“If you’re frightened of dying, and you’re holding on...
December 13, 2019 4:51 PM   Subscribe

...you’ll see devils tearing your life away. But if you’ve made your peace, the devils are really angels, freeing you from the earth.“ RIP Danny Aiello, 86.
posted by Mister Moofoo (46 comments total) 13 users marked this as a favorite
 
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posted by jquinby at 4:56 PM on December 13, 2019


God, he was good in Jacob’s Ladder. And Leon, and so many things. I have a soft, soft spot in my heart for Hudson Hawk, and his ability to jump into that utter farce with both feet and have a great time was a big reason why.

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posted by Ghidorah at 4:58 PM on December 13, 2019 [11 favorites]


No!


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posted by thivaia at 5:30 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by Pecinpah at 5:51 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by haiku warrior at 6:09 PM on December 13, 2019


No one knocks off old Tony.
posted by Brocktoon at 6:12 PM on December 13, 2019


Moonstruck...

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posted by Fukiyama at 6:24 PM on December 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


Rabbit In Your Headlights - an effective use of the quote from Jacob's Ladder used at 2:16 in the song.
posted by Candleman at 6:39 PM on December 13, 2019 [7 favorites]


Sadly I know of Danny Aiello, and respect him a lot, even if I've never seen much of his work.
I've also got Jacob's Ladder on my bucket list.
I also had no idea that sample was it, until this post.

I guess the universe is saying:
You must watch Jacob's Ladder.
posted by symbioid at 6:46 PM on December 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


"Annudah fuckin' DOG!"

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posted by hearthpig at 6:55 PM on December 13, 2019


Johnny Cammareri! He is so perfect in Moonstruck.
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posted by amelliferae at 6:56 PM on December 13, 2019 [4 favorites]


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posted by condour75 at 7:02 PM on December 13, 2019


Papa Don't Preach
posted by fluttering hellfire at 7:03 PM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


I like to think he's up in heaven, strangling the angels from behind with a length of piano wire

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posted by Saxon Kane at 7:05 PM on December 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


Aiello's second film role, at age 40, was as Tony Rosato in The Godfather: Part II. Coppola kept Aiello's ad-lib, in the scene where Rosato attacks Frank Pentangeli: "Michael Corleone says hello."

Aiello's response song and video to Papa Don't Preach: Papa Wants the Best for You.
posted by Iris Gambol at 7:08 PM on December 13, 2019 [2 favorites]


This is a good suit!

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posted by valkane at 7:11 PM on December 13, 2019


I always remember his line in Harlem Nights about 'living in a fucking hovel'.

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posted by Pouteria at 7:33 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by calamari kid at 7:48 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by drivingmenuts at 7:48 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by DowBits at 7:50 PM on December 13, 2019


He was perhaps the most lived-in actor of his generation. When he would pause meaningfully, you could feel the sheer weight of his accumulated years behind him. He was at his best playing the guy who used to be able to beat the crap out of you but who now told other guys to beat the crap out of you, and he wasn't quite sure which way was better.

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posted by Etrigan at 7:52 PM on December 13, 2019 [15 favorites]


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posted by Halloween Jack at 8:04 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by amanda at 8:19 PM on December 13, 2019


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Oh, man. Shivers. I love Louis the chiropractor. What a sweet thought of DA's impact today.
posted by j_curiouser at 8:46 PM on December 13, 2019


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posted by Ickster at 8:53 PM on December 13, 2019


. and Extra cheese is two dollars!
posted by dobbs at 9:12 PM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


Etrigan, I think that lived-in quality stemmed from the non-acting, first half of his life (including the beat-down delegation detail; Aiello was a nightclub bouncer for many years): Why 'Moonstruck' actor Danny Aiello was a hero to late bloomers (CNN, Dec. 13, 2019)

[Random Aiello facts: shoeshine boy, high-school dropout, teenaged Army enlistee, package handler, Greyhound Bus dispatcher and announcer, union official, bouncer, and maitre d'; married young & had four kids; his The Godfather: Part II improvisation I already mentioned, but Sal's "They grew up on my food!" cry in Do the Right Thing is also an Aiello line. And he made the answer song to Papa Don't Preach because he was upset that his father character in the video initially turns his back on the daughter.]
posted by Iris Gambol at 9:13 PM on December 13, 2019 [10 favorites]


May you enjoy your swing on a star.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:28 PM on December 13, 2019 [3 favorites]


Came her for Hudson Hawk, am not disappointed.
posted by chavenet at 11:34 PM on December 13, 2019 [1 favorite]


For reasons that are still truly mysterious to me, my mom bought me and my also-12-year-old friend tickets to see 2 Days in the Valley that we couldn’t have purchased ourselves for another 6 years.

Off to see if it’s available for streaming anywhere.

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posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 4:55 AM on December 14, 2019 [1 favorite]


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posted by detachd at 5:21 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by filtergik at 6:12 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by dannyboybell at 6:19 AM on December 14, 2019


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I literally just rewatched The Professional yesterday and was thinking about how good an actor he was. RIP.
posted by gt2 at 6:28 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by FallibleHuman at 6:29 AM on December 14, 2019




Oh, I'd read this quote on Metafilter as a death threat. But it's just an obit notice for the actor.
posted by Baeria at 7:10 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by allthinky at 7:25 AM on December 14, 2019


Bizarre. I know this quote from a VNV Nation song, and have never had context for it before today.

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posted by ChrisR at 7:59 AM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]


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posted by droplet at 8:06 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by shorstenbach at 8:43 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by Token Meme at 9:46 AM on December 14, 2019


That face.


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posted by Mental Wimp at 11:26 AM on December 14, 2019


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posted by Splunge at 11:32 AM on December 14, 2019


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"Five-tone, lemme ask you something."
"Sure, Eddie."
"Why have they got all these rocks and junks in their back yards?"
"They're called ruins, Eddie."
"Good name for `em."
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 6:22 PM on December 14, 2019 [2 favorites]


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posted by Gelatin at 9:28 AM on December 16, 2019


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