Paul Picerni

Paul Picerni
Occupation	actor
Years active	1946–2007
Spouse	Marie Mason 1947–present

Paul Picerni (born December 1 1922) is an American actor, born in New York City, New York.

Biography

He was a first lieutenant and bombardier during World War II assigned to the Asian theatre. After peace was declared he became special services officer in India. Following the war he enrolled at Loyola Marymount University at Los Angeles.

As a young actor returning from the war, he appeared in military pictures: in Twelve O'Clock High (1949) as a bombardier and as Private Edward P. Rojeck in Breakthrough. This led to a Warner Brothers contract for Picerni and a succession of roles at that studio including a starring turn as the hero in the 1953 horror classic House of Wax. After his departure from Warners, he appeared with Audie Murphy in Universal's To Hell and Back.

In 1954, he appeared as Rube Burrows in the syndicated western television series Stories of the Century, hosted and narrated by Jim Davis. Picerni appeared in two episodes, "Gun Hand" and "Badge to Kill" of the 1957-1959 syndicated western series 26 Men, true stories of the Arizona Rangers, starring Tristram Coffin. In 1959, he appeared in an episode of NBC's Northwest Passage adventure series about Major Robert Rogers's exploits during the French and Indian War.

When Italian organizations began to complain about the use of Italian gangsters on TV's The Untouchables starring Robert Stack as G-man Eliot Ness, Picerni joined the cast of the show as Ness's number one aide, Lee Hobson, from 1960-63.

In 1964, he portrayed Pierre Lafitte in The Great Adventure. For many years beginning in the 1960s he was the public address announcer for Los Angeles Rams home games. Picerni, an Italian American, married former ballet dancer Marie Mason in 1947; they have eight children. His autobiography "Steps to Stardom: My Story," written with the help of Tom Weaver, was published by BearManor Media in 2007.

External links

• Paul Picerni at IMDb