---
name: "Tony Musante"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/tony-musante"
fi1m_id: "tony-musante"
imdb_id: "nm0615540"
tmdb_id: 20564
wikidata_id: "Q522799"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "30 June 1936"
died: "26 November 2013"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-26T17:14:20.116495+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Tony Musante

## Identity

Tony Musante

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/tony-musante
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** tony-musante
- **IMDb ID:** nm0615540
- **TMDB ID:** 20564
- **Wikidata ID:** Q522799
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Musante, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q522799, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/20564

Actor. Born 30 June 1936 in Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA. Died 26 November 2013.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 30 June 1936, Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA
- **Died:** 26 November 2013
- **Also known as:**  Peter Salerno,  Anthony Peter Musante Jr. , Anthony Peter Musante, Энтони Питер Мусанте-младший
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Musante, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q522799, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0615540/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/20564

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*The Bird with the Crystal Plumage*](https://film.one/film/the-bird-with-the-crystal-plumage.md) (81)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Tony Musante

> Tony Musante made tightly wound men credible, and his Italian work gave him room to be vulnerable. We value that intensity, though *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage* shows how little it can do for an underwritten part.

In *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage* (1970), Tony Musante plays Sam Dalmas, an American writer caught in a murder plot, and we keep looking past him to inspect the image. Dario Argento makes that scrutiny part of the pleasure, though it leaves his leading actor competing with the photography. We felt uneasy because the controlled framing and editing kept us searching the screen. It is a thriller we warmly recommend, with a reservation about how little the writing gives Musante to work with.

His early American parts left less doubt about what he was there to do. Joe Ferrone, the menacing subway hoodlum in *The Incident* (1967), helped establish a tough-guy image reinforced by films such as *The Detective* (1968). Italian work widened the choice: he played Paco Roman alongside Franco Nero in *The Mercenary* (1968), then Enrico in the romantic drama *The Anonymous Venetian* (1970). The latter gave his vulnerability more room, although the shift from manic energy to quieter emotion could be awkward. We value the willingness to try something beyond the threatening young man.

Television continued to make use of his toughness, casting him as Detective David Toma in *Toma* (1973–74) and the feared Mafia boss Nino Schibetta in *Oz* (1997). Those parts make sense for an actor associated with physical commitment and tightly wound men. They also help explain why it is worth looking beyond the American crime work before deciding what sort of actor he was.

Back in Argento's thriller, Musante shares the screen with Suzy Kendall as Julia and Enrico Maria Salerno as Inspector Morosini. All three are watchable, and none can quite repair the thin characterisation. We would not mistake the lack of depth for a failure of effort, but nor would we claim that Musante makes Sam matter as much as the carefully arranged images. Start there for the suspense; try *The Anonymous Venetian* for a part that asks something different of him.

## Biography

Tony Musante (1936–2013) was an American actor. Born Anthony Peter Musante Jr. in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he graduated from Oberlin College in 1958 and attended Northwestern University. He began his career in Off-Broadway theatre in 1960 and made his film debut in 1965.

Musante appeared in feature films in the United States and Italy, including *The Incident* (1967), *The Mercenary* (1968) and *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage* (1970), in which he played Sam Dalmas. On television he starred as Detective David Toma in the series *Toma* (1973–74) and played Nino Schibetta in the first season of *Oz* (1997). He also had a recurring role in the soap opera *As the World Turns*. On stage he appeared in the 1975 Broadway production of *P.S. Your Cat Is Dead!*, for which he received a Drama Desk Award nomination, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for an episode of *Medical Center* (1975).

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, nytimes.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage* (1970), Fi1m 81, as Sam Dalmas — [page](https://film.one/film/the-bird-with-the-crystal-plumage.md)

## Complete filmography (53)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *FantastiCozzi* (2016), as (archive footage)
- *Pupetta, Woman of Honor* (2013), series, as Don Luigi Vitiello
- *Ice* (2013), as Mr. DeMartino
- *We Own the Night* (2007), as Jack Shapiro
- *Gladiator of Pompeii* (2007), series, as Alpio
- *Traffic* (2004), series, as Alex Edmonds
- *Promessa d'amore* (2004), as Amilcare
- *Life as It Is* (2003), as Professore
- *100 Centre Street* (2001), series, as Frank Esposito
- *A Kiss in the Dark* (2000), Actor
- *The Yards* (2000), as Seymour Korman
- *The Seventh Scroll* (1999), series, as Duraid Al Simma
- *The Deep End of the Ocean* (1999), as Angelo
- *Exiled* (1998), as Don Giancarlo Uzielli
- *Oz* (1997), series, as Nino Schibetta — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/oz.md)
- *Deep Family Secrets* (1997), as Lennox
- *Acapulco H.E.A.T.* (1993), series, as Rocco Santora
- *Appointment in Trieste* (1989), series, as Kirk Mesana
- *Jesse Hawkes* (1989), series, Actor
- *Nutcracker: Money, Madness & Murder* (1987), series, as Vittorio
- *The Repenter* (1985), as Ragusa
- *The Equalizer* (1985), series, as John Parker
- *The Trap* (1985), as Michael
- *Rearview Mirror* (1984), as Vince Martino
- *The Pope of Greenwich Village* (1984), as Pete
- *Spy Connection* (1983), as Jurek Rudinski
- *American Playhouse* (1982), series, as George
- *High Ice* (1980), as Lt. Col. Harris Thatcher
- *Breaking Up Is Hard to Do* (1979), series, as Sal Falcone
- *My Husband Is Missing* (1978), as Derek Mackenzie
- *Break Up* (1978), as Paolo Naviase
- *Goodbye & Amen* (1977), as John Dannahay
- *Nowhere to Hide* (1977), as Joey Faber
- *Origins of the Mafia* (1976), series, as Michele Borello
- *Medical Story* (1975), series, as Dr. Paul Brandon, Dr. Hoffman
- *The Desperate Miles* (1975), as Joe Larkin
- *Judgment: The Court Martial of Lt. William Calley* (1975), as Lt. William Calley
- *The Rockford Files* (1974), series, as Charlie Harris — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-rockford-files.md)
- *Toma* (1973), series, as Det. David Toma · Writer
- *Toma* (1973), as Det. David Toma
- *Police Story* (1973), series, Actor
- *The Pisciotta Case* (1972), as Francesco Scauri
- *The Last Run* (1971), as Paul Rickard
- *The Grissom Gang* (1971), as Eddie Hagan
- *The Anonymous Venetian* (1970), as Enrico
- *The Bird with the Crystal Plumage* (1970), as Sam Dalmas — Fi1m 81, [page](https://film.one/film/the-bird-with-the-crystal-plumage.md)
- *Love Circle* (1969), as Max
- *The Mercenary* (1968), as Paco Roman
- *The Detective* (1968), as Felix Tesla
- *The Incident* (1967), as Joe Ferrone
- *Once a Thief* (1965), as Cleveland 'Cleve' Shoenstein
- *The Fugitive* (1963), series, as Billy Karnes — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-fugitive-1963.md)
- *The Alfred Hitchcock Hour* (1962), series, as Candle

## Gallery

- ![Tony Musante](https://film.one/media/person/3916390/gallery-e7c381a961fa.jpg) Tony Musante — ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d4/Tony_Musante_1973.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Photo of Simon Oakland as Inspector Spooner and Tony Musante as David Toma from the television program Toma. (1973)](https://film.one/media/person/3916390/gallery-45ba769d26e7.jpg) Photo of Simon Oakland as Inspector Spooner and Tony Musante as David Toma from the television program Toma. (1973) — ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/00/Simon_Oakland_Tony_Musante_Toma_1973.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Tony Musante](https://film.one/media/person/3916390/gallery-158e6716f04e.jpg) Tony Musante — Image via TMDB
- ![Tony Musante](https://film.one/media/person/3916390/gallery-091ff70b1b1a.jpg) Tony Musante — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/tony-musante