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Actor and longtime Southampton resident Rik Colitti died on January 30 at Southampton Hospital, just two days short of his 76th birthday.
Born February 1, 1934, in New York City, to Frances Bisazza and Amedeo Colitti, a prominent dress designer on 7th Avenue who emigrated from Italy after serving in World War I.
A graduate of New York Military Academy and the University of Southern California, in 1965 Mr. Colitti toured with the first national company of “The Odd Couple.” He met his future wife, Patricia, during a record-breaking one-and-a-half-year run of the Neil Simon comedy in Chicago.
He made his Broadway debut in 1975 in Terrence McNally’s “The Ritz.” Other Broadway credits included the New York Shakespeare Festival production of “The Threepenny Opera” and “Macbeth” for Circle in the Square. He also acted in the Off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.”
Mr. Colitti made his film debut in the 1960 film “Murder, Inc.” His most notable film roles included the part of Danny the Cabbie in “Crocodile Dundee” and as the desk sergeant in “Fort Apache the Bronx” and the 1994 film version of “Car 54, Where Are You?” He was a familiar face on television, starting with appearances in the 1960s series “Car 54, Where Are You?” and playing a principal role in an episode of “Law and Order.” He was also featured in more than 125 commercials.
Mr. Colitti was no stranger to local theatre. In the 1960s he performed at the John Drew Theater in East Hampton as a part of the summer touring productions of “Room Service,” “Broadway,” and “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He also performed in Bruce Jay Friedman’s “Sardines” in 1994 at LTV Studios in Wainscott.
Mr. Colitti is survived by a son, William Colitti and his wife Jennifer; a sister, Anita and her husband Michael Strollo; a granddaughter, Isabella; four nieces, Nicole Caruso, Felicia Budra, Erica Urban and Michelle Dilley; and a nephew, Michael Strollo, Jr. He was predeceased by his wife, Patricia Colitti, and a son, Daniel Colitti.
The family received visitors on February 1 at the O’Connell Funeral Home in Southampton, where a prayer service was led by Father Stanley Kondeja of Our Lady of Poland Church. Interment followed at Water Mill Cemetery in Water Mill.
on Feb 3, 2010