Paul Comi


Paul Domingo Comi was an American film and television actor.

Biography

Paul Comi was born 1932 in Brookline, Massachusetts. and grew up in nearby North Quincy, graduating from high school in 1949, after which he joined the United States Army. He was awarded three Purple Hearts during the Korean War, in which he served.
Awarded a scholarship to USC School of Dramatic Arts at the University of Southern California, he graduated in 1958 Magna Cum Laude with membership in Tau Kappa Epsilon, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi and Blue Key honors.
He and his wife Eva had three children. As an apprentice at the La Jolla Playhouse the summer of 1957, 20th Century Fox picked him up and cast him as Pvt. Abbott in The Young Lions with Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift; he would act for four more decades.
Comi died on August 26, 2016, in Pasadena, California, at the age of 84.

Acting career

Comi's acting career spanned four decades, from the mid-1950s through the mid-1990s. He made over three hundred television appearances, twenty movies, and a number of recurring television roles. These included Deputy Johnny Evans in the syndicated western series Two Faces West, starring Charles Bateman, the part of Brad Carter, prosecuting attorney in The Virginian while Lee J. Cobb was in the cast. He was cast along with others, including Bruce Dern and Joby Baker, who were all part of Paul Burke's crew in Burke's initial introduction, on 12 O'Clock High.
Comi's professional acting career began in 1957, when, as an apprentice at the La Jolla Playhouse, he was given a small part in the play Career that starred Don Taylor and Una Merkel. His comedy scene as a drunken GI earned rave reviews in The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, leading to his being signed by 20th Century Fox for the role of Pvt. Abbott in The Young Lions with Montgomery Clift and Dean Martin. At Fox, he appeared in several films: In Love and War with Jeffrey Hunter and Robert Wagner; A Private's Affair with Ernie Kovacs; and was lent out to Warner Bros. for the role of "Jenkins" in the Michael Garrison production of The Dark at the Top of the Stairs with Robert Preston and Dorothy McGuire. He also played Lt Tim, Steve McQueen's assistant in The Towering Inferno.
In 1960, Comi appeared in The Twilight Zone episode "People Are Alike All Over", as Warren Marcusson. Between 1961 and 1962, he portrayed airplane pilot Chuck Lambert on the first-run syndicated television adventure series Ripcord about skydiving and was a regular on the Western series Rawhide. He also played Victor Markham for one and one half seasons on the daytime soap Capitol, followed by two seasons as George Durnley in General Hospital. Besides, he had two guest appearances on Voyage to the Bottom Of The Sea in the episodes "Submarine Sunk Here" and "Deadly Creature Below!"
Comi played navigator Lt. Andrew Stiles for the Star Trek episode "Balance of Terror". He played the banker Farnsworth in "The Wild, Wild West" S3 E9 "The Night of the Circus of Death". He appeared in Barnaby Jones in the episode titled "Dangerous Summer".
Comi was a voting member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Business interests

He was President of Caffe D'Amore Inc. a coffee company started by his wife, Eva, the creator of the world's first flavored instant cappuccino, Caffe D'Amore.

Partial filmography

  • 1958: The Young Lions - Private Abbott
  • 1958: In Love and War – Father Wallensack
  • 1959: Warlock – Luke Friendly
  • 1959: Pork Chop Hill – Sergeant Kreucheberg
  • 1959: Peter Gunn – William Erlich
  • 1959: 77 Sunset Strip – Fred
  • 1960: A Private's Affair – Military Policeman
  • 1960: The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond – Paul
  • 1960: Two Faces West – Deputy Johnny Evans
  • 1960: Men Into Space – Major John Arnold
  • 1960: The Untouchables – George Colleoni
  • 1960: Wake Me When It's Over – Lieutenant Malcolm Bressler
  • 1960: The Dark at the Top of the Stairs – Jenkins
  • 1960: The Twilight Zone - Marcusson
  • 1961: The Twilight Zone - First Officer John Craig
  • 1961: The Outsider – Sergeant Boyle
  • 1961–1963: Ripcord – Chuck Lambert
  • 1962: Alfred Hitchcock Presents - Joe Drake
  • 1962: Cape Fear – George Garner
  • 1962: Stoney Burke – Frank Foley
  • 1962: 40 Pounds of Trouble – Deputy Sheriff Cavanaugh
  • 1963: The Twilight Zone - Psychiatrist
  • 1964: 77 Sunset Strip - Don Barnes
  • 1964: Twelve O'Clock High - Lieutenant Kelly
  • 1964: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – Lt. Bishop
  • 1964-65 Rawhide - Yo Yo
  • 1965: The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – Detective Modeer
  • 1965: Twelve O'Clock High – Major Adams
  • 1965: Perry Mason – Father Reggiani
  • 1965: The F.B.I. - Major Slidell
  • 1966: The F.B.I. - Howard Schaal
  • 1966: Twelve O'Clock High - Captain Banazak
  • 1966: Twelve O'Clock High - Major Simpson
  • 1966: Blindfold – Barker
  • 1966: The Time Tunnel – Captain Frederick Benteen
  • 1966: Star Trek – Stiles
  • 1966: The Wild Wild West - Vittorio Pellagrini
  • 1966: The Wild Wild West - Colonel Pellargo #2
  • 1966: Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea – Hawkins
  • 1967: The F.B.I. - SAC Harper
  • 1967: The Invaders – Danny
  • 1967: The Wild Wild West - Bert Farnsworth
  • 1968: The F.B.I. - Crime Scene Special Agent
  • 1968: The Invaders – Sheriff
  • 1968: Mannix - Harry
  • 1969: Mannix - Rudy
  • 1969: All the Loving Couples – Mike Corey
  • 1971: Cannon - Detective Lou Micelli
  • 1972: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes – 2nd Policeman
  • 1973: Cannon - Airline Official
  • 1973: Room 222 – Mr. Winters
  • 1974: The Towering Inferno – Tim
  • 1977: The Streets of San Francisco – Alexander Dichter
  • 1980: The Killings at Outpost Zeta – Commander Craig
  • 1981: Longshot – Coleman
  • 1981: Dallas – Dr. McWright
  • 1982: Death Wish II – Senator McLean
  • 1984: Best Defense – Chief Agent
  • 1985: Falcon Crest – Money Scammer
  • 1985: Knots Landing - Doctor
  • 1986: Knots Landing - Doctor
  • 1986: Howard the Duck – Dr. Chapin
  • 1986: Fame – The Minister
  • 1986: Highway to Heaven - Harvey
  • 1987: Spies
  • 1987: Highway to Heaven - Sergeant Baker
  • 1989: Highway to Heaven - Phil Lightell
  • 1990: Knots Landing - Ed Boyce
  • 1991: L.A. Law – Detective Douglas French
  • 1991: L.A. Law - Detective Douglas French
  • 1995: Baywatch – Mr. Samuels

    Awards and decorations

  • Purple Heart
  • Phi Beta Kappa USC 1958, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society USC 1958, Blue Key Honors USC 1958