Entertainment

'Rebel Without A Cause' Actor Frank Mazzola Dies

Another Hollywood actor has sadly passed. Known for smaller roles in some of the biggest films of all time, Frank Mazzola has died at 79, Deadline reports. The actor and film editor suffered from Alzheimer's, but it was not listed if that was the cause of death.

Born in 1935, Mazzola got his start in acting at quite a young age. At four years old, he landed a part in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Then at seven years old, he was cast in a small role in the hit Casablanca alongside Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. As he got older, Mazzola attended the University of Oregon. While on school break, he auditioned for Rebel Without a Cause, which stars the late James Dean, and scored the part of Crunch.

Acting wasn't Mazzola's only talent, as he also dabbled behind the scenes. For Rebel, he acted as a technical adviser and even made that famous knife scene into something spectacular. Per Rolling Stone magazine, "He ended up helping director Nicholas Ray and screenwriter Stewart Stern shape Rebel into an accurate piece of 1955 sociology. Ray also said in one of his biographies, "The knife duel between Jim (James Dean) and Buzz (Corey Allen) was staged with the aid of Frank Mazzola." Ray even said that it was Mazzola "who helped so much to make the texture of Rebel into a living realty.”

He also worked as an assistant for Universal Studios, which included assisting on the production of Alfred Hitchock's Psycho and Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus. Later on, Mazzola worked as an assistant at FOX Studios and at the Mirish Corp.

Mazzola is survived by four daughters and three grandchildren.

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