George DiCenzo
Encyclopedia
George Ralph DiCenzo was an American character actor
and one-time associate producer for Dark Shadows
. He was in show business for more than 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage and commercial credits.
. He appeared in more than thirty feature films, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind
, Back to the Future
, The Ninth Configuration
, The Exorcist III
, and About Last Night.... He stated that one of his favorite roles was when he starred in Helter-Skelter, where he played Vincent Bugliosi
, the prosecutor in the Charles Manson
mass murder trial. DiCenzo also appeared in Hotel
directed by Mike Figgis
with an all-star cast, and Tempted, directed by Bill Bennett
and starring Burt Reynolds
and Saffron Burrows
. He recently played the late baseball commissioner
, A. Bartlett Giamatti
, in the ESPN
made-for-television movie Hustle, about disgraced baseball
great Pete Rose
. And in 2002 george plays Ennio Salieri in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
.
In the 1981-1982 television season, DiCenzo was a regular on NBC
's McClain's Law
, with James Arness
and Marshall Colt
. He also made regular appearances on Murder, She Wrote
and NYPD Blue
. His own series included Equal Justice and Joe's Life
in the early and middle 1990s. He appeared as a guest star in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent
episode "Semi-Professional
".
In the early 1990s, DiCenzo appeared on Broadway
with Nathan Lane
in On Borrowed Time
directed by his friend George C. Scott
.
DiCenzo's voice can be heard on many commercials, books on tape
, and cartoon series
. Notable in regards to the third is his work for Filmation
; his roles include the title character in BlackStar, and Hordak
in She-Ra: Princess of Power
.
DiCenzo was also an acting
teacher in New York City
and Philadelphia for several years. He apprenticed under his mentor Milton Katselas
at the Beverly Hills Playhouse
in California
. In addition, DiCenzo frequently privately coached students, and actors appearing on the New York
stage. Burt Reynolds
on an episode of Inside the Actors Studio
referred to George DiCenzo as the best acting teacher in America
.
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
and one-time associate producer for Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
. He was in show business for more than 30 years, with extensive film, TV, stage and commercial credits.
Life and career
DiCenzo was born in New Haven, ConnecticutNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
. He appeared in more than thirty feature films, including Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg. The film stars Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey...
, Back to the Future
Back to the Future
Back to the Future is a 1985 American science-fiction adventure film. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, produced by Steven Spielberg, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover and Thomas F. Wilson. The film tells the story of...
, The Ninth Configuration
The Ninth Configuration
The Ninth Configuration, is an American-made film, released in 1980, directed by William Peter Blatty...
, The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is the second sequel of The Exorcist series and a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion . The film stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson...
, and About Last Night.... He stated that one of his favorite roles was when he starred in Helter-Skelter, where he played Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi
Vincent Bugliosi is an American attorney and author, best known for prosecuting Charles Manson and other defendants accused of the Tate-LaBianca murders. His most recent books are Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy , The Prosecution of George W...
, the prosecutor in the Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
mass murder trial. DiCenzo also appeared in Hotel
Hotel (2001 film)
-Plot:While a British film crew are shooting a version of The Duchess of Malfi in Venice, they in turn are being filmed by a sleazy documentary primadonna while the strange staff share meals which consist of human meat. Then there is the hit man, the call girl and the Hollywood producer all...
directed by Mike Figgis
Mike Figgis
Michael "Mike" Figgis is an English film director, writer, and composer.-Personal life:Figgis was born in Carlisle, England and grew up in Africa. Figgis for several years had a relationship with the actress Saffron Burrows and cast her in several films...
with an all-star cast, and Tempted, directed by Bill Bennett
Bill Bennett
William Richards Bennett, PC, OBC , commonly known as Bill Bennett, was the 27th Premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia 1975–1986. He is a son of the former Premier, W. A. C. Bennett. He was a 3rd cousin, twice removed, of R.B...
and starring Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
and Saffron Burrows
Saffron Burrows
Saffron Dominique Burrows is an English actress and former fashion model, who starred as Det. Serena Stevens on Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Lorraine Weller on Boston Legal.-Early life:...
. He recently played the late baseball commissioner
Baseball Commissioner
The Commissioner of Baseball is the chief executive of Major League Baseball and its associated minor leagues. Under the direction of the Commissioner, the Office of the Commissioner of Baseball hires and maintains the sport's umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, and television contracts...
, A. Bartlett Giamatti
A. Bartlett Giamatti
Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti was the president of Yale University and later the seventh Commissioner of Major League Baseball. Giamatti negotiated the agreement that terminated the Pete Rose betting scandal by permitting Rose to voluntarily withdraw from the sport, avoiding further...
, in the ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
made-for-television movie Hustle, about disgraced baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
great Pete Rose
Pete Rose
Peter Edward Rose , nicknamed "Charlie Hustle", is a former Major League Baseball player and manager. Rose played from 1963 to 1986, and managed from 1984 to 1989....
. And in 2002 george plays Ennio Salieri in Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven
Mafia is a third-person shooter video game initially made for Microsoft Windows in . It was developed by Czech company Illusion Softworks and published by Gathering of Developers...
.
In the 1981-1982 television season, DiCenzo was a regular on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's McClain's Law
McClain's Law
McClain's Law is an American crime drama television series that aired on NBC during the 1981-1982 season. New episodes ended on March 20, and rebroadcasts continued until August 24, 1982.-Summary:...
, with James Arness
James Arness
James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...
and Marshall Colt
Marshall Colt
Marshall N. Colt is a marriage, family, and life enhancement therapist in San Diego, California, who was an actor of film and television from 1976 to 1995...
. He also made regular appearances on Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
and NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...
. His own series included Equal Justice and Joe's Life
Joe's Life
Joe's Life was a short-lived American sitcom which aired on ABC during the first half of the 1993-94 season. Nat Bernstein and Mitchel Katlin served as supervising producers on the series, while Lee Aronsohn and Rita Dillon were producers.-Synopsis:...
in the early and middle 1990s. He appeared as a guest star in the Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
Law & Order: Criminal Intent is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it was also primarily produced. Created and produced by Dick Wolf and René Balcer, the series premiered on September 30, 2001, as the second spin-off of Wolf's successful crime drama...
episode "Semi-Professional
Semi-Professional (Law & Order: Criminal Intent episode)
"Semi-Professional" is a first season episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent.-Plot summary:In this episode, Detectives Goren and Eames investigate the murder of a judge's clerk, Emily, who was killed in the magistrate's home. The clues point to a low-profile hitman, but Goren...
".
In the early 1990s, DiCenzo appeared on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
with Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane
Nathan Lane is an American actor of stage and screen. He is best known for his roles as Mendy in The Lisbon Traviata, Albert in The Birdcage, Max Bialystock in the musical The Producers, Ernie Smuntz in MouseHunt, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to...
in On Borrowed Time
On Borrowed Time
On Borrowed Time is a 1939 film about the role death plays in life, and how humanity cannot live without it. It is adapted from Paul Osborn's 1938 Broadway hit play. The play, based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin, has been revived twice on Broadway since its original run.Set in small-town...
directed by his friend George C. Scott
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott was an American stage and film actor, director and producer. He was best known for his stage work, as well as his portrayal of General George S. Patton in the film Patton, and as General Buck Turgidson in Stanley Kubrick's Dr...
.
DiCenzo's voice can be heard on many commercials, books on tape
Audio book
An audiobook or audio book is a recording of a text being read. It is not necessarily an exact audio version of a book or magazine.Spoken audio has been available in schools and public libraries and to a lesser extent in music shops since the 1930s. Many spoken word albums were made prior to the...
, and cartoon series
Cartoon series
A cartoon series is a set of regularly presented animated television programs with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes typically share the same characters and a basic theme...
. Notable in regards to the third is his work for Filmation
Filmation
Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
; his roles include the title character in BlackStar, and Hordak
Hordak
Hordak is a fictional character in the Masters of the Universe franchise, as a villain who opposes She-Ra, He-Man, and villain Skeletor. In the She-Ra cartoon, he is the leader of the segment of the fictional Evil Horde on the planet Etheria, an army of savage warriors, most of whom wear a red...
in She-Ra: Princess of Power
She-Ra: Princess of Power
She-Ra: Princess of Power is an American animated television series produced in 1985 by Filmation. It is a spinoff of Filmation's highly successful He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series, aimed primarily at a young girls' audience to counter-balance the latter show's popularity with boys...
.
DiCenzo was also an acting
Acting
Acting is the work of an actor or actress, which is a person in theatre, television, film, or any other storytelling medium who tells the story by portraying a character and, usually, speaking or singing the written text or play....
teacher in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia for several years. He apprenticed under his mentor Milton Katselas
Milton Katselas
Milton Katselas was an American film director and famous Hollywood coach for The Beverly Hills Playhouse...
at the Beverly Hills Playhouse
Beverly Hills Playhouse
The Beverly Hills Playhouse is one of the oldest acting schools and theatres in Los Angeles. Located at 254 South Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills, California, United States.-The early years:...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In addition, DiCenzo frequently privately coached students, and actors appearing on the New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
stage. Burt Reynolds
Burt Reynolds
Burton Leon "Burt" Reynolds, Jr. is an American actor. Some of his memorable roles include Bo 'Bandit' Darville in Smokey and the Bandit, Lewis Medlock in Deliverance, Bobby "Gator" McCluskey in White Lightning and sequel Gator, Paul Crewe and Coach Nate Scarborough in The Longest Yard and its...
on an episode of Inside the Actors Studio
Inside the Actors Studio
Inside the Actors Studio is a series on the Bravo cable television channel, hosted by James Lipton. It is produced and directed by Jeff Wurtz; the executive producer is James Lipton. The program, which premiered in 1994, is distributed internationally by CABLEready and is broadcast in 125 countries...
referred to George DiCenzo as the best acting teacher in America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.