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IMDbPro

Harry Guardino(1925-1995)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Harry Guardino
Trailer for Any Which Way You Can
Play trailer2:32
Any Which Way You Can (1980)
14 Videos
17 Photos
Brash, virile Italian-American lead and supporting "tough guy" Harry Guardino, with dark, wavy hair and a perpetual worried look on his craggy-looking mug, was born Harold Vincent Guardino on December 23, 1925, in Manhattan but raised as a Brooklynite. Serving with the U.S. Navy during World War II, he joined the Merchant Marine.

He would start out in the late 1940s in the school hard knocks, training in dramatic workshops and slumming for nearly half a decade in small, obscure 'tough guy' film bits in early '50s Universal and Columbia pictures including an orderly in the service comedy Up Front (1951); soldiers in both Sirocco (1951) and Purple Heart Diary (1951); and two Tony Curtis films where he was the star--(Son of Ali Baba (1952) and Flesh and Fury (1952)).

After making his Broadway debut in 1953 with a small cadet role in the play "End as a Man," Harry earned his first big break as the Broadway understudy to Ben Gazzara in the acclaimed drama "A Hatful of Rain." He later took over the role and then went on the national tour. Although it did little to elevate his bit part standing in Hollywood, he figured in more prominently on the smaller screen with parts on "I Led Three Lives," "The Millionaire," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Suspect" and several TV anthologies.

Making a play for film once again, Harry received "second lead" status in the family comedy Houseboat (1958), stealing scenes from both stars Cary Grant and Sophia Loren. As Italianate truck driver/handyman Angelo, he earned a Golden Globe nomination for his hilarious supporting turn as the guy who sells Cary the titled boat after completely destroying their other home in a truck accident.

With and without a comic edge, Harry played several other guy-guy co-star types after this in such crime/war stories as Pork Chop Hill (1959), 5 Branded Women (1960), Hell Is for Heroes (1962), Madigan (1968), Dirty Harry (1971) and The Enforcer (1976), the last two pairing him up with Clint Eastwood as his beleaguered superior, Lt. Bressler. At one point, the New Yorker even played "Barabbas" in the classic biblical epic King of Kings (1961) and a scurrilous poacher in the Ivan Tors African adventure Rhino! (1964), just for a distinct change of pace and scenery.

Harry returned to the Broadway stage and was Tony nominated for the play "One More River" in 1960 despite its extremely short run. He would return again again to Broadway throughout the rest of the 1960's in "Natural Affection" (1963), the musical "Anyone Can Whistle," "The Rose Tattoo" (1966) and "The Seven Descents of Myrtle" (1968).

TV, he became more and more, however, the favorite medium of choice. Progressing to top guest parts in such TV programs as "Johnny Staccato," "Checkmate," "The Untouchables," "Dr. Kildare," "Route 66," "Naked City," "The Outer Limits," "Ben Casey," "The Virginian," "Twelve O'Clock High" and "Run for Your Life," Harry was given three short-run series to star or co-star in -- as an overly gregarious newsman in The Reporter (1964); the title government agent Monty Nash (1971); and the perpetually losing district attorney "Hamilton Burger" in The New Perry Mason (1973) revival.

Harry co-starred in dozens of TV projects as a scruffy, hard-nosed, street-smart cop or detective. These included the TV movie The Lonely Profession (1969), plus the shows "McCloud," "The Name of the Game," "Get Christie Love!," "Kojak," "Police Story," "Fantasy Island," "The Sophisticated Gents" and "Murder, She Wrote." He also enjoyed an unlikely outlet in musical theatre in later years, co-starring in the Broadway production of "Woman of the Year" (1981) opposite and as Billy Flynn in stock production of "Chicago."

Harry died of lung cancer on in 1995 at age 69, and was survived by his third wife and four children from various marriages.
BornDecember 23, 1925
DiedJuly 17, 1995(69)
BornDecember 23, 1925
DiedJuly 17, 1995(69)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 1 win & 2 nominations

Photos17

Terry Carter, Harry Guardino, and Dennis Weaver in McCloud (1970)
Terry Carter and Harry Guardino in McCloud (1970)
Harry Guardino in King of Kings (1961)
Clint Eastwood and Harry Guardino in The Enforcer (1976)
Harry Guardino and Jack Lord in Hawaii Five-O (1968)
Harry Guardino in Naked City (1958)
Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino, and Reni Santoni in Dirty Harry (1971)
Harry Guardino
Going from left to right - lower left corner reporters (extras) unknown; upper left corner, African-American extra reporter unknown; John Crawford; Bradford Dillman; Harry Guardino; Clint Eastwood; Tyne Daley (behind Nick Pellegrino); Nick Pellegrino; Asian far right corner unknown
Brigid Bazlen, Harry Guardino, Hurd Hatfield, and Frank Thring in King of Kings (1961)
Richard Widmark and Harry Guardino in Madigan (1968)
Richard Widmark, Harry Guardino, and Steve Ihnat in Madigan (1968)

Known for

Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry (1971)
Dirty Harry
7.7
  • Bressler
  • 1971
The Enforcer (1976)
The Enforcer
6.7
  • Lt. Bressler
  • 1976
Cary Grant, Sophia Loren, Mimi Gibson, Charles Herbert, and Paul Petersen in Houseboat (1958)
Houseboat
6.6
  • Angelo Donatello
  • 1958
King of Kings (1961)
King of Kings
7.0
  • Barabbas
  • 1961

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Fist of Honor (1993)
    Fist of Honor
    • Dino Diamond
    • 1993
  • Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote (1984)
    Murder, She Wrote
    • Haskell Drake
    • Danny Cochran
    • Lt. Floyd Novack
    • TV Series
    • 1984–1993
  • Renegade (1992)
    Renegade
    • Karl Swenson
    • TV Series
    • 1992
  • Human Target (1992)
    Human Target
    • Judge Schlosser
    • TV Series
    • 1992
  • Kirstie Alley, Woody Harrelson, Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, John Ratzenberger, George Wendt, and Rhea Perlman in Cheers (1982)
    Cheers
    • Frank Carpaccio
    • TV Series
    • 1992
  • Robert Davi in Under Surveillance (1991)
    Under Surveillance
    • Ben Hirsch
    • 1991
  • Greg Evigan and Connie Sellecca in P.S.I. Luv U (1991)
    P.S.I. Luv U
    • Hilyard
    • TV Series
    • 1991
  • William Conrad and Joe Penny in Jake and the Fatman (1987)
    Jake and the Fatman
    • Jake Styles Sr.
    • TV Series
    • 1991
  • The Neon Empire (1989)
    The Neon Empire
    • Nick
    • TV Movie
    • 1989
  • Fred Dryer and Stepfanie Kramer in Hunter (1984)
    Hunter
    • Bill Ryan
    • TV Series
    • 1989
  • Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1985)
    Alfred Hitchcock Presents
    • Phil Mansfield
    • TV Series
    • 1988
  • Jerry Orbach and Barbara Babcock in The Law and Harry McGraw (1987)
    The Law and Harry McGraw
    • Spinelli
    • TV Series
    • 1987
  • Ken Pogue, Winston Rekert, Dixie Seatle, and Jonathan Welsh in Adderly (1986)
    Adderly
    • TV Series
    • 1987
  • Anne Baxter, James Brolin, and Connie Sellecca in Hotel (1983)
    Hotel
    • Al Shafer
    • Vincent Palandrini
    • TV Series
    • 1985–1986
  • On Our Way
    • Sam Walsh
    • TV Movie
    • 1985

Soundtrack

  • The Five Pennies (1959)
    The Five Pennies
    • performer: "Follow the Leader" (1959)
    • 1959
  • Frank McHugh and Marvin Miller in The Millionaire (1955)
    The Millionaire
    • Soundtrack ("Turkey in the Straw", uncredited)
    • TV Series
    • 1957

Videos14

Official Trailer
Trailer 3:21
Official Trailer
Teaser Trailer
Trailer 0:30
Teaser Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:17
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:02
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:46
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 3:45
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:15
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:43
Official Trailer
Houseboat
Trailer 2:22
Houseboat
Any Which Way You Can
Trailer 2:32
Any Which Way You Can
King of Kings
Trailer 1:40
King of Kings
Hell Is for Heroes
Trailer 2:54
Hell Is for Heroes

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
  • Born
    • December 23, 1925
    • New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • July 17, 1995
    • Palm Springs, California, USA(lung cancer)
  • Spouses
      Elyssa PaternosterMay 20, 1985 - July 17, 1995 (his death, 2 children)
  • Parents
      Joseph Guardino
  • Relatives
      Joe Guardino(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Active on Broadway in the following productions:
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Was nominated for Broadway's 1960 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for "One More River."

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