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Movie/TV Tough Guy Robert Loggia Dies

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Robert Loggia, who played drug lords and mobsters and danced with Tom Hanks in "Big," has died, according to his wife Aubrey Loggia.

She said her husband passed away at the age of 85 Friday at their Los Angeles home after a five-year battle with Alzheimer's.

Loggia's rugged looks and voice suited his many character roles as gangsters or other shady characters. He played a Miami drug lord in "Scarface" and a Sicilian mobster in "Prizzi's Honor."

Loggia's other big screen credits include "Trail of the Pink Panther," "Curse of the Pink Panther," "Armed and Dangerous," "Gladiator" and "Independence Day."

He earned an Oscar nomination for the 1985 legal thriller, "Jagged Edge."

But Loggia was probably best known as a toy company boss in "Big" in which he and Tom Hanks dance on a giant toy keyboard.

Loggia began making guest appearances on TV in the 1950s and later became a regular on "Studio One in Hollywood." He played the role of Elfego Baca in the Disney shorts "The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca," which were part of "Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color."

The actor went on to make dozens of appearances in shows including "The Untouchables," "The Defenders," "Route 66," "Gunsmoke," "The Wild, Wild West" and "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea."

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