Celebrity Biographies
Bruce Kirby
He participated in hugely successful series, such as Colombo. The prolific supporting actor Bruce Kirby has passed away, on January 24, 2021, at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, at the age of 95. He had been suffering from leukemia for some time. “My heart is heavy, but grateful for the years that he has been with me,” says his son, fellow actor Bruno Kirby (“The Godfather II”).
Born on April 28, 1925, New Yorker Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu – his real name – studied with Lee Strasberg at the Actor’s Studio. Making his stage debut in 1950, he launched his television career five years later, with appearances on iconic series like Mission: Impossible and Bonanza .
He stood out as a police officer, first as Officer Kissel, a regular character on Patrol 54, and then as Sergeant Al Vine in Kojak , and the always clueless Sergeant Kramer, from Colombo , one of his most remembered roles (although he played in the series also to someone else). He is also remembered as Bruce Kirby in the shoes of District Attorney Bruce Rogoff, in the drama Los Angeles Law . He never left the theater, for example he understudied Dustin Hoffman for the role of Willy Loman in a 1984 production of Arthur Miller ‘s “Death of a Salesman . “
On the big screen, Bruce Kirby garnered attention as Mr. Quidaciolou – the character was given the actor’s real last name – a shopkeeper who had lost a brother in Korea, from Stand By Me , and as the father of the policeman played by Matt Dillon , in Crash (Collision) .
Divorced from Lucille Garibaldi, with whom he had two children, he then had a relationship with Rosalyn Heischuber. While the aforementioned Bruno Kirby is dedicated to acting – he also shares his real name, and was born on April 28, just like him – his second son, John, works as a Dramatic Art teacher.