Sal Mineo

Mineo was born in The Bronx, New York City, the son of coffin makers Josephine (née Alvisi) (1913 - 1989) and Salvatore Mineo Sr. (1913 - 1972) He was of Sicilian descent. His father was born in Italy. His mother, of Italian heritage, was born in the United States. Mineo's sister Sarina (1941 - 2024) and brothers Michael (1937 - 1984) and Victor (1935 - 2015) were also actors. He attended the Quintano School for Young Professionals, a performing arts school in New York City. Mineo was one of the few Italian-American actors of his era to keep his surname, saying he was proud of his heritage and identity. ==Acting career==

Child actor Mineo's mother enrolled him in dancing and acting school at an early age. He had his first stage appearance in Tennessee Williams's play The Rose Tattoo (1951). He also played the young prince opposite Yul Brynner in the stage musical The King and I. Brynner took the opportunity to help Mineo better himself as an actor. On May 8, 1954, Mineo portrayed the Page (lip-synching to the voice of mezzo-soprano Carol Jones) in the NBC Opera Theatre's production of Richard Strauss's Salome (in English translation), set to Oscar Wilde's play. Elaine Malbin performed the title role, and Peter Herman Adler conducted Kirk Browning's production. As a teenager, Mineo appeared on ABC's musical quiz program Jukebox Jury. Mineo made several television appearances before making his screen debut in the Joseph Pevney film Six Bridges to Cross (1955). He beat out Clint Eastwood for the role. Mineo successfully auditioned for a part in The Private War of Major Benson (1955), as a cadet colonel opposite Charlton Heston. Rebel Without a Cause and stardom in a publicity still photo for Rock, Pretty Baby (1956) Mineo's breakthrough as an actor came in Rebel Without a Cause (1955), in which he played John "Plato" Crawford, a sensitive teenager smitten with main character Jim Stark (played by James Dean). In Giant (1956), Mineo played Angel Obregon II, a Mexican boy killed in World War II. Many of his subsequent roles were variations of his role in Rebel Without a Cause, and he was typecast as a troubled teen. In the Disney adventure Tonka (1958), for instance, Mineo starred as a young Sioux named White Bull who traps and domesticates a clear-eyed, spirited wild horse named Tonka that becomes the famous Comanche, the lone survivor of Custer's Last Stand. By the late 1950s, Mineo was a major celebrity. He was sometimes referred to as the "Switchblade Kid", a nickname he earned from his role as a criminal in the movie Crime in the Streets (1956). The more popular of the two, "Start Movin' (In My Direction)", reached No. 9 on Billboards pop chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. He starred as drummer Gene Krupa in the movie The Gene Krupa Story (1959), directed by Don Weis with Susan Kohner, James Darren, and Susan Oliver. He appeared as the celebrity guest challenger on the June 30, 1957, episode of ''What's My Line?'' Mineo made an effort to break his typecasting. In addition to his roles as an Indian brave in Tonka (1958), he played a Jewish Holocaust survivor in Exodus (1960); for his work in Exodus, he won a Golden Globe Award and received his second Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Mineo was the model for Harold Stevenson's painting The New Adam (1963). Now in the Guggenheim Museum's permanent collection, the painting is considered "one of the great American nudes". Mineo also appeared on the Season 2 episode of The Patty Duke Show: "Patty Meets a Celebrity" (1964). Mineo's role as a stalker in Who Killed Teddy Bear (1965), which co-starred Juliet Prowse, did not seem to help his career. Although his performance was praised by critics, he found himself typecast again—this time as a deranged criminal. The high point of this period was his portrayal of Uriah in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965). Mineo guest-starred in an episode of the TV series Combat! in 1966, playing the role of a GI wanted for murder. He did two more appearances on the same show, including appearing in an installment with Fernando Lamas. In 1969, Mineo directed a Los Angeles production of the gay-themed play ''Fortune and Men's Eyes'' (1967), featuring then-unknown Don Johnson as Smitty and Mineo as Rocky. The production received positive reviews, although its expanded prison rape scene was criticized as excessive and gratuitous. Mineo's last role in a motion picture was a small part in the film Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971); he played the chimpanzee Dr. Milo. In December 1972, Mineo stage-directed the Gian Carlo Menotti short opera The Medium in Detroit. Muriel Costa-Greenspon portrayed the title character, Madame Flora, and Mineo played the mute, Toby. In 1975, Mineo appeared as Rachman Habib, the assistant to a murderous consular head (portrayed by Hector Elizondo) of a Middle Eastern country, in the Columbo episode "A Case of Immunity," on NBC-TV. One of his last roles was a guest spot on the TV series S.W.A.T. (1975), in which he portrayed a cult leader similar to Charles Manson. By 1976, Mineo's career had begun to turn around. While playing the role of a bisexual burglar in a series of stage performances of the comedy P.S. Your Cat Is Dead in San Francisco, Mineo received substantial publicity from many positive reviews; he moved to Los Angeles along with the play. ==Personal life==

In a 1972 interview with Boze Hadleigh, Mineo confirmed his bisexuality. Mineo met English-born actress Jill Haworth on the set of the film Exodus in 1960, in which they portrayed young lovers. Mineo and Haworth were in an on-and-off relationship for many years. They were engaged to be married at one point. According to Mineo biographer Michael Gregg Michaud, Haworth cancelled the engagement after she caught Mineo engaging in sexual relations with a man. The two remained very close friends until Mineo's death. Mineo expressed disapproval of Haworth's brief relationship with television producer Aaron Spelling, because he was 22 years older than she. One night, when Mineo found Haworth and Spelling at a private Beverly Hills nightclub, he punched Spelling in the face, yelling, "Do you know how old she is? What are you doing with her at your age?" In 2010, Michael Gregg Michaud released a biography on Sal Mineo and it received critical acclaim for its depth of research and the contributions from Sal's friends, family, acquaintances and co-stars. The book was dedicated to Jill Haworth and Courtney Burr III as they were both Mineo's significant partners and remained close friends until Haworth's death. ==Death==

, New York State On the night of February 12, 1976, Mineo returned home from a rehearsal for the play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead at 10:00 pm. After parking his car in the carport below his West Hollywood apartment that he shared with Courtney Burr III, he was stabbed in the heart by a mugger. Mineo was found lying and bleeding profusely in the parking alley by his neighbor Raymond Evans, who had heard his cries and helped him to his feet, but Mineo was only able to walk a few steps before he collapsed. Mineo was pronounced dead at the scene at the age of 37, due to massive hemorrhage. Mineo was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. In March 1979, Lionel Ray Williams, who had a long criminal record, was convicted and sentenced to 51 years in prison for killing Mineo, and for committing ten robberies. Williams was released in 1990 and continues to deny his guilt. A 2024 documentary film titled Unseen Innocence sought to raise awareness of Williams' case and his unsuccessful exoneration efforts. == Filmography ==

Film Television == Awards and nominations ==