Ralph Peduto (March 9, 1942 – May 12, 2014) was an American actor,

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

, writer and director. Peduto's film roles included ''

Mrs. Doubtfire ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Chris Columbus. It was written for the screen by Randi Mayem Singer and Leslie Dixon, based on the 1987 novel '' Alias Madame Doubtfire'' by Anne Fine. Robin Williams, who also ...

'' in 1993, '' The Rock'' in 1996, and ''

Patch Adams Hunter Doherty "Patch" Adams (born May 28, 1945) is an American physician, comedian, social activist, clown, and author. He founded the Gesundheit! Institute in 1971. Each year he also organizes volunteers from around the world to travel to var ...

'' in 1998, while his television credits included guest spots in ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

'' and ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

''. He ultimately appeared in more than 100 film and television roles, as forty television commercials. An acting teacher as well as an actor, Peduto founded Acting On Camera, an acting school in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

Life and career

Peduto was born on March 9. 1942, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Italian American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

family. He was the eldest of three children of James and Helen Peduto. He attended

James J. Ferris High School James J. Ferris High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades from Jersey City in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, operated as part of the Jersey City Public Schools. The s ...

and graduated from

William L. Dickinson High School William L. Dickinson High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school located in Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as part of the Jersey City Public Sch ...

in Jersey City (He was later inducted into Dickinson's Hall of Fame in 2000). Peduto enlisted in the U.S. Army and was stationed in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

era. He then attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

after returning to the United States. In 1973, Peduto moved from

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

to the

Monterey Bay Area Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

to accept a broadcasting position at

KRML KRML (1410 AM) is an American radio station licensed to serve Carmel, California. The station, established in 1958 as KTEE, is currently owned and operated by Scot McKay, through licensee KRML Radio, LLC. The station's broadcast license is held b ...

, an AM

radio station Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radio ...

Carmel, California Carmel-by-the-Sea (), often simply called Carmel, is a city in Monterey County, California, United States, founded in 1902 and municipal corporation, incorporated on October 31, 1916. Situated on the Monterey Peninsula, Carmel is known for its n ...

. He first began acting at

Cabrillo College Cabrillo College is a public community college in Aptos, California. It is named after the conquistador Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo and opened in 1959. Cabrillo College has an enrollment of about 12,000 students per term. Facilities Classes are of ...

. He soon wrote and produced theater plays at Cabrillo, including "Root Rock," his

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

musical which debuted in 1979. Peduto transitioned to roles in Hollywood films, television shows and commercials during the 1980s. He appeared in television and films from the 1980s to the 2000s. Peduto also had an extensive career in television commercials. His best known commercial work was as the "Midas Man", a character and spokesman for the

Midas Midas (; grc-gre, Μίδας) was the name of a king in Phrygia with whom several myths became associated, as well as two later members of the Phrygian royal house. The most famous King Midas is popularly remembered in Greek mythology for his ...

automotive centers, in which he urged consumers to depend on Midas. Peduto was a longtime resident of

Capitola, California Capitola is a small seaside town in Santa Cruz County, California. Capitola is located on the northern shores of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. The city had a population of 9,938 at the 2020 census. Capitola is a popular tour ...

. Ralph Peduto died on May 12, 2014, just twelve days after being diagnosed with leukemia, at the age of 72. He was survived by his wife of 45 years, Laura Peduto, and their two children, Maro Peduto and Oceanna Ceja.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Peduto, Ralph 1942 births 2014 deaths American male film actors American male television actors American male stage actors Male actors from California American writers of Italian descent Male actors from Santa Cruz, California Male actors from Jersey City, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Cabrillo College alumni 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Deaths from leukemia Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights William L. Dickinson High School alumni Writers from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Capitola, California