Danny Aiello Biography

Fast Facts

• Won Best Supporting Actor awards for "Do the Right Thing" from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Boston Society of Film Critics in 1990
• Supports charities including Covenant House, the United Way, the Salvation Army, Broadway Cares, Equity Fights AIDS and the Frances Aiello Day Treatment Center in Brooklyn
• Lied about his age and joined the U․S․ Army at 16, returning home to work a variety of jobs from union representative for Greyhound bus workers to night club bouncer
• Quote: "People call me an instinctive actor․ I used to consider that an insult early on, only because I had never studied․ Now ․․․ I love it․"
• Has a successful singing career sparked by the release of an album of jazz standards
• Is known for playing tough and intimidating Italian-Americans who are quick to anger
• Used to sing on street corners in the Bronx as a child
• Did his first movie at the age of 40 with little formal training
• When he was young, he sold newspapers and shined shoes at Grand Central Station
• Is annoyed by people rubbing each other's backs on movie sets