Joseph Mascolo Biography

Joseph Peter Mascolo (March 13, 1929 - December 8, 2016) was an American musician and dramatic actor. During his long career, he acted in numerous motion pictures and television series. He was best known for playing supervillain Stefano DiMera, a role he originated in 1982 on NBC's Days of Our Lives.

Early life

Mascolo was born on March 13, 1929, and raised in West Hartford, Connecticut. His parents, Anna Mascolo (ne DeTuccio; 1910-2010) and Peter Mascolo (1901-2008), were immigrants from Naples, Italy, and had their 80th wedding anniversary shortly before his father died. Mascolo had one sister, Marie LaVoie. He attended the United States Military Academy after graduating high school. Mascolo attended the University of Miami. To support himself financially, he studied acting under famed acting coach Stella Adler in New York City. He originally was trained in classical music and opera.

Career

Theatre

Mascolo was in the 1962 production of Night Life as Kazar and the understudy of Neville Brand. He was in the 1966 production of Dinner at Eight as Ricci. Mascolo was in the 1969 production of The Time of Your Life as Blick. His final theatrical appearance was in 1972's That Championship Season as Phil Romano.

Film

Mascolo's first film appearance was in 1968's Hot Spur as Carlo. He was in 1972's neo-noir action crime-drama film Shaft's Big Score! as Gus Mascola. Mascolo was in 1973's The Spook Who Sat by the Door and 1978's Jaws 2 as Len Peterson. He was in 1981's Sharky's Machine as Joe Tipps and 1982's Yes, Giorgio Mascolo's last film appearance was in 1986's Heat as Baby.

Television

Mascolo was best known in the recurring role of Stefano DiMera on Days of Our Lives from 1982 to 1985, returning briefly in 1988 & 1991, again from 1993 to 2001, and making appearances again since 2007 until Stefano's death in 2016, making his final appearance on February 9, 2017, airing 2 months after his death, and won three Soap Opera Digest Awards. He has also played a wide range of roles on many different series including (but not limited to) a Stefano-like villain named Nicholas Van Buren on General Hospital, and Carlos Alvarez on Santa Barbara. Before achieving his fame, he was seen in the earlier soap operas Where the Heart Is and From These Roots. He also made primetime television appearances on All in the Family, The Eddie Capra Mysteries, Lou Grant and The Rockford Files.

Mascolo portrayed Massimo Marone on CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful beginning August 2001. He decided not to renew his contract with the show in July 2006, due to a lack of storyline and decided to return to Days of Our Lives, where his character Stefano DiMera was resurrected after six years.

Mascolo also appeared in The Incredible Hulk in October 1979, as Mr. Arnold in the episode "Brain Child". 10 years later, he would appear again in NBC's The Trial of the Incredible Hulk, as Albert G. Tendelli, a police confidant of Daredevil.

Personal life and death

Mascolo married Rose Maimone in 1953. Together they had a son named Peter. Maimone died in 1986. In 2005, he married his second wife, Patricia Schultz. In January 2016, Mascolo told Soap Opera Digest that he had suffered from a stroke in the spring of 2015. "During my rehab, I thought this would be a good time for Stefano to leave."

Mascolo died on December 8, 2016, in Santa Clarita, California at the age of 87 after years of battling Alzheimer's disease. He was survived by his wife, Patricia Schultz-Mascolo, his son Peter, his step-daughter Laura, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

Mascolo's body was cremated

Theatre

Year	Title	Venue	Role	Dates	Notes
1962	Night Life	Brooks Atkinson Theatre	Kazar	October 23, 1962 - December 15, 1962
1966	Dinner at Eight	Alvin Theatre	Ricci	September 27, 1966 - January 14, 1967	Directed by Tyrone Guthrie, written by George S. Kaufman & Edna Ferber, and produced by Elliot Martin, Lester Osterman, Jr., Alan King & Walter A. Hyman, Ltd.
1968	West Side Story	Lincoln Center	Schrank	June 24, 1968 - September 7, 1968	Directed and choreography by Lee Theodore and produced by The Musical Theater of Lincoln Center & Richard Rodgers.
1969	The Time of Your Life	Vivian Beaumont Theatre	Blick	November 6, 1969 - December 20, 1969	Directed by John Hirsch, written by William Saroyan, and produced by Jules Irving.
1970	Camino Real		Officer	January 8, 1970 - February 21, 1970	Directed by Milton Katselas, written by Tennessee Williams, and produced by Jules Irving.
	Operation Sidewinder		Colonel Warner	March 12, 1970 - April 25, 1970	Directed by Michael Schultz, written by Sam Shepard, music composed and performed by The Holy Modal Rounders, and produced by Jules Irving.
	The Good Woman of Setzuan		Policeman	November 5, 1970 - December 13, 1970	Directed by Robert Symonds, written by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Ralph Manheim, featuring songs by John Lewin & Herbert Pilhofer, and produced by Jules Irving.
1971	Murderous Angels	Playhouse Theatre	Col. Alcibiade Zbyre	December 20, 1971 - January 9, 1972
1972	That Championship Season	Booth Theatre	Phil Romano	September 14, 1972 - April 21, 1974

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1968	Hot Spur	Carlo	Western film written and directed by R.L. Frost.
1972	Shaft's Big Score!	Gus Mascola	Neo-noir action crime-drama film directed by Gordon Parks.
1973	Happy Mother's Day, Love George	Piccolo	</ref> Credited as Joe Mascolo. Also known as Run Stranger, Run. }}
	The Spook Who Sat by the Door	Senator Hennington	</ref> Based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Sam Greenlee. }}
1978	Jaws 2	Len Peterson	Horror thriller film directed by Jeannot Szwarc.
1981	Gangster Wars	Salvatore Maranzano	Based on the 1981 miniseries The Gangster Chronicles. }}
	Sharky's Machine	Joe Tipps	</ref> Adaptation of William Diehl's first novel Sharky's Machine. }}
1982	Yes, Giorgio	Dominic Giordano	</ref> Based on the novel by Anne Piper. }}
1986	Heat	Baby	</ref> Based on William Goldman's 1985 novel of the same name. }}

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1957	True Story	Tony Brenner	Episode: "The Accident" (S 1:Ep 3)
1961	From These Roots	Jack Lander	American soap opera
	True Story	Tony Brenner	Episode: "6 May 1961" (S 5:Ep 11)
1967	Coronet Blue	Bodyguard	Episode: "A Dozen Demons" (S1:Ep 3)
1969	The Good Guys	Chauffeur	Episode: "The World's Second Greatest Lover" (S 1:Ep 18)
	The Doctors	Policeman	Episode: "Episode #1.1668" (S 6:Ep 96)
			Episode: "Episode #1.1669" (S 6:Ep 97)
1973	The Resolution of Mossie Wax		Made-for-TV-Movie and drama film directed by Bob Walsh.
	Where the Heart Is	Ed Lucas	Episode: "Episode #1.868"
			Episode: "Episode #1.873"
1974	All in the Family	Mr. Bushmill	Episode: "Gloria's Boyfriend" (S 4:Ep 19)
	Dominic's Dream	Dominic Bente	Pilot sitcom written and directed by Garry Marshall.
1975	Baretta	Frank Cassell	Episode: "He'll Never See Daylight" (S 1:Ep 1-Pilot)
1975-76	Bronk	Mayor Pete Santori	Contract role
1976	NBC Special Treat	Papa	Episode: "Papa and Me" (S 1:Ep 5)
	Kojak	Det. Jeff Braddock	Episode: "A Summer Madness" (S 4:Ep 2)
	Monster Squad	Lawrence of Moravia	Episode: "Lawrence of Moravia" (S 1: Ep 12)
	ABC Afterschool Special	Mr. Singleton	Episode: "Mighty Moose and the Quarterback Kid" (S 5:Ep 3)
1977	Switch	Phillip Aspen / Martin Lorrimer	Episode: "Portraits of Death" (S 2:Ep 13)
	Stonestreet: Who Killed the Centerfold Model?	Max Pierce	Made-for-TV-Movie and mystery film directed by Russ Mayberry.
	The Rockford Files	Gibby	Episode: "Crack Back (S 3:Ep 21)
1978	The Eddie Capra Mysteries	Dr. Weller	Episode: "Dirge for a Dead Dachshund" (S 1:Ep 6)
	Lou Grant	McIntyre	Episode: "Babies" (S 2:Ep 10)
1979	The Incredible Hulk	Mr. Arnold	Episode: "Brain Child" (S 3:Ep 3)
1981	The Gangster Chronicles	Salvatore Maranzano	Miniseries directed by Richard C. Sarafian.
1982-2017	Days of Our Lives	Stefano DiMera
1984	Hart to Hart	Nick Rhodes	Episode: "Harts on the Run" (S 5:Ep 12)
	Ernie Kovacs: Between the Laughter	Richards	Made-for-TV-Movie and biographical film directed by Lamont Johnson and written by April Smith.
1985	Comedy Factory	Peter Wagner	Episode: "Side by Side" (S 1:Ep 1-Pilot)
	Brothers	Howard Dovall	Episode: "A House Divided" (S 2:Ep 10)
	Crazy Like a Fox		Episode: "Fox in 3/4 Time" (S 2:Ep 5)
	Santa Barbara	Carlo Alvarez
1986	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Ed Martinson	Episode: "Have You Tried Talking to Patty?" (S 3:Ep 2)
	Hill Street Blues	Melvin Jardino	Episode: "I Want My Hill Street Blues" (S 6:Ep 15)
	Joe Bash	Captain Charles Taylor	Episode: "Joe's First Partner (S 1:Ep 5)
1987	Hunter	Mick Shaughnessy	Episode: "Shades" (S 3:Ep 22)
	It's Garry Shandling's Show	Lt. Gerard	Episode: "The Fugitive" (S 2:Ep 3)
	Rags to Riches	Viktor Leskov	Episode: "Russian Holiday" (S 2:Ep 10)
1988	The Equalizer	Tony Costa	Episode: "Always a Lady" (S 3:Ep 22)
1989	General Hospital	Nicholas Van Buren
	The Trial of the Incredible Hulk	Albert G. Tendelli	Made-for-TV-Movie and superhero film directed by Bill Bixby.
2001	The Bold and the Beautiful	Massimo Marone IV	Contract role: 2001-06