John Beradino

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John Beradino (May 1, 1917 – May 19, 1996), born Giovanni Berardino, was an American infielder in Major League Baseball and an actor. Known as Johnny Berardino during his baseball career, he was also credited during his acting career as John Baradino, John Barardino or John Barradino.

Early life and education

He was born in Los Angeles, California. He attended Belmont High School, located in Downtown, Los Angeles.

Beradino is often mentioned as having appeared in the silent Our Gang comedies produced by Hal Roach as a child actor, but has not been identified as having appeared in any of the existing films.

Baseball career

After attending the University of Southern California where he played baseball under coach Sam Barry, Beradino was a major league player from 1939 to 1953 (except for three years of military service during World War II from 1942 to 1945). He played second base and shortstop for the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians, and Pittsburgh Pirates, winning the World Series with the Indians in 1948.^[1] After injuring his leg and being released by Pittsburgh in 1952, he retired from baseball and returned to acting, having appeared in his first film in 1948.

Acting career

He appeared briefly in an uncredited role as a state trooper in the 1954 thriller "Suddenly" starring Frank Sinatra and Sterling Hayden.

He had a guest role in a 1955 episode of the TV series Adventures of Superman, in an episode called "The Unlucky Number". He played a small-time criminal who struggled with his lifestyle and wanted to reform. His low-key acting style served him well in that show.

After appearing in more than a dozen B-movies, as well as supporting roles, as FBI agent Steve Daniels in the espionage series I Led Three Lives and as LAPD Sergeant Vince Cavelli in The New Breed, he was offered the role of Dr. Steve Hardy on the soap opera General Hospital. He played the role from the show's inception in 1963 until his death from pancreatic cancer on Sunday, May 19, 1996 in Beverly Hills, California.

Recognition

For his contribution to the television industry, Beradino has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. He has also been inducted into the University of Southern California Athletic Hall of Fame.

He is the only person to have won a World Series (1948) and have his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1993).

In tribute to the actor, General Hospital left Beradino's image with Rachel Ames (seen above) in its opening sequence for a year-and-a-half after his death, through several updates. Though that image was finally removed in early 1998 (leaving Ames with a new solo image), an "action" clip of Beradino's Steve Hardy in the hospital remained in the sequence until the sequence's 2004 retirement.

References

External links

• John Beradino at the Internet Movie Database
• John Beradino at Allmovie
• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• The Virtual Card Collection - Johnny Berardino, 1952 Topps Card # 252
• The Deadball Era
• John Beradino at Find a Grave