Paul Picerni (born December 1 1922 in New York City) is an American actor.
He was a first lieutenant and bombardier during the war assigned to the Asian theatre. After peace was declared he became special services officer in India. Following the war he enrolled at Loyola Marymount University at Los Angeles.
As a young actor returning from World War II, he fought the war all over again in the 1950 movie Breakthrough. This led to a Warner Brothers contract for Picerni and a succession of roles at that studio including a starring turn as the hero in the 1953 horror classic House of Wax. After his departure from Warners, he appeared with Audie Murphy in Universal's To Hell and Back.
When Italian organizations began to complain about the use of Italian gangsters on TV's The Untouchables starring Robert Stack as G-man Eliot Ness, Picerni joined the cast of the show as Ness's number one aide, Lee Hobson, from 1960-63.
Picerni, an Italian American, married former ballet dancer Marie Mason in 1947; they have eight children. His autobiography "Steps to Stardom: My Story," written with the help of Tom Weaver, was published by BearManor Media in 2007.
Born on Long Island, New York, Paul Picerni had aspirations to become an attorney until he acted in an eighth grade play and later learned that the school principal liked his performance and called him "a born actor". He next appeared in little theater productions, then (after World War II Air Force service) on the stage at Loyola University. Picerni was acting in a play in Hollywood when he was spotted by Solly Biano, head of talent at Warner Brothers; brought out to the studio, the young actor was given a role in Breakthrough (1950). This WWII actioner turned out to be aptly named, as it led to a Warners contract for Picerni and a long succession of roles at that studio. Best-known for his second banana role on the TV classic "Untouchables, The" (1959) with Robert Stack, Picerni is now the father of eight and grandfather of ten.
