Robert Loggia Dead: ‘Scarface’ And ‘Big’ Actor Dies At 85

Robert Loggia, an Oscar-nominated actor who was known for portraying gravelly-voiced gangsters in “Scarface” and “The Sopranos“, but who played against type as a kid-at-heart toy-company boss opposite Tom Hanks in “Big”, died December 4 at his home in Los Angeles.

Well know for his roles Brian De Palma’s 1983 drama “Scarface” and “Big“, Robert Loggia had been battling Alzheimer’s Disease for the past five years.

Tom Hanks has expressed his grief on Twitter calling Mr Loggia a great actor in heart and soul. When the series was canceled after one season, however, the distraught Loggia largely dropped out of the business for a time.

His marriage had broken up, and he devoted himself to travel and skiing. Then, he came back to TV with a part in the TV show, “Mannix”, which lead to more regular work once again.

Native of Staten Island, Loggia was born to Italian immigrants and started his carrier by performing plays in NY. He earned an Emmy nomination in 1989 for Mancuso FBI and a guest appearance on Malcolm in the Middle in 2000.

Loggia also appeared as General William Grey Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin’s blockbuster Sci-Fi action film Independence Day, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff who advises Bill Pullman’s President Whitmore after aliens lay waste to all of earth’s major cities. At the beginning of his career, he tried newspaper work, as he had studied journalism at the University of Missouri, nonetheless he was interested in acting and soon went to school at the Actors Studio.

Loggia married Marjorie Sloane in 1954, and they had three children, daughters Tracey and Kristina and son John.

Loggia’s wife Audrey, who was married to him for 33 years broke the news of his demise.

This report contains biographical material compiled by former AP writer Bob Thomas.