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Charles Victor Buono (February 3, 1938 – January 1, 1982) was an American actor and comic. Buono was born in San Diego, California, the son of Myrtle Belle (née Keller; 1909-1979) and Victor Francis Buono (1907-1981). His maternal grandmother, Myrtle Glied (1886-1969), had been a Vaudeville performer on the Orpheum Circuit. When he was a little boy, she taught him songs and recitations and encouraged him to perform for visitors. Even though the young Buono enjoyed the polite applause of those captive audiences, he thought he wanted to be a doctor. When he was sixteen, Father John Aherne of St. Augustine High School in San Diego cast him as Papa Barrett in the play The Barretts of Wimpole Street. Buono appeared in three plays a year while attending high school, which included Aladdin and His Wonderful Lamp and Shakespearean dramas. He even played the title role of Hamlet. He soon forgot about having a medical career. He started appearing on local radio and television stations, and at the age of eighteen he joined the Globe Theater Players in San Diego. The director had confidence in Buono and cast him in Volpone, Midsummer Night`s Dream and other Globe presentations. He received good notices for his various Shakespearean roles and in modern plays such as The Man Who Came To Dinner and Witness For The Prosecution. After appearing in a few uncredited film roles, he was cast by director Robert Aldrich in the psychological horror movie What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962) with Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. He played the part of the ne`er-do-well musical accompanist, Edwin Flagg, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for this performance. Buono appeared in Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964) playing Big Sam Hollis, the father of Bette Davis, who had the title role, which was also directed by Aldrich. And he appeared in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) starring Max von Sydow, Michael Anderson, Jr. and Carroll Baker, which was produced and directed by George Stevens. Buono played the role of the High Priest Sorak in this story about Jesus. He also appeared in such movies as 4 for Texas (1963), Robin and the Seven Hoods (1964), The Silencers (1966), Who`s Minding the Mint? (1967), Target: Harry (1969) and Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970) and The Mad Butcher (1972).

Buono had a vast body of work in movies, and among his extensive TV appearances were the recurring roles of the demented Count Manzeppi on the popular series The Wild Wild West starring Robert Conrad and Ross Martin, which ran from 1965 to 1969. He also played unrelated characters in that series` premiere episode and in the second and final Wild Wild West reunion movie, More Wild Wild West (1980). He played King Tut on the series Batman with Adam West and Burt Ward, which ran from 1966 to 1968. King Tut was a timid history professor who, after being hit in the head with a brick at a peace rally, donned the persona of the Egyptian royal. When he suffered another blow to the head, the villain would return to his meek demeanor. He was in demand to play villains of various nationalities and ethnic origins on many programs between 1964 and 1970. He made a guest appearance as Hannibal Day in the Get Smart episode Moonlighting Becomes You originally airing January 2, 1970. Buono also appeared three times as Dr. Blaine in the ABC sitcom Harrigan and Son, starring Pat O`Brien and Roger Perry as a father-and-son team of lawyers. He m

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