Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 17, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category.
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).[2][3] He was of Sicilian descent; his father was born in Italy and his mother, of Italian origin, was born in the United States. Mineo's sister Sarina (1941-2024), brothers Michael (1937–1984) and Victor (1935–2015) were also actors. He attended the Quintano School for Young Professionals[4][5] and was one of the few Italian-American actors of his era to keep his surname, saying he was proud of his heritage and identity.[6]
Acting career
Child actor
Mineo's mother enrolled him in dancing and acting school at an early age.[7] He had his first stage appearance in Tennessee Williams's play The Rose Tattoo (1951).[8] He also played the young prince opposite Yul Brynner in the stage musicalThe King and I. Brynner took the opportunity to help Mineo better himself as an actor.[1]
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).[8] Mineo's performance resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and he became the fifth-youngest nominee in the category, at the age of 17.[1] Mineo's biographer Paul Jeffers recounted that Mineo received thousands of letters from young female fans, was mobbed by them at public appearances, and further wrote: "He dated the most beautiful women in Hollywood and New York City."[13]
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.[14] 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).[1]
By the early 1960s, Mineo was becoming too old to play the type of role that had made him famous, and rumors of his homosexuality led to his being considered inappropriate for leading roles. For example, he auditioned for David Lean's film Lawrence of Arabia (1962) but was not hired.[7] Mineo appeared in The Longest Day (1962), in which he played a private killed by a German after the landing in Sainte-Mère-Église. Mineo was baffled by his sudden loss of popularity, later saying: "One minute it seemed I had more movie offers than I could handle; the next, no one wanted me."[22]
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".[23] Mineo also appeared on the Season 2 episode of The Patty Duke Show: "Patty Meets a Celebrity" (1964).[24][25][26][27]
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.[28][29] The high point of this period was his portrayal of Uriah in The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965).[30] Mineo guest-starred in an episode of the TV series Combat! in 1966, playing the role of a GI wanted for murder.[31] He did two more appearances on the same show, including appearing in an installment with Fernando Lamas.[32]
In December 1972, Mineo stage-directed the Gian Carlo Menotti short opera The Medium in Detroit.[35]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),[36] in which he portrayed a cult leader similar to Charles Manson.
By 1976, Mineo's career had begun to turn around.[37] 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.[38][39][40]
Personal life
In a 1972 interview with Boze Hadleigh, Mineo confirmed his bisexuality.[41] 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.[42] The two remained very close friends until Mineo's death.[42][43] Mineo expressed disapproval of Haworth's brief relationship with television producer Aaron Spelling, who 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?"[42] At the time of his death, he was in a six-year relationship with actor and retired acting coach Courtney Burr III.[42][44]
Death
Footstone for Sal Mineo and his brother Michael in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery, 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.[45] After parking his car in the carport below his West Hollywood apartment, he was stabbed in the heart by a mugger.[46][47] Mineo was found lying and bleeding profusely in the parking alley by his neighbor Raymond Evans, who had heard his cries for help, but Mineo was only able to walk a few steps, after which he collapsed immediately. Mineo was pronounced dead at the scene at the age of 37, due to massive hemorrhage.[45]
Lionel Ray Williams, a young pizza delivery man with a long criminal record, was convicted and sentenced in March 1979 to 57 years in prison for killing Mineo and also for committing ten robberies. Although considerable confusion existed as to what witnesses had seen in the dark the night Mineo was murdered, Williams claimed to have had no idea who Mineo was. Corrections officers later said they had overheard Williams admitting to the stabbing.[37] Williams' wife later confirmed that on the night Mineo died, he had come home with blood on his shirt. After several years of speculation about the motives for the murder,
the police investigation concluded that it was a random robbery.[48] Williams was paroled in 1990 after serving 12 years.[49]
^Smith, Laura C. (February 10, 1995). "Untimely End for a 'Rebel'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 19, 2008. Retrieved July 20, 2008.
^Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 32658-32659). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
