Nicholas Cuccia (pronounced ''coo-cha''; January 10, 1912 – January 29, 1994), better known by his

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Nick Cravat, was an American actor and stunt performer.

Early life

Nicholas Cuccia was born in Manhattan, New York City. His real surname was Italian and considered too hard to pronounce, so he took a stage name, Cravat, from a character in a play he had seen and liked.

Career

Cravat and

Burt Lancaster Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...

met as youngsters at a summer camp in New York and became lifelong friends. They created an acrobatic act called Lang and Cravat in the early 1930s, and joined the Kay Brothers circus in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...

. The pair worked at various circuses and in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

. In 1939, Lancaster suffered a hand injury that ended their act. They would later reunite. He co-starred with Lancaster in nine films, including ''

The Flame and the Arrow ''The Flame and the Arrow'' is a 1950 American Technicolor swashbuckler film made by Warner Bros. and starring Burt Lancaster, Virginia Mayo and Nick Cravat. It was directed by Jacques Tourneur and produced by Harold Hecht and Frank Ross from ...

'' (1950), '' The Crimson Pirate'' (1952), ''

Run Silent, Run Deep ''Run Silent, Run Deep'' is a novel by Commander (later Captain) Edward L. Beach Jr. published in 1955 by Henry Holt & Co. The story describes World War II submarine warfare in the Pacific Ocean, and deals with themes of vengeance, endurance, ...

'' (1958), ''

The Scalphunters ''The Scalphunters'' is a 1968 American Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Ossie Davis and Telly Savalas. The film was directed by Sydney Pollack, with the score written by Elmer Bernstein. Davis was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Su ...

'' (1968) and '' The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1977). He played a mute character in several films such as ''The Flame and the Arrow'', ''The Crimson Pirate'', '' Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'' (1955), and the TV series ''

The Count of Monte Cristo ''The Count of Monte Cristo'' (french: Le Comte de Monte-Cristo) is an adventure novel written by French author Alexandre Dumas (''père'') completed in 1844. It is one of the author's more popular works, along with ''The Three Musketeers''. L ...

'', mostly because his thick

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

accent would have been out of place. He also played the "

gremlin A gremlin is a mischievous folkloric creature invented at the beginning of the 20th century to originally explain malfunctions in aircraft and later in other machinery and processes and their operators. Depictions of these creatures vary widely ...

" on the wing of an airplane in the 1963 '' Twilight Zone'' episode " Nightmare at 20,000 Feet".

Personal life

Cravat's first wife was Mae Ruth Cuccia, also known as Arlene Cravat. He had two daughters from his second marriage, to Cecilia Brink: Marcelina "Marcy" Cravat-Overway and Christina "Tina" Cravat (a.k.a. Tina Cuccia). Marcy Cravat is an environmental documentary filmmaker. Her debut film, ''Angel Azul'', completed in 2014, won 12 awards. The film explores issues related to coral reefs through art activism. ''Dirt Rich'', her second film, explores solutions to reverse the effects of global warming by re-stabilizing safe atmospheric carbon levels by returning carbon to the soil.information available on website http://www.dirtrichthemovie.com/

Death

Cravat died of

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, mali ...

Woodland Hills, California Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Geography Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...

, on January 29, 1994, at the age of 82. He is interred at

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, located in the San Fernando Valley. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, the El Portal Theatre, several art galleries, and the Academy of TV Arts and Sciences. The North ...

's Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

Filmography

*''

My Friend Irma ''My Friend Irma'' is a media franchise that was spawned by a top-rated, long-running radio situation comedy created by writer-director-producer Cy Howard. The radio show was so popular in the late 1940s that its success escalated the films, ...

'' (1949) – Mushie (uncredited) *''

The File on Thelma Jordon ''The File on Thelma Jordon'' is a 1950 American film noir drama film directed by Robert Siodmak and starring Barbara Stanwyck and Wendell Corey. The screenplay by Ketti Frings, based on an unpublished short story by Marty Holland, concerns a woma ...

'' (1950) – Reporter (uncredited) *''

'' (1950) – Piccolo *'' Ten Tall Men'' (1951) – Disgruntled Riff (uncredited) *'' The Crimson Pirate'' (1952) – Ojo *''

The Veils of Bagdad ''The Veils of Bagdad'' is a 1953 American adventure film directed by George Sherman and starring Victor Mature and Mari Blanchard. Plot In 1560, Antar is sent by Selima, head of the Ottoman Empire, to prevent Pasha Hammam from attempting to ove ...

'' (1953) – Ahmed *''

King Richard and the Crusaders ''King Richard and the Crusaders'' is a 1954 American historical drama film made by Warner Bros. The film stars Rex Harrison, Virginia Mayo, George Sanders and Laurence Harvey, with Robert Douglas, Michael Pate and Paula Raymond. It was directe ...

'' (1954) – Nectobanus *'' 3 Ring Circus'' (1954) – Timmy *'' Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier'' (1955) – Busted Luck *'' The Big Knife'' (1955) – Nick (uncredited) *''

The Story of Mankind ''The Story of Mankind'' is a book written and illustrated by Dutch-American journalist, professor, and author Hendrik Willem van Loon. It was published in 1921. In 1922, it was awarded the Newbery Medal for an outstanding contribution to children ...

'' (1957) – Devil's Apprentice *''

'' (1958) – Russo *'' Cat Ballou'' (1965) – Minor Role (uncredited) *''

The Way West ''The Way West'' is a 1949 western novel by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. The book won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950 and became the basis for a film starring Kirk Douglas, Robert Mitchum, and Richard Widmark. The novel is one in the sequence of ...

'' (1967) – Calvelli *''

'' (1968) – Yancy *''

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

'' (1970) – Nick Valli – Passenger (uncredited) *'' Valdez Is Coming'' (1971) – Gang Member (uncredited) *''

Ulzana's Raid ''Ulzana's Raid'' is a 1972 American Revisionist Western film starring Burt Lancaster, Richard Jaeckel, Bruce Davison and Joaquin Martinez. The film, which was filmed on location in Arizona, was directed by Robert Aldrich based on a script by ...

'' (1972) – Trooper *'' The Midnight Man'' (1974) – Gardener *'' The Island of Dr. Moreau'' (1977) – M'Ling (final film role) *

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cravat, Nick American male film actors American male television actors 1912 births 1994 deaths Deaths from lung cancer in California Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery 20th-century American male actors American stunt performers Federal Theatre Project people