Sal Mineo

Many bizarre rumors floated around about his murder, but when his killer, Lionel Ray Williams, was caught, he turned out to be a drug-addled 17-year-old who had no idea who Mineo was and was only interested in the money he had on him. Williams was convicted of murder, and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was paroled (1990).

Preparing to open the play in Los Angeles in 1976 with Keir Dullea, he returned home from rehearsal the evening of February 12th when he was attacked and stabbed to death by a stranger.

In 1975 he returned to the stage in the San Francisco hit production of "P. S. Your Cat Is Dead".

Mineo, whose father Salvatore Sr. was an immigrant from Sicily (his American-born mother Josephine was Neapolitan), coveted the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972).

Milo in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Harry O (1973).

Directed and starred as Rocky, a hardcore prisoner, in the controversial homosexual prison drama "Fortune and Men's Eyes" in Los Angeles (1969). It was a popular stage hit at the time and co-starring as Mineo's innocent young blond victim was pre-"Miami Vice" star Don Johnson.

Bought his protégé Bobby Sherman a set of drums when he helped Sherman break into the music industry in 1963-64 (Mineo had learned to play the drums for his role of Gene Krupa in The Gene Krupa Story (1959)). In 1970, when Mineo was broke and Sherman was riding high after appearing in the TV series Here Come the Brides (1968) and scoring big as a pop star, Mineo's lover Courtney Burr contacted Sherman and requested that he reimburse his former mentor for the drums. Sherman's manager sent Mineo $3,000 (approximately $17,000 in 2011 dollars, when adjusted for inflation).

Was injured during the Mojave Desert location filming of Escape from Zahrain (1962). He and co-star Madlyn Rhue accidentally tripped during an action scene and set off detonating caps that were being used to simulate machine-gun fire. Sal was burned and taken to a local hospital for a few days.

He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in this film and again for his role as Dov Landau in Exodus (1960). Expanding his repertoire, Mineo returned to the theatre to direct and star in the play "Fortune and Men's Eyes" with successful runs in both New York and Los Angeles.

In the late 1960s and 1970s he continued to work steadily in supporting roles on TV and in film, including Dr.

Donated the drum he used in The Gene Krupa Story (1959) to another teen idol, David Cassidy, the day after a dinner with David and his father, Jack Cassidy. David was 13 at the time.

In 1957, he tried to start a career as a rock-and-roll singer. He released two singles. The first was "Start Movin' (In My Direction)", which stayed in the US top 40 for 13 weeks and reached the #9 position. The second was "Lasting Love", which stayed on the charts for three weeks and reached #27. The singles were followed up by an album on the Epic label. In the United Kingdom, the records were released on the Philips label.

Appeared in two films nominated for Best Picture Academy Award: Giant (1956) and The Longest Day (1962).

Salvatore (Sal) Mineo Jr. was born to Josephine and Sal Sr. (a casket maker), who emigrated to the U. S. from Sicily. His siblings were Michael, Victor and Sarina. Sal was thrown out of parochial school and, by age eight, was a member of a street gang in a tough Bronx neighborhood. His mother enrolled him in dancing school and, after being arrested for robbery at age ten, he was given a choice of juvenile confinement or professional acting school. He soon appeared in the theatrical production "The Rose Tattoo" with Maureen Stapleton and Eli Wallach and as the young prince in "The King and I" with Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner. At age 16 he played a much younger boy in Six Bridges to Cross (1955) with Tony Curtis and later that same year played Plato in James Dean's Rebel Without a Cause (1955).

Grew up on East 213th Street in the Olinville section of the Bronx.