Trivia

Was also an artist who drew caricatures.

Was an admirer of Orson Welles and Sydney Greenstreet.

VeSota is remembered for prominent supporting roles in 15 Roger Corman films as well as for having directed three low-budget features: Female Jungle (1956), The Brain Eaters (Corman as uncredited executive producer, 1958) and Invasion of the Star Creatures (1962).

Impressed by his dark good looks, professionalism, and dry sense of humor, Roger Corman took notice of his potential and he arranged for him to begin a secondary career in the film industry as an actor going on to appear in over 80 features, often typecast as husbands, fathers, blue-collared guys, eccentrics, battle-axe neighbors, landlords, alcoholics, con-artists, cowboys, bartenders, guards, curmudgeons, clergymen, politicians, doctors, lawyers, educators, agents, waiters, servants, chauffeurs, reporters, detectives, hitmen, aristocrats, wealthy bachelors, and patriarchs.

While directing an episode of "Chicagoland Mystery Players", he was discovered by film director Roger Corman who was in the area attending a film conference.

VeSota was one of the directors of They Stand Accused, "television's first live dramatic courtroom series", which ran on WGN-TV before it expanded to national distribution first on CBS and later on DuMont.

He was married to fellow actress Jebbie VeSota from 1953 until his death (their union produced eight children).

VeSota was one of the founding members of the Canyon Theatre Guild, and was a chairman for his local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs.

In the 1960s, he played the barman in a number of episodes of Bonanza.

He was an American character actor, director and producer who, between 1945 and 1974, appeared in hundreds of television episodes and over 50 feature films.

In 1974, he withdrew from acting and went on to enjoy a successful career as a communications instructor for the UCLA, where he taught for two years until his demise for the complications of a heart attack.

He was a regular parishioner of the Catholic church.

Bruno VeSota was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

He is best remembered for his portrayal of the stern Dave Walker in the cult classic "Attack of the Giant Leeches" (1959).

VeSota entered Chicago television in 1945 writing many teleplays for WBKB-TV such as an adaption of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart".

He made his big-screen debut in 1953 with appearances in The System and The Wild One.

After attaining his degree in communications from the State University of Illinois, he originally began his career as a director and screenwriter for WBKB.

He also directed "Chicagoland Mystery Players" on WGN-TV before it went on Dumont.

During his career, he was a member of the Screen Actors Guild.

In 1948, he moved to WGN-TV as a producer, director and writer.