We’ve learned the sad news this morning that Oscar-nominated actor Danny Aiello passed away yesterday at the age of 86, reportedly after the onset of a “sudden illness.”
Aiello, who made his debut in the 1973 film Bang the Drum Slowly, was nominated for “Best Supporting Actor” at the Academy Awards back in 1990 for his memorable performance in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing. “I’m heartbroken,” Lee posted on Instagram this morning. “We made cinema history together with Do the Right Thing. May you rest in paradise.”
The actor also starred in The Godfather: Part II, Once Upon a Time in America, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Hudson Hawk, Leon: The Professional and Lucky Number Slevin.
In the horror genre, Danny Aiello played angelic chiropractor Louis in Jacob’s Ladder, and he also appeared in The Stuff and “Tales from the Darkside” episode “The Odds.”
Aiello is survived by his wife, Sandy Cohen, and their three children.