Victor Buono

Description

Victor Charles Buono (February 3, 1938 - January 1, 1982) was an American actor and comic. <p>He was born Victor Charles Buono in San Diego, California, a son of Victor Francis Buono (May 28, 1907-May 17, 1981) and Myrtle Belle Keller (October 19, 1909 -August 27, 1979). His maternal grandmother, Myrtle Glied (April 18, 1886-December 9, 1969), had been a Vaudeville performer on the Orpheum Circuit. When he was a little boy, she taught him songs and recitations and encouraged him to perform for visitors. <p>Even though the young Buono enjoyed the polite applause of those captive audiences, he thought he wanted to be a doctor. When he was sixteen, Father John Aherne of St. Augustine High School in San Diego cast him as Papa Barrett in the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Buono appeared in three plays a year while attending high school, which included Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp and Shakespearean dramas. He even played the title role of Hamlet. <p>He soon forgot about having a medical career...