# Art Metrano
**Art Metrano** (born Arthur Metrano; September 22, 1936 – September 8, 2021) was an American actor and comedian best known for playing Lt./Capt./Cmdt. Ernie Mauser in *Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment* (1985) and *Police Academy 3: Back in Training* (1986), and for a mock-magic nightclub act, "The Amazing Metrano," in which he made his fingers "jump" from one hand to another while humming the tune "Fine and Dandy."[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano) After a 1989 fall from a ladder left him quadriplegic, he rebuilt enough mobility to perform a one-man show about his accident and recovery, *Metrano's Accidental Comedy*.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | September 22, 1936, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York; September 8, 2021, Aventura, Florida, of natural causes, at 84[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0582586/bio/) |
| Signature role | Lt./Capt./Cmdt. Ernie Mauser in *Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment* (1985) and *Police Academy 3: Back in Training* (1986)[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano) |
| Comedy magic act | "The Amazing Metrano" on *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson* from 1970, set to "Fine and Dandy," an early 1930s composition by Kay Swift[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano) • [2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) |
| 1989 accident | Fell from an extension ladder while working on a house, breaking his neck and leaving him quadriplegic[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-12-ca-51291-story.html) |
| One-man show | *Metrano's Accidental Comedy*; the 2000 Los Angeles run raised more than $175,000 for Project Support for Spinal Cord Injury[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) |
| Film debut | 1961, in the Cold War thriller *Rocket Attack U.S.A.*[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/art_metrano) |
| Later career | Continued acting until 2001, including *The District*, *How Stella Got Her Groove Back* (1998), and *Good Advice* (2001)[6](https://www.etonline.com/art-metrano-police-academy-actor-and-comic-dead-at-84-171785) |
## Early life and start in comedy
Metrano was born the youngest of six children in a Sephardic Jewish family in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn; his father was a garment manufacturer and his mother a housewife.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) He played football for the College of the Pacific in [Stockton, California](https://www.edgepedia.org/stockton-california), then worked as a stand-up comic in the Catskills before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting in the 1960s.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) To pay for acting classes he worked as a hairdresser in [Times Square](https://www.edgepedia.org/times-square).[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html)
His film debut came in 1961 in the Cold War thriller *Rocket Attack U.S.A.*[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/art_metrano) Through the 1960s and 1970s he took small roles on television programs including *The Mod Squad*, *Mannix*, *Adam-12*, and *Bewitched*, on which he appeared five times, each time as a different character.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/art_metrano) His early film roles included Max in [Sydney Pollack](https://www.edgepedia.org/sydney-pollack)'s *[They Shoot Horses, Don't They?](https://www.edgepedia.org/they-shoot-horses-dont-they-film)* (1969) and a part in [Elaine May](https://www.edgepedia.org/elaine-may)'s *The Heartbreak Kid* (1972).[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [7](https://obits.dallasnews.com/news/art-metrano-1936-2021-actor-known-for-police-academy-movies)
## "The Amazing Metrano"
Metrano's national breakthrough came in 1970 on *The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson*. In his "Amazing Metrano" segment he posed as a magician performing absurd tricks, chiefly making his fingers "jump" from one hand to another, while constantly humming "Fine and Dandy," an early 1930s composition by Kay Swift.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano) The routine made Carson fall out of his seat laughing and earned Metrano an invitation to sit on the couch next to the host.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) He became a recurring guest on the show and also performed on variety programs such as *The Dean Martin Show* and *Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In*.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/art_metrano) • [6](https://www.etonline.com/art-metrano-police-academy-actor-and-comic-dead-at-84-171785)
## Film and television career
By the 1980s Metrano had built a reputation as a comedic performer and was cast as Lt. Mauser, the arrogant rival to Capt. Lassard, in *Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment* (1985); the character, promoted to commandant, returned in *Police Academy 3: Back in Training* (1986).[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/art_metrano) • [8](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/cine/murio-art-metrano-comediante-de-culto-y-figura-de-las-peliculas-de-locademia-de-policia-nid09092021/) A widely remembered scene has Mauser mistakenly using epoxy as shampoo.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) He did not return for later sequels in the series.[9](https://naturtejo.com/plugins/kcfinder/upload/files/71929877718.pdf)
His other screen work included [Leonardo da Vinci](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonardo-da-vinci) in [Mel Brooks](https://www.edgepedia.org/mel-brooks)' *History of the World: Part I* (1981), *Breathless* (1983), *Teachers* (1984), *Malibu Express* (1985), *Toys* (1992), and *How Stella Got Her Groove Back* (1998).[3](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0582586/bio/) • [10](https://www.comingsoon.it/personaggi/art-metrano/70926/filmografia/) On television he was a regular in the short-lived CBS sitcom *Loves Me, Loves Me Not* (1977), played rock band manager Uncle Rico (credited as a band manager role) on the *Happy Days* spinoff *Joanie Loves Chachi*, and appeared in a 1978 *All in the Family* episode as Jack, one of two robbers who hold up [Archie Bunker](https://www.edgepedia.org/archie-bunker)'s bar on Super Bowl Sunday.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano) • [2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [6](https://www.etonline.com/art-metrano-police-academy-actor-and-comic-dead-at-84-171785)
## The 1989 accident and recovery
In 1989, while washing off the balcony of a house he was trying to sell, Metrano fell when the extension ladder gave way. He broke his neck, including what he described as the "hangman's break," a fracture that often proves fatal, and was left totally paralyzed from the neck down.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-12-ca-51291-story.html) ABILITY Magazine reported the injuries as fractures of the first, second, and seventh vertebrae in a head-first fall.[11](https://www.abilitymagazine.com/metrano_interview.html)
After 21 operations, and periods during recovery when he contemplated suicide, he regained the ability to walk a few halting steps and to move around mainly in a wheelchair.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-12-ca-51291-story.html) He wrote a one-man show from his journals, first titled *Jews Don't Belong on Ladders — An Accidental Comedy*, drawing on his childhood, the accident, and his rehabilitation.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [11](https://www.abilitymagazine.com/metrano_interview.html)
**The one-man show.** An extended run in Los Angeles in 2000, directed by Joe Bologna at the Odyssey Theatre in West Los Angeles, raised more than $175,000 for Project Support for Spinal Cord Injury; Metrano said he wanted to help others cope with spinal cord injuries.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-12-ca-51291-story.html) Renamed *Metrano's Accidental Comedy*, the show ran at the Coconut Grove Playhouse in 2001 and at Miami Beach's Colony Theater in 2009, and Metrano turned it into a book in 2004.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) At the end of each performance he stood and walked a few steps to demonstrate his progress, drawing standing ovations.[4](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-12-ca-51291-story.html) The injury did not end his acting work entirely: in 2001, at the invitation of star [Craig T. Nelson](https://www.edgepedia.org/craig-t-nelson), he guested on CBS's *The District*, and he returned to the Mauser character in archive-based and television *Police Academy* material in the late 1990s.[12](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-02-ca-20333-story.html) • [8](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/cine/murio-art-metrano-comediante-de-culto-y-figura-de-las-peliculas-de-locademia-de-policia-nid09092021/)
## Business ventures and later years
Metrano owned businesses alongside his acting. In the 1970s he opened a "New York hot dog store" in Beverly Hills and, with actor [Burt Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/burt-reynolds), a West Hollywood deli.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) After moving from California to [South Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-florida) in 2002, he opened Yogurt Ur Way on Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale in 2011 and a second shop on the Hollywood Beach broadwalk in 2012.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html)
He died of natural causes at his home in Aventura, Florida, on September 8, 2021, at 84.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html) • [6](https://www.etonline.com/art-metrano-police-academy-actor-and-comic-dead-at-84-171785) His survivors included his wife Jamie; his children Harry, Zoe, Roxanne, and Howard; grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and his first wife Rebecca.[2](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html)
## References
1. [Art Metrano, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/art-metrano)
2. [Obituary: Art Metrano, 'Police Academy' actor, dies in Miami, 84, Miami Herald](https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/obituaries/article254163003.html)
3. [Art Metrano Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0582586/bio/)
4. [Comedy With Courage, Los Angeles Times (July 12, 2000)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jul-12-ca-51291-story.html)
5. [Art Metrano, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/art_metrano)
6. [Art Metrano, 'Police Academy' Actor and Comic, Dead at 84, Entertainment Tonight](https://www.etonline.com/art-metrano-police-academy-actor-and-comic-dead-at-84-171785)
7. [Art Metrano (1936–2021), actor known for "Police Academy" movies, Legacy.com](https://obits.dallasnews.com/news/art-metrano-1936-2021-actor-known-for-police-academy-movies)
8. [Murió Art Metrano, comediante de culto y figura de las películas de Locademia de policía, La Nación](https://www.lanacion.com.ar/espectaculos/cine/murio-art-metrano-comediante-de-culto-y-figura-de-las-peliculas-de-locademia-de-policia-nid09092021/)
9. [Police Academy 4 production notes (PDF)](https://naturtejo.com/plugins/kcfinder/upload/files/71929877718.pdf)
10. [Art Metrano filmografia, Comingsoon.it](https://www.comingsoon.it/personaggi/art-metrano/70926/filmografia/)
11. [Interview with Art Metrano, ABILITY Magazine](https://www.abilitymagazine.com/metrano_interview.html)
12. [Welcome Reunion as Metrano Perseveres After Accident, Los Angeles Times (February 2, 2001)](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-feb-02-ca-20333-story.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Character actors, B-movie and genre-circuit performers › American performers, mid era › Surnames K to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license