Tony Azito

Tony Azito, born Antonio Zito on July 18, 1948, in New York, New York, was an American eccentric dancer and character actor whose Broadway career spanned from 1976 to 1988. Standing 6 feet 3 inches tall, he became recognized for comedic and grotesque roles that were amplified by his hyperextended physicality, a quality one interviewer likened to "a bit like Buster Keaton injected with Silly Putty."

Azito received his early training at the Juilliard School, where he was among the inaugural students admitted to the drama division in 1968 under the direction of John Houseman — a cohort that also included Patti LuPone and Kevin Kline. Shortly after enrolling, he came under the influence of choreographer Anna Sokolow and shifted his focus toward modern dance, an unusual pursuit for someone of his height. Tensions with Houseman, stemming in part from a cross-dressing incident and Houseman's concerns about the composition of the group, contributed to Azito leaving Juilliard without completing his degree. He subsequently spent two years performing in Sokolow's company under the name Antonio Azito. His younger brother, Arturo Azito, also pursued dance professionally, performing with Eliot Feld and the Boston Ballet.

Returning to drama in the mid-1970s, Azito built his early theatrical career in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions, frequently at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, where director Wilford Leach served as artistic director. His work at La MaMa included a 1971 performance in The Red, White, and Black, directed by John Dillon and written by Eric Bentley with music by Brad Burg, co-produced with the Columbia University School of the Arts Theatre Division. He appeared in Leach and John Braswell's 1973 La MaMa production of Carmilla, which featured music by Ben Johnston and remained part of the company's repertoire into the mid-1970s, with Azito reprising the role in 1976. Additional La MaMa credits from this period included Nancy Fales' Ark in 1974, with music by Sonelius Smith and direction by Ralph Lee, and Nancy Heikin's Frame, also produced by La MaMa in 1974 at the Washington Square Church. He also toured Europe with the E.T.C. Company of La MaMa in Leach's C.O.R.F.A.X. (Don't Ask) in 1974, following its New York run earlier that year. In 1975, he appeared in the Cotton Club Gala, featuring music by Aaron Bell.

Azito made his Broadway debut in 1976 in Richard Foreman's revival of The Threepenny Opera for the New York Shakespeare Festival, playing a dancing role called Samuel that was created specifically for him. Critics took note of his distinctive movement style, which gave the impression of an off-kilter marionette paired with stylized facial expressions. That production launched his ongoing association with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, which continued with another Brecht-Weill work, Happy End, in 1977.

His most celebrated stage role came in the 1980 Broadway revival of The Pirates of Penzance, also produced by the New York Shakespeare Festival, in which he played the Sergeant of Police opposite Linda Ronstadt and Kevin Kline. The performance earned him both a Tony Award nomination and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical in 1981. He reprised the role in the 1983 film adaptation, which was directed by Leach. Azito's final Broadway credit was The Mystery of Edwin Drood, again under Leach's direction. While touring with that production, both of his legs were severely broken when he was struck by a cab, requiring a lengthy recovery. He subsequently appeared in a summer stock revival of She Loves Me in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and in productions of Tom Stoppard's Travesties and the musical Amphigorey. He also played Feste in the New York Shakespeare Festival's 1986 production of Twelfth Night, directed by Leach, and performed at Radio City Music Hall, the Mark Taper Forum, and with the American National Theater company at the Kennedy Center.

Azito's film work included the lead role in the 1976 cult film Apple Pie, a supporting part in Union City (1980) with Debbie Harry, and an appearance in Woody Allen's Stardust Memories (1980). He also appeared in Chattanooga Choo Choo (1984), Private Resort (1985) with Rob Morrow and Johnny Depp, Moonstruck (1987) with Cher, Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989) with Madonna, and a cameo as one of the party dancers in The Addams Family (1991). His final film role was the Librarian in H.P. Lovecraft's: Necronomicon (1993). On television, he appeared in episodes of Miami Vice, The Equalizer, and Beacon Hill.

Azito continued working in regional theater and film through 1994. He died of HIV/AIDS on May 27, 1995, at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan at the age of 46.