Tom Pedi

Thomas Joseph Pedi was born on September 14, 1913, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Angelo Pedi and Carmen Raimondo. He attended New Utrecht High School, from which he graduated in 1933. Pedi was the cousin of voice actress Christine Pedi. He died of a heart attack on December 29, 1996, at age 83, in Burbank, California, and his cremated remains are interred at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton, California.

Pedi built a career across stage, television, and film that spanned approximately 50 years. His professional debut came in 1937, when he played Benito Mussolini in Pins and Needles, a revue by Harold Rome. He became particularly associated with the role of Rocky, the night barman, in Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh — a part he originated and subsequently reprised in both film and television adaptations of the play.

His Broadway career extended from 1941 to 1968 and encompassed a range of productions. Among his credits were Guys and Dolls, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, My Mother, My Father and Me, The Investigation, and Mike Downstairs. Beyond Broadway, Pedi performed in the premiere of the stage version of State Fair at The Muny in St. Louis in 1969, a production that ran for two weeks. During an extended engagement with the touring company of Guys and Dolls, Pedi married Philadelphia-born showgirl Stacey Hunter in London on August 7, 1953. The couple returned to the United States the following October accompanied by their young son, Alexander.