Rick Aiello (September 21, 1955 – July 26, 2021) was an American film and television actor. He played Officer Long in
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
films ''
Do the Right Thing
''Do the Right Thing'' is a 1989 American comedy-drama film produced, written, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Lee, Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Bill Nunn, John Turturro, and Samuel L. Jac ...
'' and ''
Jungle Fever
''Jungle Fever'' is a 1991 American romantic drama film written, produced and directed by Spike Lee. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Annabella Sciorra, Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Samuel L. Jackson, Lonette McKee, John Turturro, Frank Vincent, ...
''.
Life and career
Aiello was born on September 21, 1955. He worked as a
nightclub bouncer,
bartender
A bartender (also known as a barkeep, barman, barmaid, or a mixologist) is a person who formulates and serves alcoholic or soft drink beverages behind the bar, usually in a licensed establishment as well as in restaurants and nightclubs, but ...
and
club manager, and later pursued his acting career.
Aiello guest-starred in television programs including ''
Diagnosis: Murder'', ''
L.A. Law'', ''
21 Jump Street
''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-lo ...
'', ''
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', ''
Early Edition
''Early Edition'' is an American fantasy comedy-drama television series that aired on CBS from September 28, 1996, to May 27, 2000. Set in Chicago, Illinois, it follows the adventures of a man who mysteriously receives each ''Chicago Sun-Times ...
'', ''
The Sopranos
''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...
'', ''
Walker, Texas Ranger
''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the T ...
'' and ''
18 Wheels of Justice
''18 Wheels of Justice'' is an American crime drama series that aired from 2000 to 2001 on TNN. It starred Lucky Vanous as federal agent Michael Cates (posing as a truck driver, with a Kenworth T2000 semi-truck), and G. Gordon Liddy as Jacob C ...
''.
He also appeared and co-starred in films such as ''
She Hate Me
''She Hate Me'' is a 2004 American independent comedy drama film directed by Spike Lee and starring Anthony Mackie, Kerry Washington, Ellen Barkin, Monica Bellucci, Brian Dennehy, Woody Harrelson, Bai Ling, John Turturro, and Ossie Davis in his ...
'', ''
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me'', ''
The Don's Analyst'', ''
Me and the Kid
''Me and the Kid'' is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Dan Curtis. It stars Danny Aiello, Alex Zuckerman, Joe Pantoliano, Cathy Moriarty, David Dukes, Anita Morris, Ben Stein, Demond Wilson and Abe Vigoda.
Plot
A couple of ex-c ...
'', ''
Hollywood Confidential
''Hollywood Confidential'' is a 1997 television film directed by Reynaldo Villalobos. It won an ALMA Award in 1998.
Plot
Cast
* Edward James Olmos as Stan Navarro, Sr.
* Rick Aiello as Joey Di Rosa
* Angela Alvarado as Teresa
* Christine Harnos ...
'', ''
Sex and the City
''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO. An adaptation of Candace Bushnell's newspaper column and 1996 book anthology of the same name, the series premiered in the United St ...
'', ''
A Brooklyn State of Mind'', ''
29th Street'' and ''
Silent Madness''.
Aiello has also co-starred in the short-lived American
crime drama
Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...
television series ''
Dellaventura'', playing Teddy Naples. He retired in 2016, last appearing in the film ''Nobody's Perfect''.
Aiello died of
pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer arises when cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a mass. These cancerous cells have the ability to invade other parts of the body. A number of types of panc ...
at St. Anthony Community Hospital in
Warwick, New York
Warwick is a town in the southwestern part of Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 32,027 at the 2020 census. The town contains three villages (Florida, Greenwood Lake, and Warwick) and eight hamlets (Amity, Bellvale, Ed ...
, on July 26, 2021, at the age of 65.
References
External links
*
*
*
Rotten Tomatoes profile
1955 births
2021 deaths
Place of birth missing
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American people of Italian descent
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Deaths from pancreatic cancer
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