Alex Rocco, born Alessandro Federico Petricone, Jr. on February 29, 1936, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, was a talented character actor known for his tough, gruff, and volatile on-screen presence.
Growing up in Boston's Winter Hill gang, Rocco was nicknamed "Bobo" and was briefly detained regarding a murder at one point. However, he decided to straighten his life and relocated to Hollywood in 1962 after his detainment and release.
Rocco began his acting career in the mid-1960s, initially training with notable teachers such as Leonard Nimoy and Jeff Corey to curb his thick Boston accent. He worked as a bartender during the lean years, but his film and TV career finally took off in 1965.
Rocco's early film and TV appearances often showcased his gritty, anti-hero and villain roles, including his debut in the exploitation flick Motorpsycho! (1965) and a featured role in The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967). He also made sporadic appearances on TV shows such as "Run for Your Life," "Batman," and "Get Smart."
Rocco's breakthrough came in the early 1970s, with featured roles in violent exploitation films like Blood Mania (1970) and Brute Corps (1971). He then received a huge boost in an Oscar-winning "A" film, The Godfather (1972),in which he played the role of Las Vegas syndicate boss Moe Green.
From there, Rocco found a comfortable supporting niche playing various swarthy-looking cronies, hoods, and cops in crime films like The Outside Man (1972),Slither (1973),The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973),Freebie and the Bean (1974),and A Woman for All Men (1975).
Rocco's TV work during the 1970s included yeoman work on cop shows like "The Rookies," "Get Christie Love," "Kojak," "Cannon," and "The Rockford Files." He also appeared in TV movies and miniseries like A Question of Guilt (1978),The Gangster Chronicles (1981),and Badge of the Assassin (1985).
In the midst of his busy career, Rocco starred in his own series, Three for the Road (1975),playing a widower photographer with two teenage sons. Although well-received, the show was short-lived due to poor scheduling.
Rocco returned to series TV in the late 1980s and won a "Supporting Actor" Emmy Award for his role as a slick Hollywood agent in The Famous Teddy Z (1989). He also appeared in recurring roles on The Simpsons (1989) and The Facts of Life (1979) and continued to work in film and TV throughout his career, amassing over 400 TV appearances.
Rocco was married twice, first to Sandra Garrett, a nightclub performer and screenwriter, who died of cancer in 2002. He then married actress Shannon Wilcox in 2005 and appeared with her in the film Scammerhead (2014).
Rocco was a proud father of three children, including screenwriter and director Marc Rocco, who died in 2009. He also had two other children with his first wife. Alex Rocco died of pancreatic cancer on July 18, 2015, at the age of 79.
