Bright began his career doing live television in
Manhattan at the age of 18, and made his film debut in Robert Wise's
Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). He also worked on several movies early in his career with his friend
Sam Peckinpah. In 1965, Bright starred in poet
Michael McClure's two-person show
The Beard, performing first in San Francisco and later in Los Angeles, New York City, and London. The play involved simulated sex acts. Bright, the producer Robert Barrow and director
Robert Gist were arrested in San Francisco and Los Angeles multiple times on charges of
lewdness, before winning a
restraining order halting the arrests. In granting the restraining order, the
California Supreme Court ruled that the
First Amendment protected live theatrical performances. He had a supporting role in
The Getaway (1972) as a
con man who tries to ply his trade on Carol McCoy (
Ali MacGraw), and co-starred in
The Panic in Needle Park (1971), playing Hank, brother of
Al Pacino's character. In 1972, he appeared in
Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of
The Godfather as
Al Neri,
Michael Corleone (Al Pacino)'s primary enforcer and bodyguard. In the book, Neri's character is a former New York City police officer who is hung out to dry by the department after killing a sadistic pimp. Michael uses Corleone family influence to get him off the hook and draws Neri into his service. At the end of the first film, Neri, dressed as a police officer, murders rival mob boss
Emilio Barzini and his henchmen during the film's baptism scene. Also, the last faces to be seen in
The Godfather are Bright's and
Diane Keaton's, as he closes Michael's office door in her face. Bright also played Neri in both sequels, thus becoming one of five actors to appear in all three
Godfather films; his character murders
Fredo Corleone (
John Cazale) at the end of
The Godfather Part II and the Vatican banker Archbishop Gilday at the end of
The Godfather Part III. Bright played another hired killer, Chicken Joe, in
Sergio Leone's gangster epic
Once Upon a Time in America (1984). His other roles include
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973),
Rancho Deluxe (1975),
Marathon Man (1976),
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), the film adaptation of
Hair (1979),
Red Heat (1988), and
Beautiful Girls (1996). In 1993, he had a recurring role on
One Life to Live as "Moose" Mulligan, rival and former
underboss to longtime arch-villain and crime lord
Carlo Hesser. In 1996, he appeared in the
interactive movie Ripper. Bright continued to make a number of both commercial and independent films, such as
Jaded (1998). He also continued working on stage and in television, appearing on such shows as
Law & Order,
Oz,
Third Watch, and
The Sopranos. These later performances showed Bright using an oxygen tank in all these appearances (although he suffered from
emphysema, the tanks were props for the characters). ==Death==