Peter Brocco

Carl Peter Brocco (January 16, 1903 – December 20, 1992) was an American screen and stage actor. He appeared in over 300 credits, notably Spartacus (1960) and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), during his career spanning over 60 years.

Peter Brocco
Brocco in Drums in the Deep South (1951)
Born
Carl Peter Brocco

(1903-01-16)January 16, 1903
Reading, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedDecember 20, 1992(1992-12-20) (aged 89)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeGethsemane Cemetery
Laureldale, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationActor
Years active1927–1991

Early years

Brocco was born in Reading, Pennsylvania.[1] He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brocco.[2]

Career

Brocco acted on stage with the Walter Hampton Players.[2] He debuted on Broadway in Centuries (1927); he also performed in The Merry Wives of Windsor (1938).[3]

Brocco appeared as a criminal type in several episodes of Adventures of Superman. He holds the distinction of having been killed off in two of them, a relative rarity for villains in the series. In the first, The Secret of Superman, he deduces that Kent is Superman, but is killed in a police shootout soon after. In The Clown Who Cried, he falls off a building and Superman is unable to save him. He also appeared as "The Spector" in The Phantom Ring, where the criminals developed a machine that can make them invisible. Finally, in that episode, he survives, albeit rather banged up by Superman. Brocco was also on two episodes of Combat!, "The Long Walk" in 1964 and "The Flying Machine" in 1966. He appeared as Claymare, an Organian council member, in the Star Trek episode "Errand of Mercy", which established the uneasy treaty of peace between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire.

Brocco displayed a comedic talent portraying Peter The Waiter for 8 episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on CBS during its 1955–1956 New York City season.

Brocco played Colonel Matterson, a patient who used a wheelchair and had dementia, in the Academy Award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). He also appeared as the patient in the hospital, Mr. Eagane, in the Happy Days 1974 episode "Hardware Jungle". In 1983 he played Ali MacGraw's father in the epic TV miniseries The Winds of War.

Brocco lived for some 40 years in Laurel Canyon, in a 1920s Spanish style home on Laurel Canyon Blvd. near the Country Store. He had his ceramics studio in the ground floor, a source of income when he was blacklisted for a while during the red scare of the early 1950s.

Death

Brocco died from a heart attack in Los Angeles on December 20, 1992, aged 89.[1]

Selected filmography

References
  1. "Peter Brocco". Variety. January 3, 1993. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
  2. "Reception and Farewell Party Given at Arts Club for Artist Going Abroad". Reading Times. Pennsylvania, Reading. 16 May 1928. p. 8. Retrieved January 5, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. "Peter Brocco". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
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