Robert Pastorelli
| Robert Pastorelli | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Robert Joseph Pastorelli June 21, 1954 New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States |
| Died | March 8, 2004 (aged 49) Hollywood Hills, California, United States |
| Cause of death | Morphine overdose |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1982–2004 |
| Partner(s) | Charemon Jonovich (?–1999; her death) |
| Children | 2 daughters |
Robert Joseph Pastorelli (June 21, 1954 – March 8, 2004) was an American actor.
Having acquired a reputation as a skilled character actor in the 1980s and 1990s, Pastorelli's career went into decline after the death of his girlfriend in mysterious circumstances at his home in 1999. He died of a narcotic overdose in 2004.
Pastorelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Ledo Pastorelli, an insurance salesman and Dotty, an artist. He was of Albanian descent from Italy. His sister, Gwen Pastorelli, is an opera singer and a real estate agent.
Pastorelli was raised in Edison, New Jersey, and graduated from Edison High School in 1972. He initially intended a career as a professional boxer, but had to abandon the sport due to injuries sustained in a near-fatal high-speed car crash at the age of 19 (he later claimed that he had a "near death" experience at this time, and that he had experienced himself looking down from above upon his body in a hospital bed with his father at the bedside overcome with grief). Pastorelli acquired a narcotic habit in his early twenties prior to his acting career, which he overcame, but which he would relapse into throughout his later life.
Pastorelli entered acting via New York City theater in the late 1970s, after studying at the New York Academy of Theatrical Arts and the Actors Studio, whilst financially maintaining himself working as a bar-tender. He made his stage debut in 1977 in a production of Rebel Without a Cause. He also performed in productions of The Rainmaker, and Death of a Salesman. Later in his career he performed at London's South Bank theater in A Streetcar Named Desire in 2002.
In 1982 Pastorelli headed west to Los Angeles seeking opportunities in Hollywood. Spending the early 1980s employed in television bit-part appearances, he found a niche playing streetwise characters, appearing also in supporting roles in Outrageous Fortune (1987) and Beverly Hills Cop II (1987). His first substantial film role came with Dances with Wolves (1990). His big break in television came in the role of the gruff but lovable house painter "Eldin Bernecky" on the series Murphy Brown, and he stayed with the show for seven seasons from 1988 to 1994. Murphy Brown producer Diane English was sufficiently impressed with his abilities that she worked with him to produce his first starring vehicle, the television sitcom Double Rush which lasted one season in 1995. Two years later, he starred in the American adaptation of the British detective series Cracker (1997-1999).
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