Richard Libertini(1933-2016)
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Richard Libertini was born in E. Cambridge, Massachusetts, to parents
who had come to America from southern Italy. Having grown up in a
household where both Italian and English were spoken, he developed an
ear for foreign accents. A facility he would later use to advantage on
stage and in films.
He graduated from Emerson College in Boston, and for a while earned a
living as a trumpet player in the Boston area. Later, he moved to New
York, where he teamed up with two former college classmates, MacIntyre Dixon
and Lynda Segal, to create an off-Broadway revue called "Stewed
Prunes." (This was during the coffee house revolution in the 1960s.
Bob Dylan was playing around the corner.) The show was quite successful
and after running a year in New York they took it on the road. While
playing Chicago, he was asked to join the renowned Second City
Improvisational Theatre Group, an association which continues to the
present.
After a number of years doing stage work in New York (Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water (1969)
and Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971) among many others) he eventually moved to L.A.
where he began doing films. Three of his most memorable characters are
the Spanish-American dictator in The In-Laws (1979) with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, the
Tibetan Mystic in All of Me (1984) with Steve Martin, and Lily Tomlin and the justice of
the peace in Best Friends (1982) with Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds. Other films include
Fletch (1985) with Chevy Chase and Popeye (1980) with Robin Williams.
who had come to America from southern Italy. Having grown up in a
household where both Italian and English were spoken, he developed an
ear for foreign accents. A facility he would later use to advantage on
stage and in films.
He graduated from Emerson College in Boston, and for a while earned a
living as a trumpet player in the Boston area. Later, he moved to New
York, where he teamed up with two former college classmates, MacIntyre Dixon
and Lynda Segal, to create an off-Broadway revue called "Stewed
Prunes." (This was during the coffee house revolution in the 1960s.
Bob Dylan was playing around the corner.) The show was quite successful
and after running a year in New York they took it on the road. While
playing Chicago, he was asked to join the renowned Second City
Improvisational Theatre Group, an association which continues to the
present.
After a number of years doing stage work in New York (Woody Allen's Don't Drink the Water (1969)
and Paul Sills' Story Theatre (1971) among many others) he eventually moved to L.A.
where he began doing films. Three of his most memorable characters are
the Spanish-American dictator in The In-Laws (1979) with Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, the
Tibetan Mystic in All of Me (1984) with Steve Martin, and Lily Tomlin and the justice of
the peace in Best Friends (1982) with Goldie Hawn and Burt Reynolds. Other films include
Fletch (1985) with Chevy Chase and Popeye (1980) with Robin Williams.