Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Double Rush: Robert Pastorelli

Double Rush aired from January until April 1995 on CBS.

Johnny Verona ( Robert Pastorelli),was an idealistic free spirit and former musician who owned The Double Rush bicycle messenger service in Manhattan. A gruff but fatherly guy who mused about his failure to become a rock star 25 years before, Johnny took a personal interest in the lives of his employees. Working for him were Barkley(Sam Lloyd), the spaced-out dispatcher; Hunter ( David Arquette), the young dare-devil who gloried in speeding through midtown traffic on his bike; Zoe ( Corinne Bohrer), a neurotic Harvard Business School Graduate who was biding her time until she found her dream job; Leo ( Adam Goldberg), a cynical self-centered young former delinquent; Marlon ( D.L. Hughley), a young husband and father with a legendary ability to con people; and The Kid ( Phil Leeds), who at 75 moved painfully slowly; however after working as a messenger for 58 years, he knew every shortcut in the city.

Diane English ( Murphy Brown) was the executive producer of this sitcom.

A Review From The New York Times

TELEVISION REVIEW; Turning In the Paintbrush for Bikes

By JOHN J. O'CONNOR
Published: January 11, 1995
Of all the new shows crowding the television schedule this month, none have more sustained energy and promise than CBS's "Double Rush." Robert Pastorelli, formerly Eldin the house painter on "Murphy Brown," stars as Johnny Verona, a lovable lug who owns a Manhattan bicycle-messenger service. Back in the 1960's, Johnny was a rock musician who dreamed of being a legend yet turned down a lucrative contract because the rest of his group wasn't included in the offer. He still has a heart of gold, along with some treasured photographs taken with Eric Clapton and Pete Townshend and a Fender Stratocaster guitar once owned by Jimi Hendrix.

Now idealistic Johnny has to deal with cynical Generation X'ers, one of whom asks, "If Drew Barrymore were your leader, would you be in a hurry to get on with your life?" The messenger staff includes the delinquentlike Leo (Adam Goldberg), the daredevil Hunter (David Arquette), described as "the only man who can beat a fax machine"; the smooth Marlon (D. L. Hughley), always on the hustle for another buck; Zoe (Corinne Bohrer), a Harvard Business School graduate discovering the realities of the job market, and the Kid (Phil Leeds), a sly 78-year-old foot messenger who acknowledges that Hunter is fast "but he doesn't have my grace."

The philosophical dispatcher is Barkley (Sam Lloyd), who sends his charges racing all over New York while muttering about "time, of course, being a relative thing." As bikes flit in and out of the ingeniously designed set, Johnny plays ringmaster, sometimes cracking the whip but generally being a sympathetic father confessor. The series has echoes of "Taxi" but actually its roots go back even further, to those old movies with Leo Gorcey and the Bowery Boys and their proletarian antics.

Johnny's former boss and chief competitor has already made an offer to buy him out, but the deal would not include his staff. No way. Johnny is not about to desert "my people." The nasty entrepreneur threatens to crush Johnny "and your whole pathetic gang of minimum-wage losers." But he has an attractive daughter who falls into a love-at-first-sight relationship with Hunter, who promptly reveals to her his basic approach to life: "Close your eyes, cross your fingers and run the red."

"Double Rush" has a catchy urban beat, reinforced with the opening credits and occasional filmed scenes that feature the messengers tearing through New York City streets on their bikes. The cast is already coalescing into a solid and disarming ensemble. And Mr. Pastorelli stays charmingly in charge. Definitely one to keep an eye on. DOUBLE RUSH CBS, tonight at 9 P.M. (Channel 2 in New York) Premiere directed by Michael Lembeck from a script by Stephen Nathan and Diane English; Russ Woody, co-executive producer; Jim Herzfeld, producer; Michael Curtis and Greg Malins, executive story editors; Caryn Lucas, story editor; Don Reilly, associate producer. A Shukovsky English Entertainment production; Ms. English, Mr. Nathan and Joel Shukovsky, executive producers. WITH: Robert Pastorelli (Johnny Verona), David Arquette (Hunter), Corinne Bohrer (Zoe), Adam Goldberg (Leo), D. L. Hughley (Marlon), Phil Leeds (the Kid), Sam Lloyd (Barkley) and Richard Portnow (Ed Foley).
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Here's Robert Pastorelli's Obituary From USA Today, published on March 9, 2004.

Murphy Brown' actor Pastorelli dies
By César G. Soriano, USA TODAY
Robert Pastorelli, the gruff but loveable painter on Murphy Brown, was found dead at his Hollywood Hills home Monday of a suspected drug overdose. He was 49.

Pastorelli in a scene from ABC's Cracker, a series that aired in 1997.
By Bob D'Amico, ABC

His body was discovered by his assistant in a bathroom, according to Access Hollywood, which first reported the actor's death. The Los Angeles County coroner's office said drug paraphernalia was found near Pastorelli. An autopsy is planned.

Pastorelli was best known as Eldin Bernecky, the housepainter, nanny and confidante to Candice Bergen's character on Murphy Brown. He appeared on the CBS series from 1988 to 1994, earning one Emmy nomination. He left the show to star in his own short-lived sitcom, Double Rush.

"He's not just a house painter. He's an artist," Pastorelli told USA TODAY in 1992 about the part that made him a cult figure. "He keeps Murphy emotionally grounded. He smooths the lumps in her emotional oatmeal."

"You do a show and go home and you don't realize the impact you're having," Pastorelli told USA TODAY in 1992. "Then one day you're returning Christmas presents at a mall in New Jersey and you hear people behind you talking. You say, 'Oh yeah. I do that TV thing. Yeah.'"

The former boxer-turned-actor grew up in Edison, N.J. He had some minor scuffles with the law as a youngster and was so broke at one point that he was living in a car. He turned to acting, racking up dozens of TV and movie credits. His films include Dances with Wolves, Beverly Hills Cop II and Michael.

Last month, Pasterelli completed filming Be Cool, the sequel to Get Shorty. The movie starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman is set to open in February 2005.

"MGM and the filmmakers of Be Cool are terribly saddened by the tragic loss of Robert Pastorelli," the studio said in a statement. "He was a pleasure to work with, a wonderful actor, and our hearts go out to his family and friends in this difficult time."

On the small screen, Pastorelli's last series was the 1997 ABC drama Cracker, playing a police psychologist. In 2001, he co-starred in a TV version of South Pacific opposite Glenn Close. The two were romantically linked, but Close said they were just friends.

Sadly, Pastorelli's life was mired in tragedy.

He was nearly killed in a car crash on his 19th birthday. In 1999, his girlfriend, Charemon Jonovich, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in the same house where Pastorelli died. The couple had a daughter, who turned 6 on Saturday.

At his daughter's birthday party, Pastorelli appeared "happy and very focused," according to a statement issued by his publicity firm, BWR Public Relations. The statement continued: "While we are awaiting the results of the autopsy, we are aware that he had been injecting Vitamin B12 prescribed by his physician."

A memorial service is being planned in Los Angeles. Pastorelli will be buried in New York.

Contributing: The Associated Press

To watch the opening credits of Double Rush go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmWmTCx9-6I