Robert Loggia

The Sandpaper Voice That Conquered Hollywood

Robert Loggia wasn't born to be a movie star. Before stepping in front of a camera in New York, he worked as a military journalist and studied literature at the University of Missouri. He had that sandpaper voice, as if he'd swallowed glass, and a physical presence that intimidated effortlessly.

He was a tough guy from Staten Island.

In 1983, Brian De Palma cast him as Frank Lopez in Scarface. Loggia played a drug lord who is devoured by his own protégé in a Miami mansion. That was the moment the industry realized his face fit organized crime better than conventional neighborhood stories.

But his big professional breakthrough came shortly after.

For his role as detective Sam Ransom in Jagged Edge, he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in 1986. Loggia filled the screen with brilliant insults and a bad temper that was strangely magnetic to audiences of the time.

The Dance Nobody Expected

Few actors can boast of having filmed one of the most memorable scenes in mainstream cinema without firing a single shot. In 1988, he agreed to take part in Big alongside a young Tom Hanks.

The giant piano scene at the FAO Schwarz toy store was rehearsed for weeks. Loggia and Hanks jumped across the plastic keys to play Chopsticks and Heart and Soul without stunt doubles or editing tricks.

It was a massive box office hit.

That ability to shift from physical menace to businesslike tenderness allowed him to work with directors such as David Lynch. In 1997, he played Mr. Eddy in Lost Highway. The scene where he beats a driver for not keeping a safe following distance perfectly captures his energy on set.

Celebrities Who Smell of Gunpowder

Television was his constant refuge for decades. In 2004, he joined the cast of The Sopranos to play Feech La Manna, an old-school mobster who gets out of prison to reclaim his turf.

He held his own opposite James Gandolfini.

Loggia filmed his final scenes for Independence Day: Resurgence, which was released posthumously in 2016. His health had deteriorated severely years earlier due to complications from Alzheimer's.

He died at his Los Angeles home on December 4, 2015, at age 85.