The son of veteran character actor Bruce Kirby, affable, nasal-voiced Bruno followed in his father's footsteps by providing solid support to a string of A-listers. Boasting a blue-collar vibe, he initially found work in TV guest spots and as a regular on the short-lived 1972 sitcom
The Super, playing the nasty child of star Richard S. Castellano. (Two years later, he played the younger version of Castellano's
Godfather character in
The Godfather: Part II.) Although he kept busy throughout the 1970s and 1980s, effortlessly alternating between the big and small screens, comedies and dramas, his breakthrough came as a humorless military man (and Robin Williams' foil) in 1987's
Good Morning, Vietnam. Kirby hit his stride playing the cheery second banana to another star, Billy Crystal, in
When Harry Met Sally and
City Slickers. In the 1990s, Kirby continued to embody diverse characters, but by the end of the decade, his career had dramatically slowed. He appeared in only occasional projects until his premature death from complications related to leukemia in August 2006.
Bruno Kirby Fast Facts:
- Grew up in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City, where his dad (character actor Bruce Kirby) took him to see movies on 42nd Street and to acting classes taught by Lee Strasberg.
- Worked as an usher at Radio City Music Hall.
- Appeared in the 1972 pilot for M*A*S*H.
- Introduced costar Marlon Brando to real-life "godfather" John Gotti during the filming of The Freshman.
- Was allergic to horses and required daily injections during the filming of City Slickers.
- Made his Broadway debut in 1991, when he replaced Kevin Spacey in Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Lost in Yonkers.
- Costarred in the 1996 film Sleepers, which was set in Hell's Kitchen; he remembered seeing Lorenzo Carcaterra, whose book was adapted into the film, around the neighborhood when they were both kids.
- Died from complications related to leukemia in 2006.
- Bruno Kirby Relationships:
- Brad Sullivan - Stepbrother
- Bruce Kirby - Father
- Jennifer Jason Leigh - Ex-significant Other
- John Kirby - Brother
- Lynn Sellers - Wife
- Roz Kirby - Stepmother
- College:
- Attended Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles, CA