Joseph Calleia

Joseph Calleia (* August 4, 1897 in Rabat, † 31 October 1975, in Sliema, Malta; actually Giuseppe Maria Spurrin - Calleja ) was a Maltese actor.

Life

Joseph Calleia early discovered his talent for singing and composition and graduated in 1914 at the age of 17 years, a band of, with which he left Malta to travel through Europe. In the following years, he and his band played in the cafes and music halls of the First World War -torn capitals. About engagements in Paris and London, he came to New York in 1926, where he soon switched to acting and his first roles was playing on Broadway. Talent scout from Hollywood took notice of him, after which in 1931 he received a contract with MGM. He was usually cast as a Latin American, Greek, or even as an Arab by his southern appearance.

Joseph Calleia played 1931-1963 in 57 feature films, where he was often seen as a police officer, for example as Inspector Slimane in Algiers (1938 ) alongside Charles Boyer and Hedy Lamarr, or perhaps even in his most famous role as Detective Maurice Obregon in Gilda (1946 ) with Rita Hayworth and Glenn Ford in 1958, he starred as Sergeant Menzies also on the side of Orson Welles in his cynical film noir touch of Evil ( touch of evil ). 1963 ended Calleia his acting career and returned to his home back to Malta.

From 1929 he was married to Eleanor Vassallo. The marriage remained childless, but held up Vassallos death in 1968. Calleia Joseph died seven years later at the age of 78 years. He was then buried in the family vault in the cemetery of Santa Maria Addolorata in Paola. Posthumously Calleia was given a special honor of his country, as Malta published in 1997 on the occasion of his 100th birthday two stamps with his likeness. In October 2005, a bust of him was outside the house, was born in the Calleia built. She was sponsored by Bank of Valletta and made ​​by the Maltese Pictures Hauer Anton Agius.

Filmography (selection)