Wally Campo dead at 99: Actor narrated the original Little Shop Of Horrors film
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Wally Campo died at the age of 99: the actor narrated the original Little Shop Of Horrors film and appeared in a series of films by Burt Topper and Roger Corman
Actor Wally Campo, who was in a series of films by directors Burt Topper and Roger Corman, has died of natural causes at the age of 99.
His musician son Tony Campodonico broke the news to the hollywood reporter this week, revealing that the death occurred on January 14.
One of Campo’s best-known jobs was a double role in the original 1960 film The Little Shop Of Horrors, later adapted into the better-known musical.
Throwback: Actor Wally Campo, depicted in Roger Corman’s original 1960 film of The Little Shop Of Horrors, has died of natural causes at the age of 99.
He narrated the image, appearing in it as Sergeant Joe Fink, one of the policemen trying to uncover the murderous secret at the heart of the story.
Campo, who died just three months short of his centennial, was born in Stockton, California, in April 1923 and christened Wallace Joseph Campodonico.
After the United States entered World War II, he served in the United States Army, ending up on Iwo Jima in the course of hostilities.
He returned to Stockton after the war and went to the local College Of The Pacific, as well as embarking on an acting career in the local theatre.
Campo was still known as ‘Wallace Campodonico’ when he starred in Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill. for players in the Stockton community, according to the local press.
As the 1950s took off, he moved to Los Angeles and met his future wife in an actress named Geraldine Matthews, with whom he worked on stage.
In the 1950s and 1960s he worked on a series of films with the ‘Pope Pope’ Roger Corman, a pioneering independent filmmaker.