Obituaries : Salvatore Ponti, 53; Actor, Composer, Writer Appeared in His Own Theater

Salvatore J. (Sal) Ponti, an actor, writer and composer who appeared locally in his own theater and at area dinner houses and starred on the screen using the name Anthony Hall in “Atlantis, the Lost Continent,” is dead.

His wife, Cynthia, said Monday that he was 53 when he died of cancer Jan. 15 at home in Los Angeles.

Born in Philadelphia, where he wrote songs for Fabian and Frankie Avalon while still in his teens, Ponti came west after appearances with the Abby Playhouse in his hometown.

Here he worked in such episodic television programs as “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “McHale’s Navy,” “General Electric Theater,” “Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theater,” “I Dream of Jeannie” and “Mission Impossible.”

In 1970, he opened the Sal Ponti Theater, formerly the New Playwrights, on Hyperion Avenue in Hollywood with “The Air Sweetener,” a two-act comedy he wrote. He also appeared at the La Cana Dinner Theater, where his productions included a one-man show.

A memorial service has been scheduled at 8 p.m. Thursday at St. Brendan’s Catholic Church, 310 S. Van Ness Ave., Los Angeles.