James Luisi
Birthday: 1928-11-11
Place of Birth: New York City, New York
Synopsis
A native New Yorker, James Luisi attended St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights on a basketball scholarship. He served in the Army during the Korean War. He then played one season (1953-54) with the Baltimore Bullets in the National Basketball Association. His acting career began on the stage with early parts coming in the Broadway musicals "Sweet Charity" and "Zorba". His early movies were minor, though his "beefcake" appeal was evident in 1973's I Escaped from Devil's Island (1973) in which he rarely wore a shirt. Most of his later work was on TV. In 1976 he shared a "best actor" daytime Emmy for playing George Washington in a daytime drama special titled First Ladies Diaries: Martha Washington (1975). Also in 1976 he started his four-season role as Jim Rockford's (James Garner) nemesis Lt. Chapman in The Rockford Files (1974). In 1983 he played the cop in charge of some street-gang-members-turned-undercover-agents in the short-lived series The Renegades (1983), which provided a boost for Patrick Swayze, who played one of the gang members. Along with guest spots on numerous TV shows, Luisi also appeared in the soap operas Days of Our Lives (1965) and Another World (1964).
In the 1990s he returned to acting in and directing stage work in the Los Angeles area. Stricken with cancer he passed away on 7 June 2002 and is survived by his wife of 41 years, the former Georgia Phillips.
Acting
The Rockford Files: Friends and Foul Play
as Capt. Doug Chapman
An friend of Jim's continues to seek his help for her murdered son, but when she winds up dead not long after an altercation with the mafia man, Jim must must do what it takes to put both her soul and her son's, at rest, himself.
Lethal Woman
as Colonel Jerry Maxim
A group of men are told that they have won an "erotic vacation" at a fantasy island. In reality, they are being lured to the island by women they have wronged, and once there they are captured and set loose on the island to be hunted down.
Feds
as Sperry
Ellie DeWitt and Janis Zuckermann are admitted to the very strict FBI Training Academy. They get a hard course, in which they learn to deal with guns and to recognise crimes. They also get a physical training. It appears that Ellie is a real fighting- machine, in contrast with Janis, the great student. They have to help each other, all the way to graduation.
Murphy's Law
as Ed Reineke
A tough police detective escapes from custody after being framed and arrested for the murder of his ex-wife, and must now find the real killer and prove his innocence.
The Red-Light Sting
as Renny Lucas
Government agent Frank Powell is determined to bring down racketeering crime lord Oliver Sully but cannot find any evidence. Powell concocts a plan to have the Justice Department buy a brothel, set up a professional call girl named Kathy Dunn as a hostess, and get the crime boss on extortion.
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The Renegades
as Lt. Marciano
The Renegades is a short-lived ABC TV show from 1982 about a gang that is given the option of going to jail for their crimes or becoming a special police undercover unit. The star of The Renegades, and leader of the gang, was The Bandit played by Patrick Swayze. The gang's police handler is Captain Scanlon played by Kurtwood Smith. Kurtwood Smith went on to play the father in the That '70s Show.
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The Renegades
as Lt. Joe Marciano
In this drama, undercover investigators are recruited from the streets to prevent arms smugglers from getting their weapons to street gangs.
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Fade to Black
as Capt. M.L. Gallagher
A shy, lonely film buff embarks on a killing spree against those who browbeat and betray him, all the while stalking his idol, a Marilyn Monroe lookalike.
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Moment by Moment
as Dan Santini
Trisha Rawlings, a Beverly Hills socialite suffering from loneliness following the separation from her womanizing husband, develops a May–December romance with a young drifter named Strip.
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One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story
as Jimmy Karalla
The true story of baseball star Ron LeFlore, from his days as a street-corner punk with no future to his days behind bars on a petty robbery conviction to his ultimate once-in-a-lifetime chance with the Detroit Tigers, where he became an outstanding baseball player.
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Killer's Delight
as Sgt. Vince De Carlo
A detective tracks a serial killer through San Francisco.
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Contract on Cherry Street
as Al Palmini / Arnold Palmer
A policeman devises an unorthodox plan for bringing criminals to justice after his partner is brutally gunned down.
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Stunts
as Alvin Blake
After a stunt man dies while he is involved in the making of a motion picture, his brother takes his place in order to find out what really happened.
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The Take
as Benedetto
A policeman in New Mexico takes payoff money but still manages to go after a racketeer.
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Cry Rape
as Det. Kroger
A man who is arrested for rape swears it wasn't him but somebody who looks just like him, but the victim insists it was him.
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Ben
as Ed
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.
