Beloved character actor Danny Aiello dies at 86

Danny Aiello, who made his mark in numerous hit movies such as “Moonstruck” and “Do the Right Thing,” died December 12. He was 86.

This is very sad news. Oscar-nominated character actor Danny Aiello, who made his mark in numerous hit movies such as Moonstruck and Do the Right Thing, died Thursday night. He was 86.

According to  TMZ, Aiello was undergoing treatment for a sudden illness and “suffered an infection related to his treatment.”

His death was confirmed by spokesperson Tracey Miller, who released the following statement: “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. The family asks for privacy at this time. Service arrangements will be announced at a later date.”

Aiello, whose full name was Daniel Louis Aiello Jr., was born on June 20, 1933 in New York City, according to imdb.com. His childhood was reportedly difficult as his father Daniel Louis Aiello abandoned the family and his mother Aiello’s mother Frances, a seamstress, would later lose her eyesight.

Aiello enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 16 – he falsified his age – and served for several years before returning the city and bouncing from job to job before turning to acting on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. Among his notable stage performances were Gemini (1977), Hurlyburly (1984), and The House of Blue Leaves (1986).

But it is his character portrayals of blue collar, Italian Americans in movies that would gain him notoriety. He began his acting career in in the early 1970s, when he landed a supporting role in the baseball drama, Bang the Drum Slowly.

Aiello would gain traction playing a racist New York police officer in 1981’s Fort Apache, The Bronx (co-starring Paul Newman), and three years later a police chief in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, a film that reunited Aiello with De Niro. He played against type in 1987’s Moonstruck, playing the lovestruck – and eventually jilted – fiancé of Cher’s Loretta.

In Do the Right Thing, which would earn him an Oscar nomination, Aiello played a stubborn white business in the predominantly black Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Sal was a morally complicated racist villain, willing to swing a baseball bat but was sentimental toward the people who had grown up on his food. Lee paid tribute to the actor on his instagram.

View this post on Instagram

The Late Great DANNY AIELLO. June 20,1933- December 13,2019.

A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on

Hollywood Mourns Aiello

From Cher to Michael Rappaport, Hollywood tweeted their love for the burly actor.

RIP #DannyAiello. Oh so talented. Explosively wonderful human being-

ALSO READ: Caroll Spinney, Big Bird & Oscar puppeteer dies

Reel 360 publisher Barbara Roche has fond memories of working with Aiello in Chicago in a short-lived Chicago-based police series, Lady Blue, where he played Lt. Terry McNichols. The series lasted two seasons from 1985 – 1986.

Aiello in Lady Blue

Aiello would release an autobiography in 2014 titled  I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else: My Life on the Street, on the Stage, and in the Movies.

A longtime resident of New Jersey, Aiello is survived by his wife of 64 years, Sandy, and three children. A fourth son, Danny Aiello III, died of cancer in 2010.

SOURCE: TMZ, Deadline

Danny Aiello, who made his mark in numerous hit movies such as “Moonstruck” and “Do the Right Thing,” died December 12. He was 86.

This is very sad news. Oscar-nominated character actor Danny Aiello, who made his mark in numerous hit movies such as Moonstruck and Do the Right Thing, died Thursday night. He was 86.

According to  TMZ, Aiello was undergoing treatment for a sudden illness and “suffered an infection related to his treatment.”

His death was confirmed by spokesperson Tracey Miller, who released the following statement: “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. The family asks for privacy at this time. Service arrangements will be announced at a later date.”

Aiello, whose full name was Daniel Louis Aiello Jr., was born on June 20, 1933 in New York City, according to imdb.com. His childhood was reportedly difficult as his father Daniel Louis Aiello abandoned the family and his mother Aiello’s mother Frances, a seamstress, would later lose her eyesight.

Aiello enlisted in the U.S. Army at age 16 – he falsified his age – and served for several years before returning the city and bouncing from job to job before turning to acting on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. Among his notable stage performances were Gemini (1977), Hurlyburly (1984), and The House of Blue Leaves (1986).

But it is his character portrayals of blue collar, Italian Americans in movies that would gain him notoriety. He began his acting career in in the early 1970s, when he landed a supporting role in the baseball drama, Bang the Drum Slowly.

Aiello would gain traction playing a racist New York police officer in 1981’s Fort Apache, The Bronx (co-starring Paul Newman), and three years later a police chief in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America, a film that reunited Aiello with De Niro. He played against type in 1987’s Moonstruck, playing the lovestruck – and eventually jilted – fiancé of Cher’s Loretta.

In Do the Right Thing, which would earn him an Oscar nomination, Aiello played a stubborn white business in the predominantly black Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, Sal was a morally complicated racist villain, willing to swing a baseball bat but was sentimental toward the people who had grown up on his food. Lee paid tribute to the actor on his instagram.

View this post on Instagram

The Late Great DANNY AIELLO. June 20,1933- December 13,2019.

A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on

Hollywood Mourns Aiello

From Cher to Michael Rappaport, Hollywood tweeted their love for the burly actor.

RIP #DannyAiello. Oh so talented. Explosively wonderful human being-

ALSO READ: Caroll Spinney, Big Bird & Oscar puppeteer dies

Reel 360 publisher Barbara Roche has fond memories of working with Aiello in Chicago in a short-lived Chicago-based police series, Lady Blue, where he played Lt. Terry McNichols. The series lasted two seasons from 1985 – 1986.

Aiello in Lady Blue

Aiello would release an autobiography in 2014 titled  I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else: My Life on the Street, on the Stage, and in the Movies.

A longtime resident of New Jersey, Aiello is survived by his wife of 64 years, Sandy, and three children. A fourth son, Danny Aiello III, died of cancer in 2010.

SOURCE: TMZ, Deadline

Reel360.com / Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.