Henry Armetta (born Enrico Armetta; July 4, 1888 â€" October 21, 1945)
was an American character actor who appeared in at least 150 American
films, beginning in silent movies. His last film was released
posthumously in 1946, the year after his death.Armetta was born in
Palermo, Sicily, Italy. At the age of 14, he stowed away on a boat to
America. The immigration authorities were prepared to send him back,
but he found an Italian family to act as his sponsor. He settled in
New York City where he delivered groceries, sold sandwiches and pizzas
and performed other menial tasks to get by. He eventually ended up
working as a pants presser at a well known club where he was
befriended by actor/producer Raymond Hitchcock. Hitchcock got him a
chorus part in his play A Yankee Consul.After a friend told him about
California's mushrooming film industry, Armetta hitchhiked to
Hollywood in 1920 and soon found work in films as a stereotypical
Italian, often playing a barber, grocer or restaurant owner. He went
on to appear in over 152 films (at least 24 films in 1934 alone),
often uncredited. Armetta appeared in several films for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer including Romance (1930) starring Greta Garbo,
What! No Beer? (1933) with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante, Everybody
Sing (1938) featuring Judy Garland, Allan Jones, and Fanny Brice, The
Big Store (1941) opposite the Marx Brothers, and a much thinner
Armetta was briefly glimpsed in one of his last appearances in the MGM
Technicolor musical Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Frank Sinatra and Gene
Kelly. He died the same year of a heart attack in San Diego. He is
buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
was an American character actor who appeared in at least 150 American
films, beginning in silent movies. His last film was released
posthumously in 1946, the year after his death.Armetta was born in
Palermo, Sicily, Italy. At the age of 14, he stowed away on a boat to
America. The immigration authorities were prepared to send him back,
but he found an Italian family to act as his sponsor. He settled in
New York City where he delivered groceries, sold sandwiches and pizzas
and performed other menial tasks to get by. He eventually ended up
working as a pants presser at a well known club where he was
befriended by actor/producer Raymond Hitchcock. Hitchcock got him a
chorus part in his play A Yankee Consul.After a friend told him about
California's mushrooming film industry, Armetta hitchhiked to
Hollywood in 1920 and soon found work in films as a stereotypical
Italian, often playing a barber, grocer or restaurant owner. He went
on to appear in over 152 films (at least 24 films in 1934 alone),
often uncredited. Armetta appeared in several films for
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer including Romance (1930) starring Greta Garbo,
What! No Beer? (1933) with Buster Keaton and Jimmy Durante, Everybody
Sing (1938) featuring Judy Garland, Allan Jones, and Fanny Brice, The
Big Store (1941) opposite the Marx Brothers, and a much thinner
Armetta was briefly glimpsed in one of his last appearances in the MGM
Technicolor musical Anchors Aweigh (1945) with Frank Sinatra and Gene
Kelly. He died the same year of a heart attack in San Diego. He is
buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.
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