Trivia of Sal Mineo

Trivia of Sal Mineo (10 January 1936 - 12 February 1976)

*Mineo’s family was very artistic. Both his two brothers and his sister were actors, and his family happily enrolled him in dancing and acting school at a very young age. Mama and Papa Mineo supported the family through a very different talent—they worked as a team of professional coffin makers.

*In the early 1950s, while still just a teenager, Mineo got a job as an extra in the hit musical The King and I. As modest as this original job was, the crew eventually promoted him to play the role of Prince Chulalongkorn.During his time in The King and I, the young actor befriended Yul Brynner, who played the leading role in the show.

*Mineo’s breakout role came in classic movie Rebel Without a Cause (1955). He received an Academy Award nomination for his affecting, stand-out performance opposite James Dean and Natalie Wood, with the thespians appearing as a beleaguered trio of teens.All three lead actors--James Dean, Sal Mineo, and Natalie Wood--died prematurely under tragic circumstances; Dean died in an automobile accident in September 1955, Mineo was stabbed to death on February 1976, and Wood drowned in the late autumn of 1981.

*He was frequently cast as a humorless, jittery youth whose loneliness turns violent when he's cornered, but in reality, he was known for his easygoing, extroverted ways and his ability to see the positive and the humor in almost any situation.

*In 1957, he tried to start a career as a rock-and-roll singer. He released two singles. The first was "Start Movin' (In My Direction)", which stayed in the US top 40 for 13 weeks and reached the #9 position. The second was "Lasting Love", which stayed on the charts for three weeks and reached #27. The singles were followed up by an album on the Epic label. In the United Kingdom, the records were released on the Philips label.

*Had a long, on-and-off relationship with his young Exodus (1960) co-star Jill Haworth. She was 15 and he was 21 at the time. According to Michael Gregg Michaud's 2010 biography of Sal, she and Mineo agreed to her having an abortion at one point (1969).

*On February 12, 1976, Sal Mineo was stabbed by a pizza deliveryman named Lionel Ray Williams. The actor was returning home after a rehearsal when Lionel attacked and killed him. The motive behind the attack was robbery. The killer was later sentenced to 57 years in prison. Mineo was buried in the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in New York.