Paul Picerni

Acting

Paul Picerni

Born 1922-12-01 · Corona, New York, USA

As a child Paul Picerni had aspirations to become an attorney until he acted in an eighth-grade play and later learned that the school principal liked his performance and called him "a born actor". He next appeared in little theater productions, then (after World War II Air Force service) on the stage at Loyola University. Picerni was acting in a play in Hollywood when he was spotted by Solly V. Bianco, head of talent at Warner Brothers; brought to the studio, the young actor was given a role in Le grand assaut(1950). This WWII actioner turned out to be aptly named, as it led to a Warners contract for Picerni and a long succession of roles at that studio. Best-known for his second-banana role on the TV classic Les incorruptibles (1959) with Robert Stack, Picerni is the father of eight and grandfather of ten. - IMDb Mini Biography

Acting credits

Airport poster
6.5

An airport manager tries to keep his terminals open during a snowstorm, while a suicide bomber plots to blow up a Boeing 707 airliner in flight.

Airport

1970

Capricorn One poster
6.8

In order to protect the reputation of the American space program, a team of NASA administrators turn the first Mars mission into a phony Mars landing. Under threat of harm to their families the astronauts play their part in the deception on a staged set in a deserted military base. But once the real ship returns to Earth and burns up on re-entry, the astronauts become liabilities. Now, with the help of a crusading reporter, they must battle a sinister conspiracy that will stop at nothing to keep the truth hidden.

Capricorn One

1977

Pushover poster
6.5

A police detective falls for the bank robber's girlfriend he is supposed to be tailing.

Pushover

1954

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure poster
5.0

After "The Poseidon Adventure", in which the ship got flipped over by a tidal wave, the ship drifts bottom-up in the sea. While the passengers are still on board waiting to be rescued, two rivaling salvage parties enter the ship on search for money, gold and a small amount of plutonium.

Beyond the Poseidon Adventure

1979

House of Wax poster
6.9

A sculptor opens a wax museum to showcase the likenesses of famous historical figures, but quickly runs into trouble when his business partner demands the exhibits become more extreme in order to increase profits.

House of Wax

1953

Twelve O'Clock High poster
7.2

In the early days of daylight bombing raids over Germany, General Frank Savage must take command of a 'hard luck' bomber group. Much of the story deals with his struggle to whip his group into a disciplined fighting unit in spite of heavy losses, and withering attacks by German fighters over their targets.

Twelve O'Clock High

1949

Escape to Athena poster
5.7

During the World War II, the prisoners of a German camp in a Greek island are trying to escape. They not only want their freedom, but also seek an ineffable treasure hidden in a monastery at the summit of the island's mountain.

Escape to Athena

1979

The Scalphunters poster
6.4

Forced to trade his valuable furs for a well-educated escaped slave, a rugged trapper vows to recover the pelts from the Indians and later the renegades that killed them.

The Scalphunters

1968

To Hell and Back poster
6.6

The true WWII story of Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in U.S. history. Based on the autobiography of Audie Murphy who stars as himself in the film.

To Hell and Back

1955

The Secret Fury poster
5.5

The wedding of Ellen and David is halted by a stranger who insists that the bride is already married to someone else. Though the flabbergasted Ellen denies the charge, the interloper produces enough evidence that his accusation must be investigated. Ellen and David travel to the small coastal town where her first wedding allegedly occurred. There, they meet a number of individuals whose stories make Ellen question her own sanity.

The Secret Fury

1950

The Bounty Hunter poster
6.8

A year after a violent train robbery the Pinkerton detective agency hires a bounty hunter to find the three remaining killers. He tracks them to Twin Forks but has no clue to their identity. Tensions surface as just his presence in town acts as a catalyst.

The Bounty Hunter

1954

Operation Pacific poster
6.1

During WWII, Duke E. Gifford is second in command of the USS Thunderfish, a submarine which is firing off torpedoes that either explode too early or never explode at all. It's a dilemma that he'll eventually take up personally. Even more personal is his quest to win back his ex-wife, a nurse; but he'll have to win her back from a navy flier who also happens to be his commander's little brother.

Operation Pacific

1951

The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission poster
5.0

Learning of a Nazi plot to attack Washington, D.C. with a deadly nerve gas, Major Wright leads twelve convicts on a suicide mission deep into occupied France to destroy the secret factory where the poison is made.

The Dirty Dozen: The Deadly Mission

1987

Torpedo Run poster
6.1

A submarine commander is on a relentless pursuit of a Japanese aircraft carrier in the South Seas during World War II.

Torpedo Run

1958

The Young Philadelphians poster
7.4

Up and coming young lawyer Anthony Lawrence faces several ethical and emotional dilemmas as he climbs the Philadelphia social ladder. His personal and professional skills are tested as he tries to balance the needs of his fiance Joan, the expectations of his colleagues and his own obligation to defend his friend Chester on a murder count.

The Young Philadelphians

1959

Marjorie Morningstar poster
6.3

While working as a counselor at a summer camp, college-student Marjorie Morgenstern falls for 32-year-old Noel Airman, a would-be dramatist working at a nearby summer theater. Like Marjorie, he is an upper-middle-class New York Jew, but has fallen away from his roots, and Marjorie's parents object among other things to his lack of a suitable profession. Noel himself warns Marjorie repeatedly that she's much too naive and conventional for him, but they nonetheless fall in love.

Marjorie Morningstar

1958

Che! poster
4.8

Biography of Argentinian revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who helped Fidel Castro in his struggle against the corrupt Batista regime, eventually resulting in the overthrow of that government and Castro's taking over of Cuba. The film covers Guevara's life from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in an ambush by government troops in the mountains of Bolivia in 1967.

Che!

1969

Riding Shotgun poster
6.0

When a stagecoach guard tries to warn a town of an imminent raid by a band of outlaws, the people mistake him for one of the gang.

Riding Shotgun

1954

His Majesty O'Keefe poster
6.4

Men steal for it. Nations go to war for it. The it is oil - and it grows on trees. Coconut oil is the precious lifeblood of 1870s South Seas traders. And lots of real blood will be spilled to get it! Screen royalty Burt Lancaster is His Majesty O'Keefe in this last of three adventures that (along with The Flame and the Arrow and The Crimson Pirate) blew a revitalizing wind into the sails of the swashbuckler genre. Action, cunning and derring-do are watchwords of the title seafarer as he befriends, defends and ultimately rules the islanders of exotic Yap. Lensed on gorgeus Fiji locations, grandly scored by Robert Farnon and rousingly directed by Byron Haskin, His Majesty O'Keefe delivers heroics of regal proportions.

His Majesty O'Keefe

1954

Flight to Hong Kong poster
7.3

On an airliner bound for Hong Kong, Tony, a career crook who deals in stolen diamonds, agonizes over whether he should stick with his girlfriend or pursue Pamela, an intriguing novelist with whom he's instantly infatuated. Viewing Tony's dastardly deeds as great material for her new book, Pamela gladly encourages him to continue his criminal behavior.

Flight to Hong Kong

1956

Strangers When We Meet poster
6.4

A suburban architect loves his wife but is bored with his marriage and with his work, so he takes up with the neglected, married beauty who lives down the street.

Strangers When We Meet

1960

The Desert Song poster
6.8

Shiek Yousseff, poses as a friend of the French while secretly plotting to overthrow them. Apposing Yousseff are the Riffs, whose secret leader, The Red Shadow, is Paul Bonnard, a professor who is studying the desert, and whose attacks on the supply trains intended for Yousseff keep the Riff villages in food. Foreign Legion General Birabeau arrives to conduct an investigation, accompanied by his daughter, Margot. Birabeau hires Bonnard to tutor her, and she is attracted to a Legionaire captain, Claud Fontaine. While the general, Bonnard and Fontaine pay a visit to Yousseff, an American newspaper man, Benji Kidd, discovers a secret way in and out of Yousseff's palace, with the aid of Azuri, a dancing girl in love with Bonnard. The latter is forced to resume his role as the Riffs leader, and kidnap Margot until he can convince her of Yousseff's treachery. But Yousseff's men attack the Riff camp and take Margot prisoner.

The Desert Song

1953

Hell's Island poster
5.5

Down-on-his-luck Mike Cormack is hired to fly to a Caribbean island to retrieve a missing ruby. On the island, possibly involved with the ruby's disappearance, is his ex-girlfriend.

Hell's Island

1955

Three Secrets poster
6.5

A five-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a devastating plane crash in the mountains of California. When the newspapers reveal the boy was adopted and that the crash occurred on his birthday, three women begin to ponder if it's the son each gave up for adoption. As the three await news of his rescue at a mountain cabin, they recall incidents from five years earlier and why they were forced to give up their son.

Three Secrets

1950