Born Vincente Scognamiglio in Naples, Italy. Short, stocky, prolific character player whose furrowed brow, hawk nose and hearty, often blustering manner made him an instantly recognizable figure on stage, screen and TV since the late 1950s. Starting as a professional actor in his mid-30s, Gardenia kept busy in supporting roles on Broadway in such plays as Volpone (1957), Only in America (1959), and Seidman and Son (1962) and in films including THE HUSTLER (1961) (playing a bartender) and MAD DOG COLL (1961) (playing Dutch Schultz). It was not until the 1970s, however, that he began attracting larger roles and critical acclaim. His role on Broadway in Neil Simon's The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1972) earned him a Tony®, and he copped a New York Film Critics Award and his first Oscar® nomination the following year as the baseball team manager in the touching BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (1973). Gardenia subsequently essayed roles in several other Simon plays (Plaza Suite, California Suite), including one in God's Favorite that the playwright penned especially for him. Probably his most visible role occurred during this period, when he played Archie Bunker's loquacious ever-singing, culinary buff neighbor Frank Lorenzo on the CBS perennial, "All in the Family." Gardenia's roles in comedy called for what has been called "a celebration of hilarious exaggeration," as he gesticulated manically and played up various Italianate and Brooklynese mannerisms which can evoke either Damon Runyon or David Mamet depending on the occasion. (In 1984-85, he replaced Robert Prosky in the Broadway production of Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.) His amusing turn as Cher's emphatic father, Cosmo Castorini, in MOONSTRUCK (1987) is typical in this respect. Gardenia also spent a considerable portion of his career playing huffy but good-hearted police officers, detectives, and station captains in TV films including "Cops" (1973), "Muggable Mary, Street Cop" (1982), "The Dark Mirror" (1984) and "Brass" (1985) and films such as HEAVEN CAN WAIT (1978). Other notable film credits include MURDER, INC. (1960), A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE (1961), THE THIRD DAY (1965), JENNY and WHERE'S POPPA? (both 1970), LITTLE MURDERS and COLD TURKEY (both 1971), HICKEY & BOGGS (1972), LUCKY LUCIANO (1973), DEATH WISH and THE FRONT PAGE (both 1974), BORDELLA (1976), FIRE SALE and GREASED LIGHTNING (both 1977), FIREPOWER and SENSITIVITÀ (both 1979), HOME MOVIES and THE LAST FLIGHT OF NOAH'S ARK (both 1980), CIAO NEMICO and DEATH WISH II (both 1982), MOVERS & SHAKERS (1985), LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1986), CAVALLI SI NASCE and CHEEEESE (both 1988), and SKIN DEEP (1989). Gardenia made his final film appearance as the father of Joe Pesci in THE SUPER (1991).  Nominated for Supporting Actor 1973: BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY  Nominated for Best Performance By an Actor in a Supporting Role 1987: MOONSTRUCK 2 nominations