Portrait of Vincent Schiavelli

Birthday profile

Vincent Schiavelli

Vincent Schiavelli, American actor (died 2005)

Born
November 11, 1948
Died
December 26, 2005
Zodiac sign
Scorpio
Birth year
1948

About Vincent Schiavelli

Vincent Andrew Schiavelli ( SKEE-ə-VEL-ee; November 11, 1948 – December 26, 2005) was an American character actor noted for his work on stage, screen, and television. Described as an "instantly recognizable sad-faced actor", he was diagnosed with Marfan syndrome in childhood. Schiavelli gained fame as a character actor, mainly in supporting roles. He was a regular in the films of Miloš Forman including as Fredrickson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Antonio Salieri's valet in Amadeus (1984), Jean in Valmont (1989), Chester in The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and ABC executive Maynard Smith in Man on the Moon (1999). His other roles include Mr. Vargas in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982), John O'Connor in The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1982), the Subway Ghost in Ghost (1990), Organ Grinder in Batman Returns (1992), Lanny in The X-Files episode "Humbug" (1995), Dr. Kaufman in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), and Buggy Ding Dong in Death to Smoochy (2002). Schiavelli is the subject of the biographical film, Tanti beddi cosi (English, Many Beautiful Things) about his return to Polizzi Generosa, the historically significant ancestral village of his grandfather. In 1987, he starred alongside Tim Conway in the short film comedy Dorf on Golf, and then Dorf and the First Games of Mount Olympus in 1988.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Vincent Schiavelli was born

Vincent Schiavelli was born in 1948. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1948

  • #1 song"Twelfth Street Rag" – Pee Wee Hunt
  • Top movieHamlet
  • Top TV showTexaco Star Theater (Milton Berle)
  • Best-selling bookThe Naked and the Dead – Norman Mailer

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentCleveland Indians win the World Series
  • Top headlineState of Israel declared
  • Technology milestoneLong-playing vinyl record (LP) introduced
  • Defining fadTelevision sets in homes
  • Notable inventionVelcro
  • World population2.50 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championCleveland Indians (World Series)
  • Also wonBaltimore Bullets (BAA)
  • U.S. population146.6M

1948 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Vincent Schiavelli's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19482026
Gas$0.26$3.45/gal
Average home$8,300$435,000
Average income$5,000$67,500
Minimum wage$0.40$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.40$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population146.6M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.