Bologna was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American family. He attended St. Rose of Lima school as did Mary Tyler Moore. He attended Brown University, where he majored in art history. Bologna served a tour of duty with the United States Marine Corps. Bologna was hired to produce and direct Manhattan-based TV commercials.\n', '

Bologna enjoyed a long run in film and television. His breakthrough film Lovers and Other Strangers adapted with his wife Renée Taylor from a play they co-wrote, was based on the true-life circumstances of organizing a wedding on short notice with the involvement of his Italian extended family and her Jewish clan. Several relatives performed as extras in the final cut. The couple shared an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. A year later, in 1971, the couple again collaborated to write and perform in the movie Made for Each Other.\n', '

Bologna stayed close with his old-neighborhood aunts and uncles after becoming successful. Two of them were slightly famous on their own: His Uncle Pat was Blacky the Bootblack, whom Joseph Kennedy credited as his main influence when he sold all of his stock holdings in the summer of 1929 (the market crashed in October), and his aunt Pauline was one of the best-known celebrity chefs, working for Jackie Gleason, Burt Reynolds and many other luminaries.\n', '

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