Joseph Campanella

Acting

Joseph Campanella

Born 1924-11-21 · Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Actor Joseph Campanella's father, a Sicilian immigrant, was an early member of the American Federation of Musicians; perhaps as a result, the younger Campanella remained active in liberal "underdog" political causes all his life. At eighteen, Campanella became one of the youngest-ever skippers in the wartime navy. He went on to attend Columbia University, then began his acting career on the New York stage and in TV soap operas. Over the next three decades he would portray Joe Turino on The Guiding Light, Alec Fielding on The Doctors, Dr. Ted Steffen on the nighttime TV serial The Doctors and the Nurses and Senator Harper Devereaux on Days of Our Lives. Additional TV assignments for Campanella included the role of Mike Connors' boss on the first season (1967-68) of Mannix; attorney Brian Darrell on four seasons (1969-73) of The Bold Ones; and Hutch Corrigan on the 1985-86 season of The Colbys. He also narrated several National Geographic Specials, and was host of the syndicated 1983 revival of This is Your Life. A steadfast film supporting player, Campanella was finally awarded a lead in 1972's "rampaging rat" thriller Ben, only to find that his was the second name above the title: "Leave it to me," Campanella remarked with his usual self-deprecation, "to get second billing to a rat in my first big starring movie." Recent credits include a "guest voice" role as Dr. Thorne on the Fox Network's Batman: The Animated Series. Joseph Campanella is the brother of Frank Campanella, a character actor usually cast as uniformed big-city cops.

Acting credits

Silent Running poster
6.4

After the entire flora goes extinct, ecologist Lowell maintains a greenhouse aboard a space station for the future with his android companions. However, he rebels after being ordered to destroy the greenhouse in favor of carrying cargo, a decision that puts him at odds with everyone but his mechanical companions.

Silent Running

1972

Meteor poster
5.2

After a collision with a comet, a nearly 8km wide piece of the asteroid "Orpheus" is heading towards Earth. If it hits, it will cause an incredible catastrophe that will probably extinguish mankind. To stop the meteor, NASA wants to use the illegal nuclear weapon satellite "Hercules," but discovers soon that it doesn't have enough firepower. Their only chance to save the world is to join forces with the USSR, which has also launched such an illegal satellite. But will both governments agree?

Meteor

1979

Spider-Man: The Venom Saga poster
7.0

A space-shuttle crash-landing puts the famous web-slinger Spider-Man in contact with a living alien substance that bonds to his suit and enhances his super-powers. Unfortunately, the alien substance begins to change him and he feels the pull of evil, so discards the suit. The evil attaches itself to another host leading to an epic confrontation between good and evil.

Spider-Man: The Venom Saga

2005

Ben poster
6.1

A lonely boy becomes good friends with Ben, a rat. This rat is also the leader of a pack of vicious killer rats, killing lots of people.

Ben

1972

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers poster
6.7

Two feuding brothers of differing political views, one a policeman, the other a martial artist, join forces to avenge the death of their father, a retired agent who was brutally murdered by the mafia.

No Retreat, No Surrender 3: Blood Brothers

1990

Save Me poster
4.5

An accountant beleaguered by personal and professional problems gets involved with a femme fatale and her mysterious psychiatrist.

Save Me

1994

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre poster
6.3

Chicago February 14th 1929. Al Capone finally establishes himself as the city's boss of organised crime. In a north-side garage his hoods, dressed as policemen, surprise and mow down with machine-guns the key members of Bugs Moran's rival gang. The film traces the history of the incident, and the lives affected and in some cases ended by it.

The St. Valentine's Day Massacre

1967

A Show of Force poster
5.3

In this thriller, television reporter Kate Ryan de Meléndez investigates the death of two radical Puerto Rican activists, whom she begins to believe may have been framed and murdered by undercover American agents.

A Show of Force

1990

And Then They Forgot God poster
NR

"And Then They Forgot God" is set in a dystopian future, one in which the environment has suffered (people carry around breathing gear) and people must navigate extremely bureaucratic and rigid rules and procedures. Food is only available through the government, and only to those holding a monthly-issued card. Joe Campanella plays a husband who finds himself in desperate straits when his ration card is rejected because it was in poor condition when received. Despite an official policy that no one in that society goes hungry, Campanella's character receives no help.

And Then They Forgot God

1971

Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock poster
7.0

Doctor Octavius was a brilliant scientist working on a revolutionary new invention until a laboratory accident fused a set of mechanical arms to his body and turned him into the dreaded supervillain Doctor Octopus. Now Doc Ock seeks his revenge on those who did him wrong, and there are only two men who can put an end to his plan of destruction - Spider-Man or his secret alter-ego, Peter Parker.

Spider-Man vs. Doc Ock

2004

Spider-Man: The Return of the Green Goblin poster
7.5

The Webslinger faces the ultimate challenge when his arch-nemesis discovers his identity and kidnaps his one true love, Mary Jane Watson.

Spider-Man: The Return of the Green Goblin

2002

Original Intent poster
4.2

Matthew Cameron (Jay Richardson) is a lawyer undergoing a midlife crisis despite having a seemingly perfect life with his wife, advertising executive Jessica (Candy Clark), and his young son. When he champions a homeless shelter facing eviction, his problems only deepen. Matthew faces pressure from Jessica, whose agency is representing the corporate honcho pushing the eviction, and Matthew is forced to question his values and loyalties.

Original Intent

1992

Hangar 18 poster
5.2

During a Space Shuttle mission a satellite rams a unidentified flying object. The UFO afterwards performs an emergency landing in the deserts of Arizona. However the White House denies its existence because of the near presidential elections. The UFO is brought to the secret Hangar 18 and the accident is blamed on the incompetence of the astronauts Bancroff and Price. But the two fight against this and try to hunt down the UFO.

Hangar 18

1980

Hit Lady poster
3.7

At a Texas barbecue, a pretty woman chats up a wealthy rancher, and soon they're off on a horseback ride. Before she shoots him on an isolated road, she gives him a minute to reflect on who he might have offended on his rise to the top. She's Angela de Vries, a contract killer based in L.A. She wants this to have been her last job; her contractor wants one more death, a national union leader, made to look like an accident. She starts her homework on this mark. Meanwhile, in her private life, she's in love with a budding photographer. Is there any way that she can get out of the game and have a full love life?

Hit Lady

1974

Hologram Man poster
4.1

Five years after the mad terrorist Slash Galagher was sentenced to holographic stasis, he is given a parole hearing. But an equipment failure engineered by his cronies transforms the criminal into a living hologram with god-like powers. Now, stopping him is up to Kurt Decoda, the man who as a police rookie was responsible for arresting Galagher.

Hologram Man

1995

The Game poster
6.7

To avenge the death of his family, a man infiltrates a group of wealthy killers who take homeless people and use them as prey in a sadistic game of "hunt the man down".

The Game

1988

Earthbound poster
5.0

A family of space aliens crash lands on Earth when their spaceship conks out.

Earthbound

1981

The Plutonium Incident poster
6.5

A plutonium plant employee becomes the target of management, as well as union harassment, when she tries to blow the whistle on the company for negligent safety procedures, and she soon finds her life in peril.

The Plutonium Incident

1980

Murder Once Removed poster
4.9

Television thriller in which a scheming doctor murders once for love and then has to kill again to cover it up.

Murder Once Removed

1971

The Dukes poster
5.1

The Dukes,a Doo Wop group, were on top of the world at 17, now are struggling for survival in 2008. Their manager is desperately trying to get them work but is met with failure at every turn. Finally pushed to the extreme , they pull a heist only a fool would attempt, which leaves them even more desperate. When all seems lost, they find themselves.

The Dukes

2007

My Body, My Child poster
9.0

A woman must choose between having an abortion or giving birth to a deformed child.

My Body, My Child

1982

Body Chemistry poster
4.5

A research project on sexual response leads two doctors into an affair and their deepest passions and darkest fantasies are revealed.

Body Chemistry

1990

Sky Hei$t poster
5.3

A husband and wife come up with a plan to steal $10 million in gold, using the hijacking of a police helicopter as a diversion.

Sky Hei$t

1975

Dark Dreams poster
NR

In this creepy anthology thriller a mind reader detects the thoughts of someone who wants to kill her, a young man is given miraculous healing powers that he puts to evil uses, and an astronaut in space is terrorized by a psychotic onboard computer.

Dark Dreams

1993