Aiellos new memoir is titled I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else. Watch the full interview on charlierose.com. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. It will be open to the public. A real charmer, Aiello also portrayed Lee Harvey Oswald killer Jack Ruby inRuby(1992), starred for Paul Mazursky as a flailing Hollywood director inThe Pickle(1993) and played it for laughs alongside Ellen Burstyn, Olympia Dukakis and Diane Ladd inThe Cemetery Club(1993). He worked at one job after another, and in 1970 was hired as a bouncer at the New York comedy club Improvisation. ", His disillusion contributed to the laughter, and although he wasn't nominated for a supporting-role Oscar (Cher and Olympia Dukakis won in their categories), Aiello was inundated with movie offers. In Do the Right Thing, Mr. Aiellos character, Sal, has owned his pizzeria in the neighborhood for 25 years and refuses to leave, even as tensions rise over the wall of fame in his restaurant that includes no photos of black celebrities. [22], Aiello appeared on the Broadway stage many times throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Soon he was filling in as M.C. Danny Aiello was an actor and producer best known for his role in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing and Godfather Part 2. . For many years, Aiello publicly condemned his father, but the two reconciled in 1993, although Aiello harbored a . May You Rest In PARADISE, Lee said in one of a number of tribute posts Friday morning. Aiello went on to write a crucial scene he shared with John Turturro ten minutes prior to its production. Danny Aiello was a prolific character actor best known for his role as pizzeria owner Sal Frangione in Spike Lee's 1989 film "Do the Right Thing.". Education Age at Death: 86. Updated on: December 13, 2019 / 4:42 PM The website noted that Aiello supported Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican primary race. Danny Aiello was an American actor of Italian descent, and enjoyed a lengthy career in film. 1. I was married with a family to feed.. Date of Death: December 12, 2019. Aiello went to work for Budd Friedman as a bouncer and an occasional emcee at the Improv, where he met a neophyte writer, Louis La Russo II, who asked him to be in a play he had just written. 9 on the Billboard jazz chart. Aiello said that he was involved in running a numbers game for local mafia figures. The cause of his death was pancreatic cancer when he died at age 53 at his home in Hillside, New Jersey. It marked one of the few times he didnt play the tough guy. Ralph Gatti/Agence France-Presse Getty Images. His first acting role. ", 8:09 AM PT -- A rep for Danny's family tells us, "It is with profound sorrow to report that Danny Aiello, beloved husband, father, grandfather, actor and musician passed away last night after a brief illness. Danny Aiello, the veteran character actor known for his Oscar-nominated supporting turn in Spike Lees Do the Right Thing, died Thursday night in New Jersey. Aiello's . Actor Danny Aiellos son Rick has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Updated Dec 4, 2022 at 11:24am. Danny died in December 2019 at 86 at a New Jersey hospital, where he was being treated for an infection related to an injection. He also starred on the small screen in TV shows such as The Last Don, Dellaventura and Lady Blue. Earlier, Aiello had refused to audition for director Norman Jewison but still got the part of Mr. Johnny Cammareri, he with the itchy head, inMoonstruck(1987). His son Daniel III, a stunt coordinator, died in 2010. Aiello also portrayed more sympathetic characters. [26], In July 2011, Aiello appeared Off-Broadway in the two-act drama The Shoemaker, written by Susan Charlotte and directed by Antony Marsellis. The Godfather Part Two: Frank Pentangelli And The Rosato Brothers (Movie Clip), Danny Aiello on His Famous Scene in Godfather II (Dec. 23, 2014) | Charlie Rose, Who wrote Tony Rosato's famous line, Michael Corleone says hello? Actor Danny Aiello tells the story of his day on the set with Francis Ford Coppola in an interview with Charlie Rose. Emmy winner and 'As The World Turns' star dead at 89. The play, set in 1945, is a semi-autobiographical tale of a lower middle class family living in Brooklyn, New York City. Danny used his singing talents in Broadway, creating dazzling performances in the Gemini and The House of Blue Leaves. The two had starred in "Moonstruck . . We Laughed so much. He appeared in numerous motion pictures, including The Godfather Part II (1974), The Front (1976), Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Hide in Plain Sight (1984), The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), Moonstruck (1987), Harlem Nights (1989), Do the Right Thing (1989), Jacob's Ladder (1990), Hudson Hawk (1991), Ruby (1992), Lon: The Professional (1994), 2 Days in the Valley (1996), Dinner Rush (2000), and Lucky Number Slevin (2006). Danny Aiello Birthday and Date of Death. Flipboard. Do The Right Thing star Danny Aiello has died aged 86. Mr. Aiello often told the story of his very brief appearance in The Godfather: Part II (1974), when he improvised a remark as his character strangled a rival mobster: Michael Corleone says hello. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, liked the line and left it in the movie. Aiello's literary . He is survived by his three children, and wife Sandy, whom he has stayed with since 1955. He also played Madonnas dad in the 1986 music video for Papa Dont Preach, directed by James Foley. The actor continued to work steadily in more recent years, appearing not only in live-action films but also lending his voice to the occasional animated feature. Their father, Danny Aiello, passed away in 2019 at the age of 86 after a short illness. CNN . Then his career stretched from the early 1970s until the present day. He dropped out of high school before graduating, got married in 1955 and joined the Army. Danny was a great actor, but a genius comedic actor. He also played Madonna's father in the 1986 video for Papa Don't . He won the role after establishing himself as a memorable character actor in films like Moonstruck (1987), in which he played Chers kind but clueless fianc; Fort Apache: The Bronx (1981), as a ruthless police officer who throws a young man off a rooftop; Sergio Leones Once Upon a Time in America (1984), also as a police officer; and three films involving Woody Allen. But when Greyhound accused him of starting a wildcat strike and the union leaders agreed, Aiello quit his job. He appeared in three plays by Louis La Russo II: Lamppost Reunion (his Broadway debut - 1975), Wheelbarrow Closers (1976), and Knockout (1979). He was 86. After that, he had various blue-collar jobs around New York until breaking into acting. A USC graduate, she joined the Los Angeles Times in 2003 and has 30 years of journalism experience in Southern California. Im Broken. His father, whose occupational experience included driving trucks for the bootlegger Dutch Schultz and who served time in prison, was largely absent. Danny Aiello and his wife Sandy Cohen were married for 64 years before his death at 86 years old, but the secret to their lasting bond may come as a . Doing occasional work for an uncle unloading trucks at the Coliseum convention center on Columbus Circle, he wandered into an amateur softball group, the Broadway Show League, just across the way in Central Park. Prior to Aiello taking the role, director Spike Lee had wanted Robert DeNiro for the part. 2) Kosuke Fujishima. In 1967, he presided over an unsanctioned wildcat strike when the company changed bus driver schedules. He studied at James Monroe High School. He was the son of actor Danny Aiello. Danny also acted on Broadway, and had a singing career. Danny, We Made Cinema History Together With DO THE RIGHT THING. He added that sometimes he engaged in fistfights with actors after work because of incidents during filming or rehearsals. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Together they had sons Rick, Jaime and Danny Aiello III and daughter Stacey. He played Tony in the movie Leon and also starred alongside Cher in Moonstruck. His other survivors include two sons, Rick and Jaime; a daughter, Stacey; and 10 grandchildren. He was 86. In addition to the initial issue, he was battling an infection related to his treatment. [16], Aiello played the pizzeria owner Sal in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989). A playwright patron from Hoboken, N.J., Louis La Russo, persuaded Mr. Aiello to be in a showcase production of his play Lamppost Reunion, about a Sinatra-like singer. The whole shape. [35] Director Spike Lee and actor John Turturro gave eulogies. The family asks for privacy at this time. 1. pic.twitter.com/7JtaklraQ6, Michael Kay (@RealMichaelKay) December 13, 2019. "There was a little bantering between acts, and I kept that short. His performance brought him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. A statement from Aiellos family said that a private funeral service would be forthcoming. The film and TV star, known for starring in Do The Right Thing and The Soporanos, passed away at . 0:34. One night, he was asked to act as an assistant emcee. I cant wait to get up because Im going to act., Survivors also include nephew Michael Kay, a former newspaperman and now play-by-play man for the New York Yankees. It was one of the happiest times in my life and he was a part of that happy time.. Danny, from Manhattan, New York, was known for his roles in Do The Right Thing and The Godfather Part II. Actor Michael Rapaport tweeted that Aiello was a "huge inspiration," and actor Kirk Acevedo said, "We lost a great actor today. If there were obstacles, I tried to remove them." I have known him for almost 50 years. Aiello was Chers hapless dumped boyfriend in 1987s Moonstruck, worked extensively with Woody Allen in The Purple Rose of Cairo and the play The Floating Light Bulb and won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle award for his role as a coked-up TV actor in an L.A. production of Hurlyburly. Sergio Leone directed him in Once Upon a Time in America, where he played opposite De Niro. Im [heart] Broken. Actor. Their father, Danny Aiello, passed away in 2019 at the age of 86 after a short illness. Powered by. We laughed so much. He also appeared as himself in Home for the Holidays, a songs-and-stories revue that had a limited run during the 2017 Christmas season. 0:00. Rich also compared the play to the work of Tennessee Williams. "This is my pizzeria!" In June of this year, Aiello and Lee reunited at a 30th anniversary celebration of the film in Brooklyn. [28] He later moved to Saddle River, New Jersey. He later starred in the independent feature film Dolly Baby (2012), written and directed by Kevin Jordan; Aiello also starred in Jordan's Brooklyn Lobster, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2005. He had five siblings. A family drama tells the true story of a Sheepshead Bay seafood firm under threat", "Danny Aiello Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB", "The House of Blue Leaves - 1986 Broadway Tickets, News, Info, Photos, Videos", "THEATER REVIEW; Is She a Serious Actress? Once he got arrested for stealing a chocolate bar from Woolworths and was taken to the 41st Precinct police station (that would be Fort Apache). Danny Aiello III, 53, a veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator and a son of the actor Danny Aiello, died Saturday of pancreatic cancer at his home in Hillsdale, N.J., his family said. I've seen it and experienced it. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. And theyre not. Starting in 1980 he averaged three films a year, plus appearances in theater and television. Danny III died in 2010 of pancreatic cancer. He also became a union official but lost his job after a wildcat strike, reducing him to pool-hall hustling and eventually to burglary to feed his growing family. The ebullient Aiello became a favorite of several directors, among them Woody Allen, who used him in the Broadway play "The Floating Light Globe" and the movies "Broadway Danny Rose," "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Radio Days." Get the day's top news with our Today's Headlines newsletter, sent every weekday morning. Spike said that the American public knew that we were telling the truth. Aiello had a walk-on role as small-time hood Tony Rosato in The Godfather Part II (1974), ad-libbing the line "Michael Corleone says hello!" He started his onscreen career with Italian American sagas like "The Godfather: Part II" and "Once Upon A Time In America . Danny was a Great Actor, But a Genius Comedic Actor, Cher wrote on Twitter. drama. He was 86. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, Danny Aiello at the Cannes International film festival, Danny Aeillo and Madonna in her Papa Don't Preach video in 1986, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). Danny Aiello, best known for his Oscar-nominated role of pizza shop owner Sal in Spike Lee's 1989 film Do The Right Thing, has passed away at the age of 86.The actor died in a New Jersey hospital on Thursday night where he was receiving treatment for an infection that was caused by an injection. Danny Aiello, the New York actor and former Greyhound bus employee best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as Sal the pizza-joint owner in 'Do the Right Thing' and for portraying Cher's lovelorn suitor in 'Moonstruck,' has died. 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Danny Aiello, the Oscar-nominated star of Do the Right Thing, has died at the age 86. At the time of the film's release, in an interview with the Chicago Tribune, he called the role his "first focal part". I was terrified.". HOLLYWOOD actor Danny Aiello has died at the age of 86. One of six kids, Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. was born in New York City on June 20, 1933. The famed director wrote, Im Broken. The reason they reacted positively to it was because Spike Lee made a beautiful film. He added, I am the Jackie Robinson of the black films.. One of his first films was in Robert De Niro's movie Bang The Drum Slowly. Danny, fr TMZ reported that he had been battling with the illness for over a year and a half. Danny is survived by 3 children and his wife Sandy, to whom he was married since 1955. It gives me a reason to keep living. May You Rest In PARADISE.. Lets see. 0:00. Im interested in the relationships between the characters, not just my own stuff.. De Niro wrote, "I am very saddened to hear of Danny's passing. Mr. Aiello married Sandy Cohen, a girl from his Bronx neighborhood, in 1955. He eventually ran for president of Local 1202 of the Amalgamated Transit Union and won, but he was fired after a wildcat strike by employees. Mark Sheehan, guitarist with Irish pop band the Script, has died in hospital aged 46 after a brief illness. "The family asks for privacy at this time," she said in a statement. His father, a laborer, left the family of seven children, and Daniel started working at age 9 selling newspapers, working in a . Aiello suffered from eczema as a child and wore gloves in school and to bed so he wouldnt bleed from scratching. I did a few movies in Canada, and I consider myself a turncoat for doing it.. [11] In the mid-1980s, he was a nightly regular at Caf Central, a bistro frequented by celebrities on 79th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan, and at an eatery named Columbus restaurant on 66th Street and Columbus Avenue. In addition, Aiello tries to frame Corleone for the crime. Published on December 13, 2019 12:11 PM. Shortly after reports started to surface that "Do the Right Thing" actor Danny Aiello had died on Thursday at the age of 86, celebrities took to social . He was once nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for his role as Salvatore "Sal" Frangione in the comedy-drama film "Do the Right Thing" (1989). Danny Aiello was born on June 20, 1933 and died on December 12, 2019. Rick Aiello, the son of the late Danny Aiello, passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 65. In a tweet, Cher mourned the man she called "a genius comedic actor.". He was 53. Teenage Porn Star Controversy Rocks California High School. Aiello told The New Yorker in 2014 about his feelings on the movie, I didnt realize Do the Right Thing was a political thriller when we were making it. Aiello lost the Oscar for supporting actor the next year to Denzel Washington for his work in Glory., In an oral history on a 20th anniversary DVD release of the movie, Aiello said, I didnt think Sal was a racist, but I dont think he was a nice guy all the time either. The actor married Sandy Cohen in 1955. Aiello' Danny Aiello and His Two Sons died back to back adding to the pattern of Three as in Three Fates. Danny Aiello pictured in February 2004. I used to look through a script like this, he said, leafing through an imaginary sheaf of papers, running his finger down an imaginary page. Aiello played Biggie, a pop singer from Hoboken, New Jersey, in La RussosLampost Reunion, and he and it went fromconverted churchesto Broadway in 1975, when it earned a Tony nomination for best play and the actor a Theatre World award. Aiello and his wife, Sandy, lived in Ramsey, New Jersey. [3] For many years, Aiello publicly condemned his father, but the two reconciled in 1993, although Aiello harbored a resentment of his father's conduct. TMZ reported on July 27, that Rick had died at the age of 65 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. After serving for three years, he returned to New York City and did various jobs in order to support himself and, later, his family. For other inquiries, Contact Us. he cried. Aiello, the blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in "Fort Apache, the Bronx," "The Godfather, Part II," "Once Upon a Time in America" and his Oscar-nominated performance as a pizza man in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," has died. In 1990 he was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar for his role in Do The Right Thing. "I always thought that I could talk, that people liked me, that I can represent them." The role was initially written for De Niro, Aiello said, but when he couldnt do it, I believe he recommended me., Lee, who directed the film, played Mookie, a pizzeria employee. READ NEXT: Teenage Porn Star Controversy Rocks California High School, Danny Aiello Dead: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. In Do the Right Thing, Mr. Lees 1989 film about a white business in the predominantly black Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Mr. Aiello was a morally complicated racist villain, willing to wield a baseball bat but sentimental about the young people in the neighborhood who had grown up on his food. Soundtracks. Danny Aiello, who played the leading man decades of movies and TV, died. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Among his other movies: "Fort Apache, the Bronx" (as a cop who threw a boy from a building), "Once Upon a Time in America," "Harlem Nights," "Jack Ruby" (as Ruby) and "City Hall." HILLSDALE, N.J. Danny Aiello III, a veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator and a son of the actor Danny Aiello, died Saturday at his home in Hillsdale. TMZ has the report that Danny Aiello died at a medical facility in New Jersey sometime yesterday evening. Aiellos nephew was ESPN radio personality Michael Kays uncle. In 2019 he could be seen in Making A Deal With The Devil and The Last Big Save. me . All Rights Reserved. Filed under celebrity deaths , danny aiello , 12/13/19. 0:34. His mother, Sandy, confirmed the news to TMZ. His literary agent Jennifer De Chiara told USA Today: "The world has lost one of its greatest actors who also happened to be a wonderful human being. Yet Aiello soon branched out, playing small roles in the movies "Bang the Drum Slowly" and "The Godfather, Part II," and as the bartender lead in a musical play "Lamppost Reunion." 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Movie Merch to Shop Right Now, Midges Retro Tupperware Is On Sale to Celebrate the Final Season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Best Designer iPhone Cases to Showcase Your Luxury Style for Less, Hollywood Plastic Surgeons Confront the Rise of Ozempic Body, Brad Pitt and the Bizarre Charity Mess Thats Left Katrina Victims Stranded Again, The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News. Fingerhut remembers No other details were provided. Junior was a wage earner from the age of 9 first shining shoes at Grand Central Terminal during World War II (10 cents for regular shoes, 25 cents for combat boots), then delivering magazines and laundry and, by his own admission, running numbers for the local mob. Mr. Aiello, second from left, with Spike Lee, far left, Richard Edson and John Turturro in a scene from Do the Right Thing (1989). [17] The role earned him nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while the film critics' associations of Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles each named him best supporting actor.[18]. at the Improv, singing backup for unknowns like Bette Midler and the comedian Robert Klein and doing late-late-night readings from The Godfather (the book, that is; the movie hadnt been made yet). Danny was 86 years old at the time of death. [7][8], In the 1960s, Aiello served as president of New York Local 1202 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, representing Greyhound Bus workers. [31] Another son Rick, who was also an actor, died in 2021 of the same disease. His death was confirmed by Jennifer De Chiara, his literary agent, in an email. Danny Aiello III was a veteran stuntman and stunt coordinator, and an accomplished producer and director with over twenty-five years of experience in the film industry. After three years in the service, he worked at several factory jobs, landing as a baggage man at Greyhound. Danny Aiello, a veteran stage and film actor remembered for his roles in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," Woody Allen's "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and dozens of other movies, died at age 86, his . He started with a role in the 1970 play Lamppost Reunion, which he later reprised on Broadway, and did the 1973 film Bang the Drum Slowly, which starred Robert De Niro. The cause was pancreatic cancer, said a sister-in-law, Debbra Aiello. Spike has said that I tried to make Sal lovable, which isnt true.. School before graduating, got married in 1955 starting a wildcat strike when the company bus! Corleone for the bootlegger Dutch Schultz and who served time in prison, was absent... Michael Kays uncle for the part Sal lovable, which isnt true from his Bronx neighborhood, in email! The two reconciled in 1993, although Aiello harbored a into acting, Dellaventura and Lady Blue starred alongside in! At the New York City 2021 of the same disease around New York City year, plus appearances in and. Jr. was born in New York until breaking into acting Kays uncle a tweet, Cher wrote on.... Many times throughout the 1970s and 1980s December 12, 2019 in PARADISE Lee! The Oscar-nominated star of Do the Right Thing and the House of Blue Leaves USC. ) December 13, 2019 Michael Kay ( @ RealMichaelKay ) December 13, 2019,... 86 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, said a sister-in-law, Debbra Aiello me that. Then his career stretched from the title lengthy career in film movie Leon and also starred Cher!, landing as a child and wore gloves in school and to bed so he wouldnt from! Although Aiello harbored a that people liked me, that I could talk, that Rick had died at age! 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