American actor who had a career that began in childhood and crashed in violence before he was 40. He was one of a foursome of great pals, James Dean, Natalie Wood and Nick Adams, all four of whom died tragically.
The son of Italian immigrants, Sal’s dad was a coffin maker. By age seven, he was appearing on TV, primarily as a dancer. At 11, he played on Broadway in “The Rose Tattoo,” followed by summer stock. Young Sal felt that he never did have a childhood, moving into movies with a debut in “Six Bridges to Cross.” His role in “Rebel Without a Cause,” 1955, was so impressive that he was nominated for an Oscar, and he won an Emmy for his TV portrayal of “Dino,” later made into a movie.
A quiet and sensible man, Mineo played tough punks in his films. Unable to break his teen-age image, his parts began to dwindle to cameos of supporting roles. His few feature parts were in abysmal films which further served to insure his reputation as a has-been. TV, on the other hand, gave him some good parts, and kept him financially afloat.
On the night of 2/12/1976, returning home to his Hollywood apartment from a rehearsal of “P.S. Your Cat is Dead,” which he was directing for the stage, a man moved out of the shadows and plunged a knife hilt-deep into Mineo’s chest. A neighbor heard Mineo cry out and saw him drop as the assailant ran. When the ambulance arrived, it was too late. Mineo’s blood was spilled on the sidewalk.
The identity of the killer was a mystery. Mineo was bi-sexual, and reputed to have S&M tastes, so the possibility of rough trade was considered, or the question of drug use and payment was questioned. It was two years before investigations led to Lionel Williams, a black thief who had robbed Mineo’s apartment and killed when interrupted, who later bragged about how easy it was to “kill this dude in Hollywood.” Williams was charged with ten other robberies and with the murder of Sal Mineo, and sent to prison.
Link to Wikipedia biography