "Tragedy continues for comic Tony Rosato". Toronto Star. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  8. ^ a b Plunkett, Luke (11 January 2017). "Tony Rosato, The Cartoon Voice Of Luigi, Dead At 62". Kotaku. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  9. ^ Rouner, Jef (30 October 2013). "10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Luigi of Mario Brothers Fame". Houston Press. Retrieved 12 January 2017.
  10. ^ "A legend returns from his long season in hell". Toronto Star. 5 December 2009.
  11. ^ Beeston, Laura (11 January 2017). "Tony Rosato, veteran of SCTV and Saturday Night Live, dead at 62". Toronto Star. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  12. ^ Carra, Mallory (15 January 2017). "'SNL' Salutes Comedian Tony Rosato". Bustle. Retrieved 17 March 2019.
  13. ^ https://www.destructoid.com/this-super-mario-world-cartoon-is-a-great-tribute-to-mama-luigi/

External links[edit]

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