The Nureyev of the intersection
That is what the late PG columnist Phil Musick called Vic Cianca. So, a fond farewell to a Pittsburgh institution whom I never knew. Vic retired from the police force here in 1983–before I had even matriculated out of college on the dusty plains of Texas. But for 38 years, he put smiles on the faces of ‘Burghers with his choreographed motions as traffic cop. He was featured on Candid Camera, an Italian television series, a Budweiser commercial, and in the movie Flashdance. He was also married to his wife, Anna Marie, for 60 years, and was a veteran of both WWII and the steel mills.
The PG has a fine obit here. But here is a snippet from Vivian Nereim’s piece:
Mr. Cianca used as many as three limbs at once to hurry people along. When someone drove too slowly, he would rest his cheek in his hands, miming sleep. If a driver tried to explain away a traffic violation, he played an imaginary violin. He took slow, silly bows, blew his whistles so hard they quit and wore his white gloves so often that he earned the nickname “Gloves.”
Vic was 92 and is survived by his wife, two sons, two grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
As a child of the “fifties” and a teenager of the “sixties” I remember Vic Cianca quite well. A trip downtown was not complete without a stroll to Smithfield Street at Liberty Avenue to watch Vic Cianca put on his show. I sometimes wondered whatever became of him. Thanks for this trip down memory lane.
How cool that you have that memory. Even as a child in Chicago, I remember clips of him, probably from (or stolen from) Candid Camera, and later from Flashdance. Just another soul who added character to the city.
I never saw him in person but I remember the news clips. He’s probably directing traffic in heaven now, probably flying in loops and flourishes.
I’m with you Bluz.