Jay Novello (born Michael Romano, August 22, 1904 – September 2, 1982) was an American radio, film, and television character actor. Early life Novello was born in Chicago to Joseph Romano and Maria (Salemme) Romano. He had three siblings: John, Joseph, and Theresa (later Mrs. Rizzo). Radio career Novello began his 47-year acting career in the 1930s, performing as a character on radio. He played Jack Packard on the Hollywood version of I Love a Mystery for a brief period during the mid-1940s. He sometimes employed accents in voicing supporting characters. He portrayed Cairo police Captain Sam Sabaaya on Rocky Jordan, Jamison the butler on the radio version of Lone Wolf, and Judge Glenn Hunter on One Man's Family. He also had roles on Escape, Crime Classics, Lux Radio Theater, Suspense, and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar. He also played a recurring role as Mr. Negley, the mailman on the radio show My Favorite Husband. Film During his film career, Novello's roles often alternated between pompous or fussy professionals and assorted ethnic characters, such as Italians, Spaniards, or Mexicans. One of his earliest and more familiar film appearances is in the 1945 Laurel and Hardy comedy The Bullfighters, in which Novello plays a Latin restaurateur. Novello was limited mostly to bits in minor films, one of his notable being the officious Spanish consul in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles (1961). Among his other movie credits are roles in such films as Beneath the 12-Mile Reef (1953), The Mad Magician (1954), Lisbon (1956), The Pride and the Passion (1957), This Rebel Breed (1960), The Lost World (1960), Escape from Zahrain (1962), The Man from the Diner's Club (1963), Sylvia (1965), Harum Scarum (1965), What Did You Do in the War, Daddy? (1966), The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967), The Comic (1969) and The Domino Principle (1977). Television Novello's first role as a guest star on television was on CBS's The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show in 1951. Besides several appearances on CBS's I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show, he appeared on NBC's Northwest Passage series and on the Western anthology series Frontier in the episode "The Texicans". About this time, he guest-starred in Crusader, a Cold War drama on CBS. He was cast in a 1955 episode as Andre in "Sock Plays Cupid" of the NBC sitcom, The People's Choice. In 1956 he played a murdered antiques dealer in