Do The Right Thing actor Danny Aiello dies at the age of 86 in New Jersey following ‘sudden illness’

Danny Aiello, a veteran stage and film actor remembered for his roles in Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing and Woody Allen’s The Purple Rose of Cairo, has died at a New Jersey medical center at age 86. 

The popular character star, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as Sal in Do The Right Thing, reportedly died on Thursday night ‘at a medical facility in New Jersey,’ according to TMZ.

He was being treated for a ‘sudden illness’ and ‘suffered an infection related to his treatment.’

The outlet reported that his family had recently visited him in the treatment center, and he died shortly after they had left. 

His publicist, Tracey Miller, confirmed his death and released a statement: ‘The family asks for privacy at this time.’

Danny is survived by his wife of more than six decades, Sandy Cohen, and three children: Rick, Jaime and Stacey. His son, Danny Aiello III died from pancreatic cancer in 2010.

Aiello is best known for his roles in Do The Right Thing, Moonstruck and Hudson Hawk. 

‘Danny was my client and a dear friend. He passed away last night. Danny was a rare talent who triumphed over incredible odds to become one of our greatest actors. He will be missed,’ literary agent Jennifer DeChiara said in a statement to NBC News.  

Daniel Louis Aiello Jr. was born June 20, 1933, to Italian parents. His father, a laborer, left the family of seven children, and Daniel started working at the age of nine selling newspapers, working in a grocery store and bowling alley, shining shoes and loading trucks. 

In his teenage years, he joined a street gang and, he claimed, engaged in burglary and safe-cracking. He dropped out of high school before graduating, got married in 1955 and joined the Army.

One of his earliest roles was working alongside Robert De Niro in the 1973 baseball drama, Bang the Drum Slowly.

He played Tony Rosato in Godfather Part II, and recited the infamous line: ‘Michael Corleone says hello!’ 

Recognizable, if not famous, for his burly build and husky voice, he was an ex-union president who broke into acting in his 30s and remained a dependable player for decades, whether vicious or cuddly or some of each. 

‘During the early times in my acting career, I would fight at the drop of a hat,’ he said in 1985. ‘I was very hungry. If there were obstacles, I tried to remove them.’ He added that sometimes he engaged in fistfights with actors after work because of incidents during filming or rehearsals. 

His breakthrough was as the hapless lover dumped by Cher in Norman Jewison’s hit comedy Moonstruck. His disillusion contributed to the laughter, and although he wasn’t nominated for a supporting-role Oscar (Cher and Olympia Dukakis won in their categories), Aiello was inundated with movie offers. 

In a tweet, Cher mourned the man she called ‘a genius comedic actor’ and she recalled working together as ‘one of the happiest times in my life.’ 

For Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing in 1989, Aiello earned a host of Best Supporting Actor awards and was also nominated for an Academy Award.

‘Living in New York City gave me training for any role,’ he said in a 1997 interview. ‘I’ve seen people killed, knifed. I’ve got scars on my face. I have emotional recall when I work; the idea is simply to recreate it. I’ve seen it and experienced it. I’ve played gangsters, teachers but most of my work has been in the police area. And for that I’m adored by the police in New York City.’ 

The ebullient Aiello became a favorite of several directors, among them Woody Allen, who used him in the Broadway play The Floating Light Globe and the movies Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo and Radio Days.

He portrayed a local pizzeria owner named Sal who had been in the same Brooklyn neighborhood for nearly three decades and experienced the rise of racial tension between neighbors, customers and his own family.  

Lee took to Instagram to share a slew of behind-the-scenes snaps while working with Aiello on Do The Right Thing. 

‘I’m [heart] Broken. Just Found Out My Brother DANNY AIELLO Made His Transition Last Night,’ he wrote. ‘Danny, We Made Cinema History Together With DO THE RIGHT THING. May You Rest In PARADISE.’ 

Billy Baldwin posted a heartfelt tribute to ‘a true one of a kind’ talent.

‘From the Army to Greyhound labor rep to bouncer at The Improv to Hollywood stardom!! From Johnny in Moonstruck to Sal in Do The Right Thing,’ Baldwin wrote. ‘That smile, that laugh, that NY attitude. They don’t make ’em like Danny anymore.’ 

Actor and longtime Howard Stern contributor, Michael Rapaport, tweeted that Aiello was a ‘huge inspiration’ for his career.