The ANNOTICO Report

Polizzi Generosa, Sicily, where Vincent Schiavelli retired to, is located in the Palermo Province of Sicily, about 101 km from Palermo, 119 km.from Agrigento, 84 km.from Caltanissetta, 62 km. from Enna.
The municipality has 4.530 inhabitants and an area of 13.433 hectares.Cereals, hazel-nuts, olives and dairying products are produced by its agriculture. The main breedings are cattle, sheeps and goats. In the handicraft there are iron, wood, wool and pottery articles works.

The town has elusive origins. It seems to have played a major role in ejecting the Arab invaders. Roger I had a castle built on the area (1076) and took up defences in preparation against an attack from the infidel. Frederick II, so impressed by the town’s warm welcoming him on a visit, bestowed upon it the title of Generosa. In 1348, under Martin the Young, it became a city of the royal domain.The main piazza is marked by ruins of the castle on its highest point (910m).

Like other towns in the Madonie slopes, Polizzi Generosa also enjoys a beautifully panoramic position, overlooking the southern and northern sides of the Imera valley. A particularly attractive view of the town can be enjoyed on crisp mornings when low cloud (the so-called maretta) collects around the foot of the mountains, shrouding the base in shadow, while the tops caught in the sunshine appear to float on the mist.

ROME -- Vincent Schiavelli, the droopy-eyed character actor who appeared in scores of movies, including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Ghost," died Monday at his home in Sicily. He was 57.
He died of lung cancer, said Salvatore Glorioso, mayor of Polizzi Generosa, the Sicilian village where Schiavelli resided.
The New York-born Schiavelli, whose gloomy look made him perfect to play creepy or eccentric characters, made appearances in some 150 film and television productions, according to the Internet Movie Database.
In "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," he played the science teacher Mr. Vargas, who was married to the character portrayed by Lana Clarkson.
Schiavelli also appeared as Salieri's valet in "Amadeus," as "Cuckoo's Nest" patient Frederickson, the subway ghost in "Ghost," the organ grinder in "Batman Returns" and as Chester in "The People vs. Larry Flynt." He was selected in 1997 by Vanity Fair as one of the United States' best character actors.
Schiavelli studied acting at New York University's School of the Arts.
He also wrote three cookbooks and many food articles for magazines and newspapers, possibly inheriting his love for cooking from his grandfather, who had been a cook for an Italian baron before moving to the United States, according to IMDB.
His books include "Many Beautiful Things," which was published in 2002 and is a compilation of recipes and anecdotes about his visits to Polizzi Generosa, the small hilltop town that was his grandparents' birthplace.
"He was a great friend, a great chef and a great talker," Glorioso, who has known Schiavelli for almost four years, said in a telephone interview.
"With a smooth, witty conversation, he would make everything look more colorful. I've lost a brother," he said.
Schiavelli also had worked in Italy, including in 2001 when he directed a theater piece in Sicily based on nine fables.
A funeral service will be held Tuesday in Polizzi Generosa, Glorioso said. Survivors include a son, an ex-wife and a girlfriend, Glorioso said.
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