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Joseph Calleia

Highest Rated: 100% Lured (1947)

Lowest Rated: 50% Johnny Cool (1963)

Birthday: Aug 4, 1897

Birthplace: St. Julians, Malta

A veteran theater performer and character actor so famous that Malta honored his death with commemorative stamps, Joseph Calleia went from touring Europe with a harmonica band to acting alongside some of the greatest Hollywood actors of his time. Calleia came to the United States in 1926 after traveling through post-World War I Europe, and he soon became a major presence on Broadway. He traded heavily on his dark features, and his 1931 contract signing with MGM found him playing mobsters, villains, and outlaws in numerous films, including the Jean Harlow/Spencer Tracy crime drama "Riff Raff" and the exotic mystery "Algiers." After establishing himself as a sought-after character actor in the '30s, Calleia became a heavyweight bad guy in the 1940s, using his ethnic looks to memorably portray a Spanish guerilla leader in the 1943 adaptation of the Ernest Hemingway novel "For Whom the Bell Tolls" and an Argentinian government agent in the classic noir film "Gilda." However, one of Calleia's greatest roles came in 1958 as American police officer Pete Menzies in Orson Welles's bewildering and beloved "Touch of Evil." The film, about a tangled web of blackmail, deception, and manipulation in a small Mexican town, was one of his last Hollywood appearances--after several more roles, including that of a heroic politician in 1960's "The Alamo," he left the United States and returned to Malta, where he lived for the rest of his life.

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Highest rated movies

100% 70% Lured
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97% 92% Touch of Evil
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96% 90% After the Thin Man
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93% 63% My Little Chickadee
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90% 88% Gilda
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88% 71% The Glass Key
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86% 43% Hot Blood
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85% 50% The Littlest Outlaw
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83% 46% Golden Boy
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83% 76% The Caddy
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Filmography

Movies

Credit
50% 46% Johnny Cool Tourist (Character) - 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Cry Tough Sr. Estrada (Character) - 1959
97% 92% Touch of Evil Police Sergeant Pete Menzies (Character) - 1958
No Score Yet 64% Wild Is the Wind Alberto (Character) - 1957
86% 43% Hot Blood Papa Theodore (Character) - 1956
No Score Yet 43% Serenade Maestro Marcatello (Character) - 1956
85% 50% The Littlest Outlaw Padre (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet 13% Underwater! Rico Herrera (Character) - 1955
No Score Yet 45% The Treasure of Pancho Villa Pablo Morales (Character) - 1955
83% 76% The Caddy Papa Anthony (Character) - 1953
No Score Yet No Score Yet Yankee Buccaneer Count Domingo Del Prado (Character) - 1952
No Score Yet 20% The Iron Mistress Juan Moreno (Character) - 1952
No Score Yet No Score Yet When in Rome Aggiunto Bodulli (Character) - 1952
No Score Yet No Score Yet Valentino Luigi Verducci (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Palomino Miguel Gonzales (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 43% The Light Touch Lt. Massiro (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 14% Captain Carey, U.S.A. Dr. Lunati (Character) - 1950
80% 62% Branded Rubriz (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet No Score Yet Vendetta Mayor Guido Barracini (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet 71% Four Faces West Monte Marquez (Character) - 1948
No Score Yet 58% The Noose Hangs High Nick Craig (Character) - 1948
No Score Yet No Score Yet Noose Sugiani (Character) - 1948
100% 70% Lured Dr. Nicholas Moryani (Character) - 1947
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Beginning or the End Dr. Enrico Fermi (Character) - 1947
No Score Yet 58% Deadline at Dawn Val Bartelli (Character) - 1946
90% 88% Gilda Detective Maurice Obregon (Character) - 1946
No Score Yet 59% The Conspirators Police Captain Pereira (Character) - 1944
No Score Yet 53% The Cross of Lorraine Rodriguez (Character) - 1944
64% 61% For Whom the Bell Tolls El Sordo (Character) - 1943
88% 71% The Glass Key Nick Varna (Character) - 1942
54% 56% Jungle Book Buldeo (Character) - 1942
No Score Yet 27% The Monster and the Girl Deacon (Character) - 1941
No Score Yet 9% Sundown Pallini (Character) - 1941
93% 63% My Little Chickadee Jeff Badger (proprietor, Last Gasp Saloon/The Masked Bandit) (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bad Man of Wyoming John Buckley (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet No Score Yet Wyoming John Buckley (Character) - 1940
No Score Yet 63% Five Came Back Vasquez (Character) - 1939
83% 46% Golden Boy Eddie Fuseli (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet 20% The Gorilla Stranger (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet No Score Yet Full Confession Unknown (Character) - 1939
No Score Yet 77% Marie Antoinette Drouet (Character) - 1938
No Score Yet 61% Algiers Inpector Slimane (Character) - 1938
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Bad Man of Brimstone Ben (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet No Score Yet Man of the People Jack Moreno (Character) - 1937
No Score Yet No Score Yet Exclusive Story Ace Acello (Character) - 1936
96% 90% After the Thin Man Lichee Club Owner (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tough Guy Joseph "Joe" Calerno (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet No Score Yet Robin Hood of El Dorado Screenwriter - 1936
No Score Yet 8% His Brother's Wife Fish-Eye (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sworn Enemy Joe Emerald (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet No Score Yet Sinner Take All Penny (Character) - 1936
No Score Yet 48% Riffraff Nick (Character) - 1935
No Score Yet No Score Yet Public Hero No. 1 Sonny `'Dinkie'` Black (Character) - 1935

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Zorro Unknown (Guest Star) 1959
No Score Yet No Score Yet Have Gun -- Will Travel Unknown (Guest Star) 1958