Frank Puglia

Frank Puglia (9 March 1892 – 25 October 1975) was an Italian film actor. Puglia had small, but memorable roles in films including Casablanca (a Moroccan rug merchant), Now, Voyager and The Jungle Book.

He was originally cast as the undertaker, Bonasera, in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972), even participating in Marlon Brando's infamous screen test, but he fell ill before filming could begin. He was replaced by Sicilian actor Salvatore Corsitto, thus losing out on delivering one of the most famous opening lines ("I believe in America... America has made me my fortune") in film history.

Born in Sicily, the actor started his career as a teen on stage in Italian operas. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1907 and worked in a laundry before joining an Italian language theatre group in New York. While appearing on stage, he was discovered by D. W. Griffith, which began an acting career spanning over 150 films. He usually played ethnic types in films, and claimed to have learned English from reading newspapers.

Selected filmography

• Orphans of the Storm (1921)
• Romola (1924)
• The Man Who Laughs (1928)
• Viva Villa! (1934)
• Love on the Run (1936) as Waiter (uncredited)
• The Public Pays (1936)
• The Fatal Hour (1940)
• Charlie Chan in Panama (1940)
• Torrid Zone (1940)
• Arise, My Love (1940)
• The Mark of Zorro (1940)
• That Night in Rio (1941)
• Law of the Tropics (1941)
• Secret Agent of Japan (1942)
• Jungle Book (1942)
• The Boogie Man Will Get You (1942)
• Now, Voyager (1942)
• Casablanca (1942) as Moroccan Rug Merchant (uncredited)
• Phantom of the Opera (1943)
• Action in the North Atlantic (1943) (uncredited)
• This Is the Life (1944)
• Tall in the Saddle (1944)
• Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves (1944)
• Blood on the Sun (1945)
• Without Reservations (1946)
• Brute Force (1947)
• My Favorite Brunette (1947)
• The Lost Moment (1947)
• Stallion Road (1947)
• Joan of Arc (1948)
• Colorado Territory (1949)
• Walk Softly, Stranger (1950)
• The Desert Hawk (1950)
• The Bandits of Corsica (1953)
• The Shanghai Story (1954)
• Accused of Murder (1956)
• 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
• Duel at Apache Wells (1957)
• Cry Tough (1959)
• The Black Orchid (1959)
• Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962)
• The Sword of Ali Baba (1965)
• The Spy in the Green Hat (1966)
• Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole (1972)
• Mr. Ricco (1975)

External links

• Find-A-Grave profile for Frank Puglia
• Frank Puglia at the Internet Movie Database
• Films and TV.com
• TCMDb