Robert Loggia dead; actor in ‘Big,’ ‘The Sopranos’ was 85

Robert Loggia, the New York-born character actor best known for his turns as a drug lord in “Scarface” and for dancing on a jumbo keyboard with Tom Hanks in “Big”, died today as his home in Los Angeles at age 85.

Well-respected actor Robert Loggia has lost his battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

He was selected for a supporting performer Academy Award for Jagged Edge in 1986 for his part of obtuse private criminologist Sam Ransom. He was also loved by the audience for essaying the role of toy company boss Macmilan in the 1985 comedy Big. He and Tom Hanks performed together on The Big Piano at FAO Schwartz in the movie’s most memorable scene, playing “Heart and Soul” and “Chopsticks”. He also portrayed Joseph, husband of Mary, in George Stevens’ biblical epic “The Greatest Story Ever Told”.

In 1956 Loggia made his film debut in “Somebody Up There Likes Me”, playing mobster Frankie Peppo, who tries to persuade boxer Rocky Graziano (Paul Newman) to throw a fight. He had one of his star TV roles back in 1966 when he played on the NBC show, “T.H.E. Cat”. He played a general who advises the president of the United States, played by Bill Pullman, as tentacled aliens in huge spaceships devastate cities worldwide. He even starred in another TV series, “Mancuso, FBI“, a spinoff of Loggia’s character in the 1988 miniseries “Favorite Son”.

He is survived by his wife, Audrey Loggia, and children.

His theater background served him well when he broke into television in the late 1950s, appearing on “Studio One”, “Playhouse 90” and other live dramatic anthology series.

Mr. Loggia made his Broadway debut in a 1960 production of Lillian Hellman’s “Toys in the Attic”, filling a role that had previously been played by Jason Robards Jr.

Local of Staten Island, Loggia was destined to Italian workers and began his transporter by performing plays in NY.