Actor Wally Campo passed away on January 14 at the age of 99. He was best known for playing investigator Joe Fink in the 1960 horror comedy The Little Shop of Horrors. This week, his musician son Tony Campodonico informed The Hollywood Reporter of his passing.
Keep reading for the details.
In the 1960 version of Roger Corman's The Little Shop Of Horrors, which was later transformed into the more well-known musical, Campo played a dual role in one of his best-known roles.
Campo was born in Stockton, California, in April 1923 and given the name Wallace Joseph Campodonico. He passed away just three months before turning 100.
In addition to directing one movie, Mark of the Gun, Campo also directed documentaries in India, Africa, and the United States (1969).
According to the local press, Campo was still known as "Wallace Campodonico" when he performed in Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! with the Stockton Community Players.
He moved to Los Angeles as the 1950s gained momentum, and he met his wife, Geraldine Matthews, an actress with whom he shared the stage.
He appeared in several films directed by Roger Corman, known as the "Pope of Pop Cinema," in the 1950s and 1960s.
Corman, who was renowned for his ingenuity on a shoestring budget, created an astounding variety of cult films and, in doing so, helped launch the careers of actors like Sylvester Stallone, Jack Nicholson, and Dennis Hopper.
The movie Machine-Gun Kelly, which starred a smoldering Charles Bronson in his first lead appearance, is where Campo first became acquainted with him.
After that film, Campo performed for Corman in the 1960 film Ski Troop Attack and the 1962 anthology of Edgar Allan Poe stories Tales Of Terror.
In 1958, the same year he filmed his debut film with Corman, Campo also started working professionally with Burt Topper, another cult director.
In the World War II film Hell Squad, directed by Topper, Campo played the lead role of an American serviceman who gets lost in Tunisia and is captured by the Nazi Afrika Korps.
He continued to collaborate with Topper, first on the 1961 film War Is Hell ! on the Korean War and subsequently on Tank Commando, a film about the war in Italy.
However, in the 1964 serial murderer movie The Strangler, starring Victor Buono as the doll-collecting title character, he played a minor role.
Additionally, Campo collaborated with the renowned pulp filmmaker Sam Fuller on the 1963 psychological thriller Shock Corridor, which was set in a mental institution.
Working with cinematographer László Kovács, who also contributed his skills to Easy Rider that year, Campo made his directorial debut in 1969 with Mark Of The Gun.
He is survived by his son Tom, his daughter-in-law Cheryl, and his grandkids Laurena and Jade.
