Wally Cassell (March 3, 1912 – April 2, 2015) was an Italian-born American character actor and businessman.
Early years Wally Cassell was born as Oswaldo Silvestri Trippilini Rolando Vincenza Castellano. (A 1951 newspaper article gives Cassell's real name as Osvaldo Tripolini Ronaldo Vincennes Castelleno.) The son of Luigi and Luisa Castellano, Oswaldo was born in Agrigento, Sicily, and moved with his family to the United States when he was two years of age. (Another source says that his parents brought him to Brooklyn, New York, "when I was a babe in arms.") As a youngster, Cassell was a dancer, but he abandoned dancing to concentrate on acting.
Film Cassell began his film career in 1942, initially working in small, uncredited roles.With regard to the year that Cassell began his film career, another source states, "He...realized a childhood ambition to become an actor with a role in Labor Pains in 1937." Mickey Rooney, with whom Cassell appears in the 1950 film noir Quicksand, is credited with suggesting the change of name to Wally Cassell.Wally Cassell, Gangster in 'White Heat,' Dies at 103, Hollywood Reporter, May 28, 2015 Rooney is also credited with helping Cassell gain a screen test and a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
His film's credits, sometimes credited or uncredited, include The Thin Man Goes Home (1945), The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), The Clock (1945), The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946), The Guilty (1947), Loves of Carmen (1948), Saigon (1948), Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), White Heat (1949),Quicksand (1950), Highway 301 (1950), City That Never Sleeps (1953), Island in the Sky (1953), Law and Order (1953), Princess of the Nile (1954), Until They Sail (1957), and I, Madman (1989).
Television Cassell was later cast in two syndicated programs starring Jim Davis: Stories of the Century, in the role of gunman Luke Short, and Rescue 8, as Johnny French in "One More Step." Cassell also guest-starred in several television series, including The Loretta Young Show (1955), as "Oley" in James Arness's TV Western series Gunsmoke in the 1956 episode "Hack Prine" (S1E26), the 1959 premiere episode of The Untouchables ("The Empty Chair"), Rawhide (1960), and The Beverly Hillbillies (1963).
Later years Cassell retired from acting in 1964 and became a successful businessman.
Personal life and death Cassell was married to actress and singer Marcy McGuire from August 30, 1947, until his death. Cassell's daughter, Cindy Cassell, became an actress. At age 13, she had the role of Pony Hutchinson in the Walt Disney Studios film Emil and the Detectives (1964).
Cassell died at his home in Palm Desert, California in 2015 at age 103.
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1942 Fingers at the Window Photographer Uncredited Dr. Gillespie's New Assistant Gangster Uncredited Stand By for Action Talker Uncredited1943 The Human Comedy Man flirting Uncredited Presenting Lily Mars Man Uncredited Pilot ♯5 Soldier Uncredited Salute to the Marines Marine corporal Uncredited Thousands Cheer Jack Uncredited Swing Fever Cassidy Uncredited1943 Maisie Goes to Reno Reporter Uncredited Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Sailor Uncredited The Thin Man Goes Home Bill Burns Uncredited National Velvet Jockey Uncredited Music for Millions Soldier Uncredited1945 Main Street After Dark Jenkins Uncredited The Clock Soda jerk Uncredited Son of Lassie POW Uncredited Dangerous Partners Drumman Son Uncredited Story of G.I. Joe Private Dondaro Anchors Aweigh Sailor Uncredited1946 The Postman Always Rings Twice Ben Bad Bascomb Curley Uncredited Gallant Bess Mike Uncredited1947 Ramrod Virg Lea The Guilty Johnny Dixon Killer McCoy Louie - Gambler Uncredited1948 Summer Holiday Salesman Uncredited Saigon Sgt. Pete Rocco Homecoming Patient Uncredited The Loves of Carmen Dragoon Stagecoach Passenger Uncredited Joan of Arc French Soldier Offering Amulet Uncredited1949 Streets of San Francisco Den Driscoll We Were Strangers Miguel Arctic Manhunt Tooyuk White Heat Cotton Valletti Sands of Iwo Jima PFC Benny Regazzi1950 Quicksand Chuck Highway 301 Robert 'Bobby' Mais1951 Oh! Susanna Trooper Muro Little Big Horn Pvt. Danny Zecca The Wild Blue Yonder Sgt. Pulaski1952 Sound Off Tony Baccigalupi Breakdown Pete Sampson One Minute to Zero Pvt. Means Uncredited Thunderbirds Pfc. Sam Jacobs1953 Law and Order Durango Kid City That Never Sleeps Gregg Warren The Charge at Feather River Member of Rescue Party Uncredited Island in the Sky D'Annunzia1954 Princess of the Nile Goghi1955 Timberjack Veazie Paris Follies of 1956 Harry1956 The Come On TonyWetbacks Coast Guard lieutenant Accused of Murder Cipriano's Doorman Uncredited1957 Until They Sail Phil Friskett aka Shiner1958 The Walter Winchell File "David & Goliath" - Costa1960 The Rat Race Hotel Clerk Uncredited
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