Film Actor

The son of Pasquale Calleja and Elena née Falzon, Joseph was born in Rabat, Malta and educated at St Aloysius College. He was first cousin to the later President of Malta and Maltese medical doctor Dr Vincent Tabone. As a teenager, he formed a harmonica band and toured abroad. In 1914 he left Malta, spending some time singing in the capitals of war-ravaged Europe.

Calleia initiated his film career in Hollywood by appearing in two B films, ‘His Woman’ (1931) and ‘The Girl in the Cab’ (1933). He made his mark with ‘Public Hero No.1’, in which he interpreted the part of a criminal. This was followed by ‘RiffRaff’ where he played the role of a ladies’ man and co-starred with Jean Harlowe and Spencer Tracy. In ‘Tough-Guy’ he co-starred with the child-actor Jackie Cooper where he sang a couple of bars of a folkoristic Maltese tune. His next film was ‘Exclusive Story’ with Franchot Tone. He also starred in ‘Valentino’, ‘The Light Touch’, ‘Underwater’, ‘Hot Blood’, ‘Touch of Evil’, ‘Cry Tough’, ‘The Alamo’, and ‘Johnny Cool’, amongst other films. He admitted a preference for stage performance rather than film acting, although he made over 50 films.

Calleia took part in the best plays on Broadway including Ten-minute Alibi, The Front Page, Grand Hotel, and Broadway. His performance in the film ‘Algiers’ won him the Critics’ Award. Francis Ford Coppola wanted Calleia to play the role of Don Vito Corleone, eventually passed on to Marlon Brando, in his epic ‘The Godfather’, but declined due to health reasons.

Calleja married Eleonor née Vassallo and they lived at Mrabat Street, Sliema

Joseph Calleia was commemorated by a bust at Saqqajja, Rabat in 31October 2005 on the thirtieth anniversary of his death.

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.