Tony Papaleo

Screenwriter and Director Tony Papaleo, a student of New York acting guru Harold Guskin before he was in NY and before he was a guru, fled from the Illinois Wesleyan School of Drama and moved into improvisational theatre in the 1970s, surviving Paul Sills and Del Close but mentored by Jo Forsberg in her Players Workshop of Second City. He also had a cup of coffee in Bella Itkin’s acting class at Northwestern. Jo directed him in The Second City Children's show and other off-Loop productions, and Tony was nominated for a Jeff award way the hell back then. Didn’t win. He co-founded two seminal improv groups along the way in the 70s and early 80s, the St.Vitus Dancers and The Original Comedy Rangers (the first resident comedians at the newly-opened Zanie’s on Wells Street). We say “seminal” because it was mostly guys. His theatre credits do not threaten to take up much space in the program. In this century he has finally become a character actor -- in several feature films you haven’t seen, but will love the titles: “Garage Hoppers,” “Mullet Man,” “Chicago Rot,” “Heaven is Hell,” “Mother Undead,” and the unforgettable and almost invisible “B.B. Wolfe.” He has directed the St.Vitus Improv Workshop since 2009, producing several short films for festivals and food.