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Actor:

Henry Silva

  • Born: 1928 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '50s-'90s
  • Major Genres: Action, Crime
  • Career Highlights: The Manchurian Candidate, Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, The Bravados
  • First Major Screen Credit: A Hatful of Rain (1957)

Biography

Born in Brooklyn of Puerto Rican parentage, Henry Silva supported himself with delivery jobs as he trained for an acting career with the Group Theater and the Actors Studio. Though definitely an "ethnic type," Silva's actual heritage was nebulous enough to permit him to play a wide variety of nationalities. He has successfully portrayed Mexicans, Native Americans, Italians, Japanese, and even extraterrestrials. Among Henry Silva's best-known film roles were the treacherous North Korean "houseboy" to Laurence Harvey in The Manchurian Candidate (1962), the vengeful eponymous gangster in Johnny Cool (1963), and the shrewd Oriental title character in The Return of Mr. Moto (1965). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

 
 
Filmography: Henry Silva

Ocean's Eleven

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Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai

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The End of Violence

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Mad Dog Time

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Possessed by the Night

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The Silence of the Hams

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The Harvest

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South Beach

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Wikipedia: Henry Silva
Henry Silva
Born September 15 1928 (1928--) (age 79)
Brooklyn, New York

Henry Silva (born September 15, 1928) is an American actor who has played a wide variety of movie roles.

Silva was born in Brooklyn, New York to a Sicilian father and a Spanish mother.[1] He grew up in Harlem and quit school when he was 13 years old to attend drama classes, supporting himself as a dishwasher and waiter in a Manhattan hotel. By 1955, Silva felt ready to audition for the Actors Studio. He was one of five students chosen out of more than 2,500 applicants. When the Studio staged Michael V. Gazzo's play, A Hatful of Rain as a classroom project, it proved so successful that it was presented in Broadway, with students Ben Gazzara, Shelley Winters, Harry Guardino, Tony Franciosa, and Henry Silva in key roles. Silva also appeared in the movie version of the play.

Called to Hollywood, he played a succession of "heavies" in films including The Tall T, The Bravados, Green Mansions, Ocean's Eleven, The Manchurian Candidate, and Johnny Cool. He also did some comedy, including appearing in Jerry Lewis' Cinderfella. In 1965 he appeared in a revival of an old film series, playing Mr. Moto in The Return of Mr. Moto in yellowface.

An Italian producer made Henry an offer to star as a hero for a change--and he moved his family overseas. Silva's turning-point picture was a spaghetti western, The Hills Run Red, which made him a hot box office commodity in Spain, Italy, Germany, and France. His popularity was enhanced by a flair for the kind of gritty, realistic roles which also catapulted Charles Bronson to European stardom, and a gift for languages. He speaks Italian and Spanish flawlessly.

Returning to the United States, he co-starred with Frank Sinatra in Contract on Cherry Street, then signed on as Buck Rogers' evil adversary. In 1999, he appeared as the sorrowful and doomed mob boss Ray Vargo in Ghost Dog. Silva now calls the San Fernando Valley home, but makes continual film forays back to Europe's production centers. A dedicated jogger, he puts in five miles a day "to keep in shape and relieve tension." He is married and the father of two sons, Michael and Scott.

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Actor. Copyright © 2006 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Henry Silva" Read more

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