Richard Salvatore Castellano (September 4, 1933 – December 10, 1988) was an American actor who is best remembered for his Oscar nominated role in Lovers and Other Strangers and his subsequent role as Peter Clemenza in The Godfather.
Castellano was born in the Bronx. Castellano gained worldwide fame for his role in Lovers and Other Strangers, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He achieved further stardom in 1972 for playing the part of Peter Clemenza, in The Godfather. The Godfather became the highest grossing film up to that time when unadjusted for inflation and Castellano, along with several other cast members, became household names. He spoke two of the film’s most famous and immortal lines, one of which, “Leave the gun, take the cannoli,” was ad-libbed. He also appeared on television, playing the lead roles of Joe Girelli in the TV sitcom The Super and Joe Vitale in Joe and Sons.
Reportedly, he did not reprise his role in The Godfather Part II due to… read more
Richard Salvatore Castellano (September 4, 1933 – December 10, 1988) was an American actor who is best remembered for his Oscar nominated role in Lovers and Other Strangers and his subsequent role as Peter Clemenza in The Godfather.
Castellano was born in the Bronx. Castellano gained worldwide fame for his role in Lovers and Other Strangers, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. He achieved further stardom in 1972 for playing the part of Peter Clemenza, in The Godfather. The Godfather became the highest grossing film up to that time when unadjusted for inflation and Castellano, along with several other cast members, became household names. He spoke two of the film’s most famous and immortal lines, one of which, “Leave the gun, take the cannoli,” was ad-libbed. He also appeared on television, playing the lead roles of Joe Girelli in the TV sitcom The Super and Joe Vitale in Joe and Sons.
Reportedly, he did not reprise his role in The Godfather Part II due to Castellano and his agent insisting that they have control over the character’s dialogue. Francis Ford Coppola said that as the director, this was untenable, and therefore he was not in the movie. This story was disputed by Castellano’s widow in a 1991 letter to People. His omission from the movie was written in that the character had died sometime between the end of the first movie and the start of the second.
Castellano died from a heart attack in 1988 at age 55.
According to Castellano’s widow, he was the nephew of Gambino crime family boss Paul Castellano. —Wikipedia
