performer: "When The Foeman Bares His Steel", "No I Am Brave/Sergeant, Approach", "When A Felon's Not Encaged In His Employment", "A Rollicking Band Of Pirates, We"
Tall, skinny, and rubber-limbed, he had a rare gift for physical comedy and appeared frequently in the New York theatre, often in cutting edge Off- and Off-Off-Broadway productions. Joseph Papp, head of the New York Shakespeare Festival was an admirer of his talents and cast him in several productions -- most notably, the hit Broadway version of The Pirates of Penzance.
In his memoir, "Final Dress" (1983), John Houseman ruefully remembers the
time he discovered that Azito had had his Juilliard student I.D. photo
taken while in full drag...
When I started out, I thought I was going to be a Shakespearean
actor...Then I decided I was too weird-looking, too tall and thin - I'm
6 foot 3. But that's helped me as a dancer. I've known a lot of dancers
who were ten times better than me, but who were short. Turns out the
market wants 'em tall and thin, so I got jobs and they didn't.
