LEO GRILLO, Actor, Producer, Animal Welfare Activist As a young man Leo Grillo attended EmersonCollege in Boston where he studied theater. He successfully ran his own theater company earning critical acclaim for producing, acting in and directing the works of many cutting edge playwrights during the birth of "Off Off Broadway."
He moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to launch his film career, studying in famed film acting coach Charles Conrad's Master Class, but took an unexpected detour. . . one day while driving in the mountains, Leo rescued a hungry and tired dog who was staggering alone a ridge in the AngelesNational Forest. Eventually that dog (Delta) led him to 35 more dogs starving in the forest . . . and from that, Leo grew a small one-man rescue operation into the largest, no-kill, care for life sanctuary in the world, "D.E.L.T.A. Rescue" www.deltarescue.org. His state of the art sanctuary provides a wonderful home to over 1,500 animals abandoned in the wilderness, and boasts two fully equipped animal hospitals, with surgical suites, intensive care units, physical therapy units and much more, all to care for these precious animals.
In addition to running this quintessential sanctuary, he also founded the national horse rescue group "Horse Rescue of America" www.horserescueofamerica.org and "Wildlife Sanctuary of America" and is currently working on a plan to save thousands of wild Mustangs, a symbol of our great country, from being killed. His production company "Living Earth Productions" has produced numerous films and various media, all which focuses on educating the public on environmental and animal welfare issues.
The documentary "The Rescuer", is a chronicle of Leo Grillo the animal welfare activist and the father of the no-kill movement.What begins as a straightforward account becomes a cinema-driven self-analysis of a fascinating and determined personality, as Leo's self-awareness blossoms and he comes to understand the underlying reasons his life has moved in such an unusual, dramatic, and totally unexpected direction.
Leo co-starred in the feature film "Between the Lines" starring John Heard and Jeff Goldblum. He also appeared in the Emmy Award winning televeision movie "The Defection of Simas Kudirka starring Alan Arkin, and was in multiple episodes of George Peppard's hit television series "Banacek".
His first starring roll was in "Deirdres Party" where he played a Veterinarian. Next he starred opposite Grey's Anatomy's star "Katherine Heigl" in the thriller "Zyzzyx Road", he starred in a family film called "Magic" with "Robert Davi" and "Christopher Llloyd" which is currently in post production. This heartwarming story is about a dog who is an angel sent to heal a broken family. Currently he is working on an explosive documentary project, "Pets on your Plate," which exposes the horrific practice of animal rendering, and the secrets, lies and cover-ups about our dead pets' ending up in the human food chain. Additionally he is currently writing a thriller about animals, that will go into production in 2010.
Leo has been an invited guest on many TV shows, news programs and radio programs including: National Geographic, Disney TV, The Today Show, CNN, NBC, NPR,...he and D.E.L.T.A. Rescue have had featured articles in publications such as: The Los Angeles Times, The Daily News, Animal People News, The Santa Clarita Magazine, Chronicles of Philanthropy, Disney's Epcott Magazine, Purina's Special Friends...
He has been deamed an expert in the field of animal rescue by county, state and federal agencies such as: Department of Fish and Game, LA County Fire Department, Federal wildlife agencies, and local animal control departments.
Leo Grillo is the first born son of Leo Grillo Sr. and Carmela DeLucia Grillo. Both his parents were the children of Italian immigrants and he speaks proudly of his Italian heritage and his fond memories of his Italian upbringing.
