Bruce Kirby (born Bruno Giovanni Quidaciolu; April 28, 1925 â January 24, 2021) was an American character actor.
Bruce Kirby started his television career in the 1950s with appearances in Goodyear Television Playhouse. During the 1960s, he appeared in I Dream of Jeannie, The Nurses, The Defenders, Car 54, Where Are You? (in nine episodes), Hogan's Heroes (in three episodes), and The Patty Duke Show, among others. He played in Bonanza (in three episodes), Ironside (in three episodes), Barney Miller (in three episodes), The Rockford Files (in three episodes), The Marcus-Nelson Murders, Kojak (in six episodes), and M*A*S*H and Alice during the 1970s. In the 1980s, he appeared in Remington Steele, Hunter (in five episodes), Night Court, Matlock, Hill Street Blues, Lou Grant, and Punky Brewster. His 1990s television credits include The Golden Girls, L.A. Law, In the Heat of the Night, Murphy Brown, Murder, She Wrote (in two episodes) and Chicago Hope. In 1999 and 2000, he appeared in eight episodes of the soap opera Days of Our Lives. During the 2000s, he appeared in The Sopranos, The Agency, Scrubs, and The West Wing.
Kirby appeared nine times in the long-running series Columbo, most notably in the role of Sergeant George Kramer in six episodes. In 1981âÂÂ1982, he appeared as San Francisco police officer Schmidt in the crime drama Shannon. He played District Attorney Bruce Rogoff in thirteen episodes of L.A. Law from 1986 until 1991. He also had minor roles in films, including the classics Catch-22 (1970) and Stand by Me (1986). He appeared in the 1971 movie How to Frame a Figg with Don Knotts and the 1972 comedy Another Nice Mess with Rich Little. A notable later appearance was as Pop Ryan, father of Officer John Ryan (played by Matt Dillon) in the 2005 film Crash. Kirby was also active as an actor on New York's Broadway, appearing in Diamond Orchid (1965) and Death of a Salesman (1984).
Kirby had two sons, including Bruno Kirby (1949âÂÂ2006) who was also an actor. Bruno appeared with his father in "By Dawn's Early Light", an episode of the crime drama Columbo, in which Bruno played Cadet Morgan (credited as B. Kirby, Jr.) and the elder Kirby played Sergeant Kramer. They also appeared together, as father and son, in "Suitable For Framing", a third season episode of Room 222.
In the film "Stand by Me", Kirby plays a storekeeper in a large country store where Wil Wheaton's character goes to buy supplies. The name of the store is Quidaciolu's - Kirby's birth name.
Kirby died in Los Angeles on January 24, 2021, at age 95.