Tony Lo Bianco was born on October 19, 1936, the son of a Brooklyn cab driver. He grew up on 39th Street and 5th Avenue in Brooklyn — an area located near the Brooklyn waterfront. He graduated from William E. Grady Vocational-Technical High School in Coney Island.
Tony’s film, stage and video successes are many. He was honored at the Welcome Back to Brooklyn celebration in 1997 by being crowned King of Brooklyn (Lainie Kazan was the Queen that year.) He has also had his place of honor on the Brooklyn Celebrity Path at Brooklyn Botanic Garden since 1989.
Tony had already met fame on Broadway but it was his tour-de-force performance as Mayor Fiorella La Guardia in the one-man Broadway show “Hizzoner!” that brought cheering audiences to their feet. Before that, Tony’s definitive stage interpretation of the character Eddie Carbone in a revival of Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge” won him a Tony nomination and the Outer Critic’s Circle Award. His performance was hailed by critics as “volcanic,” “tumultuous,” and “deserving of his standing ovation.”
But it wasn’t all acting for Tony. He grew up in an environment similar to that of the play’s protagonist character, Carbone. Tony said, “growing up in that neighborhood, it gets to be in your blood. You know a lot of things people do and how they think and act.” Other outstanding stage performances were in “Other People’s Money,” “The Goodbye People” and Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tatoo.”
Tony’s film career began in 1970 with a gruesome film The Honeymoon Killers. The locale of The French Connection (1971) was partly in Brooklyn and again Tony had unassailable Brooklyn credentials for his part. This film won an Oscar as best picture. Tony’s many other films (TV included) are F.I.S.T. (’78), Blood Brothers (’78), The Ann Jillian Story (’88), Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story (’92), Tyson (’95), Nixon (’95) and The Juror (’96).
Tony’s television appearances began with some short-lived series like “Hidden Faces,” “Jessie,” and “Palace Guard.” None of these were badly acted but didn’t go over due to bad scheduling. His most notable TV role was that of Tony Calabrese on “Police Story.” He has made several appearances in “Law & Order” and recent films include Frame of Mind (’09) and The Last Request (’06).
— Vernon Parker
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© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2009
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