Frank Puglia

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Frank Puglia
Frank Puglia in Orphans of the Storm (1921)
Born	Francesco Giuseppe Puglia (1892-03-09)9 March 1892 Linguaglossa, Sicily, Kingdom of Italy
Died	25 October 1975(1975-10-25) (aged 83) South Pasadena, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1921–1975
Spouse(s)	Irene Veneroni (m. 19??; died 1973)

Francesco Giuseppe "Frank" Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian actor. He had small, but memorable roles in films including Casablanca (a Moroccan rug merchant), Now, Voyager and The Jungle Book.

Born in Linguaglossa, Catania, Sicily, the actor started his career as a teen on stage in Italian operas.^[1] He emigrated to the U.S. in 1907. He left from Naples on the ship Italia.

In New York City he worked in a laundry before joining an Italian language theater group. While appearing on stage, he was discovered by D. W. Griffith, with whom he worked in over 150 films.^[2] He usually played ethnic types in films, and claimed to have learned English from reading newspapers.

He was originally cast as the undertaker, Bonasera, in Francis Ford Coppola's movie The Godfather (1972), even participating in Marlon Brando's screen test, but he fell ill before filming could begin. He was replaced by Sicilian actor Salvatore Corsitto.^[3]

He died on October 25, 1975, in South Pasadena, California, and he is buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.^[4]

On August 10, 2016, he was celebrated in his hometown, Linguaglossa.^{[citation needed]}

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frank Puglia.

• Frank Puglia at IMDb 
• Frank Puglia at the TCM Movie Database
• Frank Puglia at Find a Grave
• Films and TV.com