Robert Joseph Pastorelli (June 21, 1954 â€" March 8, 2004) was an American actor. He had many roles on TV, in movies, and on the stage, including the seven years he played painter Eldin Bernecky on the television series Murphy Brown. His last role was as an oddball hit man in Be Cool, reuniting him with Michael star John Travolta. Pastorelli died of a heroin overdose in 2004.
Early life
Pastorelli was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Dotty, an artist, and Ledo Pastorelli, an insurance salesman. Pastorelli was of Albanian descent from Italy. His sister, Gwen Pastorelli, is an opera singer and a real estate agent. He was a 1972 graduate of Edison High School in Edison, New Jersey. A near-fatal car crash on his 19th birthday cost him his dream of boxing professionally.
Career
Pastorelli was an admitted drug addict before he cleaned up his act and pursued theater work in New York in such 1970s productions as Rebel Without a Cause, The Rainmaker, and Death of a Salesman, he headed to Los Angeles and turned to film and TV in 1982, soon finding a fairly comfortable niche playing streetwise characters. After supporting Bette Midler and Shelley Long in Outrageous Fortune and Eddie Murphy in Beverly Hills Cop II, his first substantial film role came with Kevin Costner's Dances with Wolves. However, it was on TV that he would hit his stride as Candice Bergen's gruff but lovable house painter Eldin Bernecky on Murphy Brown, staying with the show for seven seasons. Murphy Brown producer Diane English gave Pastorelli his own starring vehicle, the sitcom Double Rush, which lasted one season in 1995. Two years later, Pastorelli headlined the American adaptation of the British detective series Cracker.
With his TV career came more visible roles in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, Michael, and Modern Vampires. He played the role of salty Luther Billis in the mini-movie remake of South Pacific with Glenn Close, then appeared as Mitch with Ms. Close on stage in A Streetcar Named Desire a year later. His final, posthumous, screen appearance was in Be Cool as Joe Loop in 2005.
Death
Pastorelli was found dead in his home at Hollywood Hills in 2004; a syringe, a spoon and a plastic bag with white powder were discovered near his body. His death occurred at the time the authorities were reopening the investigation into the March 1999 shooting death of his then-girlfriend, 25-year-old Charemon Jonovich, at their home. The Coroner's Office later reported that Pastorelli died of "fatal blood concentration of morphine."
Pastorelli was interred at Saint Catherine's Cemetery in Sea Girt, New Jersey.
Personal life
Pastorelli had two daughters. One is Gianna Li Pastorelli (born February 6, 1998), with Charemon Jonovich. His second daughter is Giannina Marie Pastorelli (born March 6, 2000) with long-time girlfriend Jalee Carder, a former fashion designer and co-owner of Stone Marten.
Filmography
- Knight Rider as Leroy (1983) Episode - Custom K.I.T.T. Season 2 Episode 8
- Newhart as Prisoner (1983) Television series
- I Married a Centerfold as Guard (1984)
- California Girls as Mechanic (1985)
- The A-Team as Dixon (1985)
- Beauty and the Beast as Eric Ramos (1987-1988), Television series
- Outrageous Fortune as Dealer #2 (1987)
- Hands of a Stranger as Handyman (1987) (TV)
- Beverly Hills Cop II as Vinnie (1987)
- Memories of Me as Al (1988)
- Lady Mobster as Matteo Villani (1988)
- Murphy Brown as Eldin Bernecky (1988-1994), Television series
- Dances with Wolves as Timmons (1990)
- The Paint Job as Willie (1992)
- Folks! as Fred (1992)
- FernGully: The Last Rainforest as Tony (1992)
- Striking Distance as Det. Jimmy Detillo (1993)
- Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit as Joey Bustamante (1993)
- Harmful Intent as Devlin O'Shea (1993)
- The Yarn Princess as Jake Thomas (1994)
- The West Side Waltz as Sookie Cerullo (1995)
- Double Rush as Johnny Verona (1995)
- Eraser as John "Johnny C" Casteleone (1996)
- Michael as Huey Driscoll (1996)
- A Simple Wish as Oliver Greening (1997)
- Cracker as Gerry Fitzgerald (1997)
- Scotch and Milk as The Skipper (1998)
- Heist as T-Bone (1998)
- Modern Vampires as The Count (1998)
- Bait as Jaster (2000)
- The Ballad of Lucy Whipple as Clyde Claymore (2001)
- South Pacific as Luther Billis (2001)
- Be Cool as Joe Loop (2005)
References
External links
- Robert Pastorelli at the Internet Movie Database
- Robert Pastorelli at Find a Grave