Actor who specialised in playing
New York mobsters and other tough-guy rolesA former bouncer, baggage handler and trade unionist, the
American actor Danny Aiello had years of playing pugnacious supporting characters before, already in his mid-50s, he gained the part of Sal, a pizzeria owner caught up in a riot, in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing (1989). For his performance in the role he received an Oscar nomination. But, improbably, he had gained his greatest exposure on
MTV just three years before, in a dialogue-free part as a concerned single parent in Madonna’s video for Papa Don’t Preach.
Following Do the Right Thing, Aiello, who has died aged 86, hit his stride as a leading actor in the 1990s and became – along with Paul Sorvino and Joe Pesci – one of the go-to guys for directors casting volatile Italian-American mobsters. This line of casting reached its apotheosis in Mario Puzo’s fearsome Don Domenico Clericuzio, whom he played in two TV miniseries.