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Birth name: Salvatore Mineo Jr. Nicknames: The Switchblade Kid, Jr Date of birth (location) 10 January 1939, Harlem, New York, USA Date of death (details) 12 February 1976, West Hollywood, California, USA. (homicide) 
Salvatore Mineo Jr. was born to Josephine and Sal Sr. (a casket maker), who emigrated
to the USA from Sicily. Sal's siblings were Michael, Victor and Sarina. His mother
enrolled him in dancing and acting school and, he soon began making tiny appearances
on local tv shows before thetender age of 10. The acting bug had bitten young Sal and he was a natural! He soon appeared in the theatrical production "The Rose Tatoo" with Maureen Stapleton and Eli Wallach, and as the young prince in "The King and I" with Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner. At age 16 he played a boy in the film of Six Bridges to Cross (1955) with Tony Curtis and later that same year played Plato in James Dean's Rebel Without A Cause (1955). He was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in this movie and again for the role of Dov Landau in Exodus (1960). Expanding his repertoire, Sal returned to the theatre to direct and star in the play "Fortune And Men's Eyes" with successful runs in both New York and Los Angeles. In the late '60s and '70s, Sal continued to work steadily in supporting roles on TV and in film, including Dr. Milo in Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Such Dust As Dreams Are Made On (1973). In 1975, he returned to the stage in the San Francisco hit production of "P.S. Your Cat Is Dead". Preparing to open the play in Los Angeles in 1976 with Keir Dullea, he returned home from rehearsal the evening of February 12th where he was attacked and stabbed to death by a stranger. In 1979, Lionel Ray Williams was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder. Although taken away far too soon, the memory of Sal Mineo continues to live on through the large body of TV and film work that he left behind. 
Trivia Brother of actor Michael Mineo.
"I'll never be mistaken for Pat Boone" (1975) "I lost because I hadappeared in a pro-Jewish picture, played a sympathetic Jewish boy, and shot four Arabs." -- Sal Mineo, in explaining why he lost an important role in Lawrence of Arabia (which filmed in Jordan), after completing work on Exodus. Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia: Back in the mid 1950s, Mineo was one of the most talented and exciting adolescent actors  working
in Hollywood. He earned his acting stripes on Broadway, appearing first in "The
Rose Tattoo" (1951) and then in "The King and I" (1952), taking over the role
of Yul Brynner's son. He effortlessly made the transition to the screen, appearing
in Six Bridges to Cross and The Private War of Major Benson (both 1955) before earning
celluloid immortality opposite James Dean and Natalie Wood in the teen angst classic
Rebel Without a Cause (1955). For his role as the soulful, abandoned Plato, he earned
a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination.
Mineo went on to play variations of the role in such films as
Mineo was just another face among the all-star casts in
In 1969, he directed
By this time he was finding it tougher and tougher to find good parts; his later films include
He was stabbed to death outside his Hollywood apartment in 1976 |
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We hope you all enjoy our website, and continue to visit, and remember the great
legacy that is Sal Mineo.
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