Veteran character actor Robert Loggia has died at 85 at his home in Los Angeles. Variety reports that the tough-guy star, who appeared as drug kingpin Frank Lopez in Brian De Palma’s Scarface, Mr. MacMillan in Penny Marshall’s Big, and Mr. Eddy in David Lynch’s Lost Highway, was battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past five years.
Loggia won an Academy Award nomination for his role in Jagged Edge. Despite his utterly psychotic performances on the screen, Loggia was involved in humanitarian work and won the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his accomplishments. He also meditated to decompress from the toll of his raging characters. “It quiets you, and gives you energy. Doesn’t keep you revved up. So when they claw you back to the set, you’re fresh as a daisy, ready to go. I can’t be under the weight of the character for a 14-hour shooting day. I don’t think anybody can do that,” he told AV Club in 2011.
Still, his over-the-top performance in films like Lost Highway, as a gangster with some serious road rage, will always be loved and remembered.