Sammy Petrillo
Sammy Petrillo | |
---|---|
The Bronx, New York, U.S. | |
Died | August 15, 2009 Bronxville, New York, U.S. | (aged 74)
Resting place | Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York |
Medium | Stand up, film |
Nationality | American |
Years active | 1950–1997 |
Sam Patrello (October 24, 1934 – August 15, 2009) was an American nightclub and movie comedian best known as a Jerry Lewis imitator.[1]
Early life
Sammy Petrillo was born Sam Patrello in
Petrillo, who had one younger sibling, brother Marvin,
In a 1992 interview, he recalled the genesis of his Jerry Lewis look:
One day I went down to the Annex at the High School of Performing Arts. The Annex was a trade school and they had people who were learning how to cut hair. And so I got a freebie haircut and the guy cut my hair and he started to laugh. And I said, 'Whatta ya laughing at?' and he said, 'You look just like that [nightclub and film comedian] Jerry Lewis!' And I said, 'Get outta here!' And everywhere I walked, people laughed and asked me if I was Jerry Lewis, it was unbelievable. And Jerry Lewis at the time, I guess, had made his second motion picture, My Friend Irma Goes West. I really didn't know that much about him. I kinda caught some glimpses of the movie and I saw he went, 'Ock! Ock! Ock!' And he talked kinda high.... And I said, 'Gee, maybe I do resemble that guy and I can do that kind of a laugh, I could do that kind of a voice....[4]
Career
After finagling a meeting with comic
Petrillo said in a 1991 interview that a favorable writeup in the
Petrillo went on to perform comedy once more on The Colgate Comedy Hour, in a sketch with host
Teaming with Duke Mitchell
On one such local show, the seminal
Petrillo relocated to
I met
siding business. And Joe E. used to take care of me and give me some money so I could buy some food. Joe E. got me a job at a little [nightclub] called the Atoto House. ... So he got me this job and I made $65 a week at that time. Then his friend Al Cook said, 'I know this fella Duke Mitchell and you guys would be great together blah blah blah', so he introduced me to Duke Mitchell (who was also getting $65 a week) and that's where we started out as a team.[4]
In addition to impersonating Martin & Lewis, Petrillo mimicked other film stars and cartoon characters, and Mitchell would sing in the styles of Frankie Laine, Vaughn Monroe, and Billy Daniels, among others.[5] For the climax of the show, they would announce to the audience that they would now do their impression of Martin and Lewis — followed by Petrillo playing Martin and Mitchell playing Lewis, inverting expectations.[5]
In 1952, movie producer
Through mid-1950s
Mitchell and Petrillo returned to nightclub work but, according to Petrillo, Lewis threatened to boycott anyone who booked them and club owners caved in, not wishing to spoil their chances of someday hiring Martin and Lewis. Petrillo in 1991 recalled an instance after he and Mitchell were booked on the
There was one of Jerry's cronies — one of the guys that worked for him — at the rehearsal. And he looked at us, and he walked out of the room. I turned to Duke and I said, 'That guy just went to call Jerry. We're off the show'. And then Lou Costello walked over to us and he says, 'Fellas, I hate to tell you this: NBC will not allow us to put you on the show, but we're gonna pay you anyway'. He said Jerry Lewis did it. That really happened, and then it happened in nightclubs. We were blackballed here and there.[6]
Regardless,
Mitchell and Petrillo amicably dissolved their professional relationship in 1954, but reteamed the following year. The duo broke up for good following the highly public, July 25, 1956, breakup of Martin and Lewis.[7]
Later career
For Randall's Network Film Corporation, Petrillo produced and co-wrote the 1958 NBC
He starred in producer Randall's low-budget Shangri-La (1961),
Petrillo again starred opposite
Through Gyorfy, Petrillo met
At an unspecified point, Petrillo said in 1992, he starred in a television series titled The Sammy Petrillo Show, on which
In the late 1970s, Petrillo rekindled his friendship and again worked with Duke Mitchell in California, where Petrillo became a distributor for the Transcontinental Film Corporation.[14] The company was in talks to release[15] Mitchell's 1974 movie Massacre Mafia Style, a.k.a. Like Father, Like Son, a.k.a. The Executioner, which finally appeared direct-to-video on the Video Gems label[7] sometime after Mitchell's death in 1981.
In 1980, Petrillo and
Petrillo twice appeared as a guest in 1988 and 1991 on Beyond Vaudeville.
On the October 5, 1982, edition of the TV morning show
It was Sammy Petrillo, a kid that I found walked on 53rd Street here in New York, and I brought him out to Hollywood to work on a sketch with Dean and I [sic], and then he worked with Eddie Cantor two weeks later.[15]
Petrillo recalled in 1991 that he shortly afterward received a call from bookers at the NBC talk show Late Night with David Letterman, on which Lewis was scheduled to appear; Petrillo said they asked him to make a surprise appearance, and that he turned down the offer.[15]
Final years
By 1991, Petrillo was living in
Death
On August 15, 2009, Petrillo died of colon cancer at age 74 at Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville, New York. At the time of his death, he lived in Tuckahoe, New York.[2] He is buried at Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.[17]
Legacy
Petrillo, who remained active performing standup comedy, mentored young comics including Richard Pryor and Dennis Miller, the latter a native of Petrillo's adopted home, Pittsburgh.[13]
One of Jerry Lewis' sons, Gary, told The New York Times upon Petrillo's death that, "When Sammy and the other guy played in that gorilla movie, I remember my dad and Dean [Martin] saying, 'We got to sue these guys — this is no good' ... Whenever there was any mention of Sammy Petrillo, it was a tense moment".[2]
Footnotes
- Press Release. Retrieved October 12, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e Havesi, Dennis. "Sammy Petrillo, an Actor and Nightclub Comedian, Dies at 74", The New York Times, August 24, 2009, p. D8
- ^ a b c d e f g Rutt, Todd. "Duke Mitchell & Sammy Petrillo: Those Two Fireballs of Fun", Psychotronic Video #11, Fall 1991, p. 23
- ^ a b c d e f g h Abramson, Dave, a.k.a. "Dave the Spazz" (professional pseudonym). "Sammy Petrillo Speaks Out" (1992 interview with Petrillo), WFMU.org, posted 1998
- ^ a b Rutt, p. 24
- ^ Rutt, pp. 25-26
- ^ a b c d Rutt, p. 26
- ^ Rutt, p. 27
- ^ Rutt, pp. 27-28
- ^ a b c d e f g h Rutt, p. 28
- ^ Shangri-La (1961), TVGuide.com review
- ^ Rutt, pp. 28-29
- ^ a b c d Barnes, Mike. "Jerry Lewis double Sammy Petrillo dies", HollywoodReporter.com, August 17, 2009.
- ^ a b c Rutt, p. 30
- ^ a b c Rutt, p. 32
- ^ a b Rutt, p. 29
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 25047-25048). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
External links
- Sammy Petrillo at IMDb
- HermanCohen.com. "Herrrman, I vant to talk vith yyyooouuu...!" (Herman Cohen interview on making of Bela Lugosi Meets a Brooklyn Gorilla)
- The New York Times Filmography
- Interview with Sammy Petrillo Part 1