The former corporate superstar talks about his life and his transition into acting.

Len’s transition to acting is a rather interesting one. A Vietnam-era veteran, Mr. Bellezza has overseen numerous management strategy operations, including as a Senior Vice-President for Macy Corporation, as head of retail strategy for Deloitte Touche, and as the head of the North American Retail Practice for Tata Consulting and Capgemini.

After years of working in the corporate world, Len decided to finally pursue his passion for acting. In the past two years, Len’s determination and work ethic has gotten him opportunities on commercials, plays, short films, and features. His most notable work includes award winning films The Calling (2019) and Tailor Shop (2020).  

Q: What propelled you to take the leap into the acting world? 

L: I alway thought it would make both me and the people I was performing for very happy. I thought it was therapy for both of us.

Q: How has acting helped you in your own personal life? 

L: It’s added fun at a time when I’m limited physically, and I enjoy making people laugh, cry, and affecting their emotions.  I guess I’m also egotistical and enjoy the admiration if I’m good.

Q: What is your dream role as an actor?

L: Right now, Vito Corleone.  In earlier days, Cool Hand Luke.

Q: What keeps you going at your age? 

L: I am 72, and if I can get rid of a few chronic conditions, I’d act and feel 20 years younger. But I won’t let that stop me and I’ll go forward with health adjustments and those things I like to do.

Q: What are some major obstacles you’ve experienced in your life? And how have you overcome them?

L: Some obstacles include coming from a large family and being placed in kindergarten at four years old and being a year younger than my contemporaries. But I was very smart comparatively.  I just tried harder, and then in my junior year in high school, things evened out.  I learned how to be a fine athlete, funny, entertaining, and more.  Life got a lot better.

Q: Can you talk about any failures you had in your life? And how you overcame them? 

L: I don’t remember failure.  I think of life as walking through water, never a brick wall.  I’m satisfied with all I’ve done.  Except asking certain girls out for dates.

Q: How did fighting in the war shape you up into the man you are today?

L: Knowing how the Vietnam War was conducted and the loss of men, materiel, and money made me continually suspicious of any involvement. I saw bombing raids planned based on satellite imagery, where you could read writing on trucks, and thermal imaging to determine troop concentrations. Then we dropped leaflets before the bombings to alert civilians to evacuate and we made a lot of holes in empty ground. I was proud to be an officer and knew many extraordinarily gifted men who stood for their country and I was glad to be associated with them.  I also understood the vast differences in the performance of enlisted men and how dangerous it was to have them weaponized, either with personal gear, or larger equipment. Keeping us all safe was a full time job.

Q: What are some of the life threatening injuries you have experienced in your life?

L: I hate to call them life threatening, because in most cases, I didn’t know they were happening.  In 2008, I had been having good coronary evaluations, but something began happening that was unusual and my coronary doctor put me on a series of medicines to reduce any water accumulation around my heart.  Still no change, but no pain.  One of his associates said, if the patient says something is wrong, then something is wrong.  So the associate performed a heart cauterization, similar to the one I had a year before. She found that one major artery had a 98.8% blockage and was a widow maker, as she called it. I was awake, when she said that, and I wasn’t scared.

I do have a form of cancer due, we believe, to exposure to the toxins from the 9/11 attack. My first experience was to remove a cancerous cell on my cheek, which needed 17 stitches to close.  Since then I’ve had 7 more operations.  I’m not scared of that or of the heart issues, they are controllable. In the interim, 5 discs in my spine deteriorated and needed to be removed. I had three surgeries to fuse the five and add a stimulator to reduce pain. The surgery was the most painful experience I’ve ever had, and I need further work. Facing that incredible pain isn’t scary, but I don’t like it.  The car crash was due, I found out to sleep apnea and while I was on my way to a play performance in NYC.  The crash was on the NJ Turnpike and I hit an exit ramp post at 80 mph.  The car was a total wreck, but no bags opened and I had not a scratch.  I wasn’t scared but now, much more cautious.

Q: What is a lesson you learned the hard way?

L: That some people were patently stupid or evil and I needed to make them know that there was a payback that I would deliver personally.  I would never hurt anyone intentionally, physically or emotionally unless they were doing it to someone who couldn’t defend themselves.

Q: As someone who has lived a long life, what can you say to the younger generation who are living in these uncertain times?

L: There were uncertain times in every era.  Some, more serious than our current conditions. Wars, depressions, pandemics, political upheaval, and civil unrest. I do think it’s wise to understand and continually correct social injustices, as we have done over the years.  I have seen much of it. But I also think there are some underlying threats that compromise legitimate protest and progress that are divisive.  We should not be afraid to uncover those.  I also think that political gamesmanship needs to be avoided and that the terms of members of Congress need limitations to eliminate much of the corruption that exists as those in power remain there.

Q: What are your current views on the state of America right now?

L: I’m sure that the divisiveness is hurting the relationship between people of all beliefs. My concern is that there is some institution that could be funded internally or externally that is exacerbating the confrontations and violence.  I also think there is a fundamental weakness in many elected officials.

Q: How do you think we can bridge the gap of divide that is going on in America? 

L: I don’t think it will happen without further bloodshed, if we can’t understand that we need conversation and realistic approaches to the administration of justice.

Q: How has family played a role in your life? 

L: My entire family is, for the most part Italian immigrants. They worked their way up from abject poverty to the development of a series of successful businesses that sustained a large family through depression, wars, untimely death from disease and more.  Almost all have remained close, and there are literally hundreds of brothers, sisters, and cousins who can't wait for some joyous gathering.  Even my wife's grandfather, was put on a boat in the early 1900's with an address sewn in his shirt and a few lira.  His mother put him on the boat to the US to land at Ellis Island. He never saw his mother again. After getting to Manhattan, some Italian found him sitting on a park bench crying and saw the address of a cousin he was supposed to meet with.  The cousin had moved to Massachusetts and someone paid his way by train to get there.  He began sweeping floors in a canning factory and in time saw some improvements that could be made in the process and developed a way of sealing the cans from outside air.  He eventually became one of the founders of American Can. The stories can be repeated in many ways through all the families, but that growing through hardship, including my own made us close through all the years.

Q: What legacy do you want to leave behind to your kids and grandchildren? 

L: I want them to be good, kind, considerate, generous, and fearless.

Q: Do you believe the family structure and values have changed in America? If so, why? 

L: The degeneration of the family unit, particularly in the poorest communities has been accelerated by fools who think that outright grants to those communities replace ensuring equal opportunities. I believe in “Lives Matter”. 

Q: What does success mean to you?

L: Having the resources to take care of myself and all my family while doing all the things I love to do. As well as having the family endorse or allow me to do what I would like.

Q: How have you helped make the world a better place?

L: I was always known for someone with an extraordinary talent to fix things, processes, organization, investment, and more in a logical fashion. I worked with people at all levels, some middle level executives, and people as powerful as Henry Kissinger. People came to me with their issues, opportunities, problems and more and knew that I had an incredible eye to flesh out the elements of the problem without compromising them to anyone.  I became at all levels the “go to” guy.  I made things better all the time.  Perhaps not in the entire world, but in my world.

Q: What is left for you to accomplish in your life? 

L: I don’t have a lot of runway, but I’d like to do something really good in performing to close it out.

IG: bellezzalen

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