Gabriel Dell

Acting career[edit]

Born in New York City,^[2] Dell almost made his stage debut a few years before Dead End when he and his sister were slated for roles in The Good Earth with Alla Nazimova and Claude Rains. Dell served in the United States Merchant Marine during World War II. He appeared in numerous films as a Dead End Kid/East Side Kid/Bowery Boy. In the 1944 East Side Kids film Million Dollar Kid, Dell appeared as a criminal villain, pitted against the boys, who gets brought to justice in the end.


Dell appeared in the play The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, written by Lorraine Hansberry. The production opened on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre on October 15, 1964, and was directed by Peter Kass. Jack Blackman designed scenery, Jules Fisher designed lighting, and Fred Voelpel designed costumes. The original cast featured Dell as Sidney Brustein and Rita Moreno as Iris Parodus Brustein. The play received mixed reviews and closed on January 10, 1965.


Dell starred in Lamppost Reunion as Fred Santora, which opened October 16, 1975. As a result of this performance, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.


His other non-Dead End Kids/Bowery Boys films included The 300 Year Weekend (1971), Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me? (1971), Earthquake (1974), and Framed (1975). He also appeared in The Manchu Eagle Murder Caper Mystery (1975), and The Escape Artist (1982). Dell also made several appearances on television shows during the 1960s and 1970s. including Ben Casey, The Fugitive, Mannix, Then Came Bronson, I Dream of Jeannie, McCloud, Sanford and Son, and Barney Miller.


According to differing sources, either Don Francks,^[3] Charles Bronson, or Dell^[4] was the uncredited actor providing the voice of Boba Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter, in the Star Wars Holiday Special.