Joseph Bologna

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Joseph Bologna (born December 30, 1934 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. He is of Italian descent and was raised Roman Catholic.

He has a long history in film and television. His breakthrough film, Lovers and Other Strangers, written with his wife Renée Taylor, was based on the true-life circumstances of organizing a wedding on short notice with the involvement of his Italian extended family and Renee's Jewish clan. Several relatives performed as extras in the final cut. A year later, in 1971, the couple again collaborated to write and perform in the movie Made for Each Other.

Bologna stayed close with his old-neighborhood Aunts and Uncles after fame and fortune. Two of them were slightly famous on their own: his Uncle Pat was "Blacky the Bootblack" who Joseph Kennedy credited as his main influence when he sold all of his stock holdings in the summer of 1929 (the market crashed horribly in October) and his Aunt Pauline was one of the best-known chefs to the stars, working for Jackie Gleason, Burt Reynolds and many other luminaries.

A decade later, Aunt Pauline chastised Joe for starring in the nudity-filled Blame it on Rio with Michael Caine. Bologna replied, "Blame it on me, it's the last time I invite Aunt Pauline to a film premiere." Bologna's other best-known film role is that of temperamental 1950s talk show host Stan "King" Kaiser, in the hit 1982 comedy My Favorite Year, starring Peter O'Toole.

He is married to the actress Renee Taylor, with whom he has a son, Gabriel Bologna. Taylor and Bologna have also co-starred on stage and on TV. Bologna played a love interest for his real-life wife in the "Maternal Affairs" episode of the CBS sitcom The Nanny, in which Taylor plays Syliva, the already-married mother of Fran Drescher.