American actor Joseph Campanella, who appeared in more than 200 television and film roles between the early 1950s and 2009, passed away on May 16, 2018. He died of natural causes in his home in Sherman Oaks, California at the age of 93.
Joseph Anthony Campanella was born on November 21, 1924 in New York City. During World War II, Campanella served in the United States Navy before graduating from Manhattan College in 1948. Later on, he attended Columbia University, where he studied drama. His television career began in the late 1950s with a recurring role on the long-running CBS daytime drama The Guiding Light, before starring as Lew Wickersham on the television series Mannix. The latter of which earned Campanella an Emmy nomination in 1968. His role as Harper Deveraux on the soap opera Days of Our Lives also garnered Campanella an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
Additional TV and film credits for Campanella include The Bold Ones: The Lawyers, Combat, Decoy, The Eleventh Hour, The Doctors, The Fugitive, Mission: Impossible, Marcus Welby, M.D., Gunsmoke, The Big Valley, Ben, The President’s Plane Is Missing, Skyway to Death, Alias Smith and Jones, The Untouchables, Police Story, The Road West, The Invaders, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rockford Files, The Golden Girls, and Mama’s Family. Between 1976 and 1979, Campanella hosted the Canadian educational program Science International on Nickelodeon.
Outside of TV and film work, Campanella was featured in the Broadway productions of The Captains and the Kings, Hot Spot, and A Gift of Time. Campanella received a Tony nomination as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his work on A Gift of Time. As he branched into voice acting, Campanella landing a regular role on the series Road Rovers, along with voicing the Lizard for several episodes of Spider-Man: The Animated Series. Following six decades of acting, Campanella officially retired in 2009.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Jill, their eight children, and seven grandchildren.
