Robert Costanzo.
You may not know his name. And when I tell you that he was on Family Ties five times–as five different characters–it still may not ring a bell. And when I mention his appearance on The Golden Girls as a surly, sexist plumber (and later, as a coach on the Mario Lopez episode), there may not be a glimmer of recognition in your mind’s eye.
But you’ll know him when you see his face.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Mr. Costanzo is one of Hollywood’s best character actors. The guy has 225 acting credits to his name, everything from the aforementioned sitcoms to Die Hard 2 to Night Court to Day by Day (props to the two people in the world who remember that show) to Charles in Charge to Who’s the Boss! to Gimmie a Break! to Growing Pains to Brooklyn Bridge to Bonkers (as “The Crunchy Potato Chip”!).
A shocking fact: he has a Bacon Number of 2. I can’t believe he’s never shared the screen with Kevin Bacon! I mean, come on… even I have a Bacon number of 2!
Posted in Television, Movies, and Music
Matt April 10, 2009, 4:33 am
I recently finished watching every episode of Family Ties, and I spotted him all five times.