His mother, Sandy, confirmed the news to TMZ. Dec. 13, 2019. Never from people; it was always going into places with vending machines, cigarette machines. Aiello wed Sandy Cohen in 1955, and the couple has three living children. Aiello played nightclub owner and Lee Harvey Oswald assassin Jack Ruby in the biopic Ruby (1992), the lead role in Paul Mazursky's film business satire The Pickle (1993), the titular character in the Academy Award-winning short film Lieberman in Love (1995), and a political big shot with mob ties in City Hall (1996), starring Al Pacino. Get breaking news alerts in the FOX5NY News app. He also played a frustrated 1940s waiter and family man, opposite Bea Arthur, in Mr. Allens 1981 play, The Floating Light Bulb.. In addition to his acting roles, Aiello was also an accomplished singer. I thought that actors all came from the other coast., Aiellos singing, at its core, was far more than an accumulation of influences, Don Heckman wrote. Aiello is survived by his wife, Sandy Cohen and their four children. December 13, 2019 7:45am. When the play finally made it to Broadway, in 1975, he was back in the role. In 1990 he was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar for his role in Do The Right Thing. May You Rest In PARADISE.. Dec. 13, 2019 8:16 AM PT. The actor, who is best known for his supporting roles in movies such as Bang the Drum Slowly and The . Still, the experience made him feel for the first time that he belonged as an actor. Danny also appeared in Madonna's music video for Papa Don't Preach. Born on June 20, 1933, Danny was the fifth of six children to a seamstress mum and labourer dad. Published on December 13, 2019 12:11 PM. Rick Aiello, an actor who appeared in films including Do the Right Thing, Harlem Nights and A Brooklyn State of Mind alongside his father, the late Oscar-nominated actor Danny Aiello, has died.He . 1. 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. Aiello is survived by his wife of 64 years, Sandy Cohen and their four children. AIELLO--Danny III, of Hillsdale, NJ passed away on Saturday May 1. Danny Aiello, the Oscar-nominated star of Do the Right Thing, has died at the age 86. Daniel Louis Aiello III (January 27, 1957 - May 1, 2010) was an American stunt performer, stunt coordinator, director, and actor in film and television. Danny Aiello and His Two Sons died back to back adding to the pattern of Three as in Three Fates. Danny's family had come to visit him Thursday, and we're told he died shortly after they'd left that evening. Aiello died Thursday at the age of 86. Do The Right Thing star Danny Aiello has died aged 86. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Mr. Aiello was a blue-collar worker until his mid-30s. The pizzeria is set on fire during a riot, but in the end, he and Mr. Lees character, an employee, cautiously reconcile. Danny, known as Junior until adulthood, grew up on West 68th Street, before gentrification, and then in the South Bronx. The family asks for privacy at this time, Tracey Miller said in a statement. Danny, We Made Cinema History Together With DO THE RIGHT THING. May You Rest In PARADISE., A post shared by Spike Lee (@officialspikelee) on Dec 13, 2019 at 7:02am PST. Mr. Aiello never claimed to have inspired the signature line in Taxi Driver (1976), but, according to his 2014 memoir, I Only Know Who I Am When I Am Somebody Else, he could have. Lee had first offered the role to Robert De Niro, but Aiello's performance brought him an Oscar nomination for supporting actor. Danny Aiello, the New York actor and former Greyhound bus employee best known for his Oscar-nominated turn as Sal the pizza-joint owner inDo the Right Thingand for portraying Chers lovelorn suitor inMoonstruck, has died. HOLLYWOOD actor Danny Aiello has died at the age of 86. I [finally] said to him, If you give me an opportunity to add something to this character I know this character, I may know him better than you. He said Lee listened to his recommendations and allowed Aiello to supply bits of dialogue, like when Sal yells at the African American kids in his pizza place and says, They grew up on my food., Lee posted on Instagram: Just Found Out My Brother DANNY AIELLO Made His Transition Last Night. [14] His nephew is Michael Kay, broadcaster for the New York Yankees. Danny Aiello, the veteran character actor known for his Oscar-nominated supporting turn in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," died Thursday night in New Jersey. [5], At the age of 16, Aiello lied about his age to enlist in the United States Army. Aiello was born in Manhattan, New York City on June 20, 1933. See you in Heaven, Danny. Danny Aiello, the blue-collar character actor whose long career playing tough guys included roles in Moonstruck and Once Upon a Time in America has died. 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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. She survives him. Aiellos death was confirmed by his publicist on Friday. 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." In 2014, Aiello told the Staten Island Advance that prior to becoming an actor, he was involved in real-life gang activity. I was terrified.". His father, a laborer, left the family of seven children, and Daniel started working at age 9 selling newspapers, working in a . He was 86. 3:43 PM PT -- Robert De Niro, a longtime friend of Aiello's, tells us, "I am very saddened to hear of Danny's passing. Actor Danny Aiellos son Rick has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer. I hate to admit it but I became a part-time thief. ", 8:22 AM PT -- Cher just tweeted about Danny's death, saying, "Goodbye Dear Danny Aiello. His performance brought him an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Their father, Danny Aiello, passed away in 2019 at the age of 86 after a short illness. His death was confirmed by Jennifer De Chiara, his literary agent, in an email. The two played newly . He was best known to film viewers both as the pizza-joint owner 'Sal' in the 1989 film Do the Right Thing and as Cher's lovelorn suitor in the 1987 film Moonstruck. The role . HOLLYWOOD actor Danny Aiello has died at the age of 86. Danny, fr Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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. Starting in 1980 he averaged three films a year, plus appearances in theater and television. Aiello said, Ive been so many damn things. Jim Cooper/Associated Press. The ambitious Aiello rose to become president of the transit union. Danny Aiello Photofest. According to his mother, Sandy, he passed away Monday night surrounded by loved ones at a hospital in Warwick, New Jersey. Danny Aiello, the acclaimed actor who rose to prominence with roles in "The Godfather Part II" and "Do The Right Thing," has passed away at 86 years old. He kept coming to places where I was, seeing me in a restaurant, taking me to a ballgame, taking me to a Knick game. Kay said that Aiello sang at his wedding. I dont think the public knows shit about anything. Danny Aiello, a prolific actor who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as pizzeria owner Sal in Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," has died, a family representative confirmed Friday to CNN. U.S. diplomatic convoy fired on in Sudan, prompting warning from Blinken, Rat ambassadors try to counter bad press amid NYC's rat war, Draymond Green ejected after stomping on Domantas Sabonis' chest; Kings go up 2-0 on Warriors. Education His film career took off in the early 1970s. Soundtracks. Aiello had drawn a diagram for a reporter of how to build his favorite boyhood weapon, and then he flashed a scar he got from one when he was 13. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Aiello's . (When ABCsNaked Citycame there for an episode in 1963, actor Frank Gorshin told Aiello to bump into him so he would show up on TV.). 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. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Rick was an actor in his own right and starred in films such as Remedy and 29th Street. He even starred with his dad in Spike Lees 1989 film Do The Right Thing., He also had roles in shows such as Law & Order, Sex and the City and Jungle Fever.. Danny Aiello, the Oscar-nominated star of "Do the Right Thing," has died at the age 86. Danny would go on to earn praise in several hit films in the '80s, like "Fort Apache the Bronx" with Paul Newman, "Once Upon a Time in America," "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Moonstruck" opposite Cher. . Aiello, a native New Yorker, broke into movies in the early '70s by landing a small role in the Robert De Niro baseball drama, "Bang the Drum Slowly." I've played gangsters, teachers but most of my work has been in the police area. Aiello was married to his wife, Sandy, for more than 60 years. He . me . Mr. Aiellos performance in that movie earned him an Oscar nomination. USA TODAY. Spike said that the American public knew that we were telling the truth. In a documentary on the making of Do the Right Thing, Aiello said that he based his character of Sal on a candy shop owner he knew growing up along Arthur Avenue in The Bronx. Danny Aiello the Oscar-nominated character actor who featured in films like Do the Right Thing, Moonstruck, and The Purple Rose of Cairo has died at the age of 86. In 1977, he originated the role of Fran Geminiani in the long-running play Gemini. 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). Together they had sons Rick, Jaime and Danny Aiello III and daughter Stacey. Aiello' CNN . He also played Madonna's father in the 1986 video for Papa Don't Preach. He further identified the film as a very collaborative effort, during which Spike Lee at one point told him, "Whatever you wanna do, you do." The movie he always said he was most fond of was the New York-set29th Street(1991), in which Anthony LaPaglia played his son. He also has a role in The Black Caesar as Vito Lanza, due to be released in 2020. Death. Early life. 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. His last was in Making a Deal With the Devil, a 2019 F.B.I. See you in Heaven, Danny. His film career took off in the early 1970s. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. It will be open to the public. I suppose I could say acting is medicinal. 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. Danny Aiello, the acclaimed actor who rose to prominence with roles in "The Godfather Part II" and "Do The Right Thing," has passed away at 86 years old. In 1990 he was nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar for his role in Do The Right Thing. In a tweet, Cher mourned the man she called "a genius comedic actor." After serving for three years, he returned to New York City and did various jobs in order to support himself and, later, his family. [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. One of his first films was in Robert De Niro's movie Bang The Drum Slowly. May You Rest In PARADISE, Lee said in one of a number of tribute posts Friday morning. 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. 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. In addition, Aiello tries to frame Corleone for the crime. Emotional Guy, Speaking for Others", "FILM; Danny Aiello Journeys Along The Blue-Collar Road to Stardom", "Yankees broadcaster Michael Kay marries news anchor Jodi Applegate", "Robert De Niro Mourns Death of Former Costar Danny Aiello: 'See You in Heaven', "Spike Lee, John Turturro flock to Upper West Side for Danny Aiello funeral", Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor, Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Danny_Aiello&oldid=1136327240, James Monroe High School (New York City) alumni, All articles with bare URLs for citations, Articles with bare URLs for citations from August 2022, CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes), Official website different in Wikidata and Wikipedia, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Episode: "Babies: Growth and Development", Episode: "Charlton Heston/Wynton Marsalis", This page was last edited on 29 January 2023, at 20:45. 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