Raymond Cavaleri, 'Dennis the Menace' and 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents' Child Actor, Dead at 74

Raymond Cavaleri, a former child actor who later founded a Hollywood talent agency, died on July [...]

By Daniel S. Levine

Raymond Cavaleri, a former child actor who later founded a Hollywood talent agency, died on July 19. He was 74. Cavaleri's son Damian Cavaleri told Deadline his father died on July 19 in West Hills, California. He was surrounded by his family. A cause of death was not announced.

Cavaleri was born in Syracuse, New York, but his parents moved to California when he was 6 months old. He worked as a child actor during the early 1960s, appearing on television in episodes of The Roaring '20s, Thriller, Dennis the Menace, Going My Way, Mr. Novak, and Combat!. In 1962, she starred in the memorable Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "The Children of Alda Nuova," in which Jack Carson played an American gangster hoping to escape authorities by living in Rome, only to be terrorized by a group of teenagers. In 1970, Cavaleri starred in an episode of Bracken's World and played a student in Stanley Kraker's R.P.M., starring Anthony Quinn and Ann-Margaret. He made his final appearance as an actor in the 1975 film Lepke, starring Tony Curtis as the leader of a crime syndicate.

In the early 1980s, Cavaleri switched careers and became a talent agent. He founded Cavaleri & Associates in 1981. He represented actors, directors, writers, and other Hollywood talent. In 2009, he was a producer on The Hitman Diaries: Charlie Valentine, a film starring Michael Weatherly and Tom Berenger.

Cavaleri was also a drama teacher at his alma maters, Alemany High School and California State University, Northridge. He was the founder of the Los Angeles theater groups - the Camille Ensemble, and the Cheherazade Ensemble. Cavaleri is survived by his wife of 43 years, Barbara Beaver Cavaleri; his two sons Damian and Maximillian; and a grandson.

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