Who was Sal Mineo? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Salvatore Mineo Jr.

Died At Age: 37

Family:

father: Salvatore Mineo Sr.

mother: Josephine

siblings: Michael (brother), Sarina (sister), Victor (brother)

Partner: Bobby Sherman, Courtney Burr, Jill Haworth

Actors American Men

Height: 5'6" (168 cm), 5'6" Males

Died on: February 12, 1976

place of death: West Hollywood, California, United States

Ancestry: Italian American

Cause of Death: Murder By Stabbing

U.S. State: New Yorkers

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Career

Sal Mineo made his first stage appearance in the 1951 play ‘The Rose Tattoo’. He then appeared on the quiz show ‘Jukebox Jury’. In 1955, he made his film debut through the flick ‘Six Bridges to Cross’. The same year, he had his breakthrough role as John "Plato" Crawford in the movie ‘Rebel Without a Cause’

Then from 1956 to 1959, the actor did numerous big screen projects as well as TV shows including ‘Crime in the Streets’, ‘Giant’, ‘Dino’, ‘The Young Don't Cry’, ‘A Private's Affair’, ‘The Gene Krupa Story’, ‘Big Town’, ‘Look Up and Live’, ‘Lux Video Theatre’, ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’, ‘Kraft Suspense Theatre’, ‘The DuPont Show of the Month’ and ‘The Ann Sothern Show’.

After this, Mineo was cast as Dov Landau in the film ‘Exodus’ in 1960. Two years later, he did the films ‘Escape from Zahrain’ and ‘The Longest Day’. Then from 1963 to 1966, he appeared in the movies ‘Cheyenne Autumn’ and ‘The Greatest Story Ever Told’ and in the TV shows ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’, ‘The Patty Duke Show’ and ‘Combat’. Soon after this, the American actor played George Blaylock in the TV flick ‘Stranger on the Run’. He next did the movie ‘80 Steps to Jonah’.

In the year 1970, Mineo was cast as Angel de Angelo in the television film ‘The Challengers’. The following year, he had roles in the programs ‘My Three Sons’, ‘The Immortal’ and ‘Dan August’. Then from 1973 to 1976, he made several TV appearances on shows including ‘Harry O’, ‘Griff’, ‘Tenafly’, ‘Columbo’, ‘Hawaii Five-O’, ‘Police Story’, ‘Ellery Queen’ and ‘Joe Forrester’. At the time of his untimely death, he was a part of the cast of the play ‘P.S. Your Cat Is Dead.’

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Personal Life

Sal Mineo was born as Salvatore Mineo, Jr. on January 10, 1939 in the Bronx, New York, USA, to Josephine and Salvatore Mineo, Sr. He was the brother of actress Sarina Mineo and actors Michael and Victor Mineo. He attended Quintano's School for Young Professionals.

Talking about the actor’s love life, he and Jill Haworth shared an on-and-off relationship for several years and were even engaged at one point. Unfortunately, after Haworth came to know that Mineo had a relationship with actor Bobby Sherman as well, she separated from Mineo. In a 1972 interview, Mineo disclosed that he was bisexual. He had a long-term relationship with Courtney Burr III and was living with him at the time of his death.

Murder

On February 12, 1976, Sal Mineo was murdered by a pizza deliveryman named Lionel Ray Williams. The actor was returning home after a rehearsal when Lionel attacked and killed him. The motive behind the attack was robbery. The killer was later sentenced to 57 years in prison. Mineo was buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in New York.

Sal Mineo Biography