Don Calfa
Age: Died Dec. 1, 2016, at age 76
Number of Film & TV Roles: 88
Notable Roles: Return of the Living Dead; Weekend at Bernie’s; Treasure of the Moon Goddess; Chopper Chicks in Zombietown; Bugsy; The Star Chamber; Foul Play; Stay Tuned
Typical Role: Hitman, scumbag, friend
Why He’s Great: We at Hard Ticket to Home Video hardquarters were very sad to learn of Mr. Don Calfa’s passing this week. While he didn’t have the most amazing career, he played key roles in two of my personal favorite movies of all time: Return of the Living Dead and Weekend at Bernie’s. He will always hold a special place in my heart’s bosom for his fantastic turns as possible Nazi-sympathizing zombie-killing mortician Ernie Kaltenbrunner, and bumbling hitman who can’t kill a corpse Paulie. May he rest in more peace than the subjects of those two movies.
Biography (via Wikipedia): Calfa was born on December 3, 1939 in Brooklyn, New York, and was raised in Ozone Park, Queens and later West Hempstead, Long Island. According to his official biography, Calfa was originally interested in pursuing a career in the fine arts, but diverted his interest to acting after seeing Rebel Without a Cause. He promptly dropped out of high school to join a theater workshop (later finishing his degree through night school), eventually joining both the Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. Before transitioning to film, Calfa worked heavily in theater, appearing in many Off-Off-Broadway productions and having performed on Broadway in 1965 in Mating Dance and in 1971 in Lenny.
Calfa worked steadily in both film and television for over 40 years, and has worked alongside such high-profile actors and directors as Warren Beatty, Michael Douglas, Jack Nicholson, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. Although he has worked extensively as a dramatic actor, Calfa is perhaps best recognized for his comedic performances in various cult films, including as Paulie the hitman in the 1989 dark comedy Weekend at Bernie’s, Scarface in Foul Play, Harold Grand in Treasure of the Moon Goddess and mad scientist Ralph Willum in Chopper Chicks in Zombietown.
Calfa was perhaps best known for his major role in the 1985 cult horror-comedy The Return of the Living Dead, in which he played the eccentric mortician Ernie Kaltenbrunner. He would later audition for the role of Doc Mandel in the 1988 sequel Return of the Living Dead Part II, which also featured several returning stars from the original, but the part ultimately went to Philip Bruns. In 1993, Calfa was set to play the character Colonel Peck in Return of the Living Dead III, but had to pull out of production due to personal reasons. He remained good friends with the rest of the Living Dead cast and crew, and made appearances alongside them at horror conventions and screenings of the film across the United States. Calfa was also interviewed for the 2012 documentary on the film, More Brains! A Return to the Living Dead.
Personal life
Calfa resided in California, and was a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. He had been a close friend and colleague of fellow actor Richard Lynch since the 1960s, and acted alongside him in the films H.P. Lovecraft’s: Necronomicon (1993), Toughguy (1995), Corpses Are Forever (2003) and Lewisburg (2010). His former spouse was Trixie Flynn (10 September 1977 – 26 August 1981) (divorced).
Calfa died on December 1, 2016, at his home in Yucca Valley, California, at the age of 76, just two days before his birthday.
Calfa Clips:
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