Joe Spinell
Joe Spinell was born Joseph J. Spagnuolo in Manhattan, New York of Italian immigrant parents, and the last of six children. His father, Pelegrino Spagnuolo (b. 1892, d. 1950), died from liver and kidney disease. His mother Filomena Spagnuolo (b. 1903, d. 1987) was a bit-part actress who acted in a few movies, some of them alongside her son. Spinell stood 5 foot and 11 inches. He was born at his family's apartment in Manhattan's Little Italy on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. A few years after the death of his father, he moved with his mother and older siblings to Woodside, Queens, New York where he lived off-and-on for the remainder of his life. Spinell suffered most of his life from hemophilia as well as chronic asthma. Because of his large, heavyset frame and imposing looks, Spinell was often cast as criminals, thugs, or corrupt police officers. His most notable roles were as mafioso Willi Cicci in The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, and as loan shark Tony Gazzo in Rocky and Rocky II. Although primarily known as a character actor, Spinell co-wrote and starred as a serial killer in the 1980 film, Maniac. Joe Spinell died in his apartment on January 13, 1989 at the age of 52. The cause of his untimely death is arguable to this day. Some say that his death was caused by sudden heart attack due to heavy drug use, drinking and emotional distress in light of his mother passing away two years earlier. It is also speculated that he may have died from asthma complications, or bled to death from hemophilia related causes. He was planning a sequel to Maniac before his death. He was buried in Calvary Cemetery, Queens near his home. He is the distant cousin of the American football team St. Louis Ram's Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo. Spinell was married to adult film star Jean Jennings from February 1977 to July 1979. Together they had one daughter, but they eventually divorced.
Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime...
Movie page
The Godfather Part II
as William 'Willie' CicciIn the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily...
Movie page
Taxi Driver
as Personnel OfficerA mentally unstable Vietnam War veteran works as a night-time taxi driver in New York City where...
Movie page
An uneducated collector for a Philadelphia loan shark is given a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity...
Movie page
Rocky II
as Tony GazzoAfter Rocky goes the distance with champ Apollo Creed, both try to put the fight behind them and...
Movie page
Cruising
as Patrolman DiSimoneWhen New York is caught in the grip of a sadistic serial killer who preys on patrons of the...
Movie page
Maniac
as Frank ZitoA psychotic man, troubled by his childhood abuse, loose in NYC, kills young women and local girl...
Movie page
Brubaker
as Floyd BirdwellThe new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after...
Movie page
Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.
Movie page
Night Shift
as ManettiA nebbish of a morgue attendant gets shunted back to the night shift where he is shackled with...
Movie page
Losin' It
as Border PatrolmanIn 1965, four Los Angeles school friends -- Woody, Dave, Spider and Wendell -- go on a series of...
Movie page
Sorcerer
as SpiderFour men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South...
Movie page
Farewell, My Lovely
as NickPrivate eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former...
Movie page
Forbidden Zone
as Drunken SailorA mysterious door in the basement of the Hercules house leads to the Sixth Dimension by way of a...
Movie page
Paradise Alley
as BurpThree Italian-American brothers, living in the slums of 1940's New York City, try to help each...
Movie page
The Ninth Configuration
as Lt. SpinellArmy psychiatrist Colonel Kane is posted to a secluded gothic castle housing a military asylum....
Movie page
Stay Hungry
as JaboA dishonest businessman asks rich layabout Craig Blake to help him buy a gym, which will be...
Movie page
Married to the Mob
as Leonard 'Tiptoes' MazzilliAngela de Marco is fed up with her gangster husband's line of work and wants no part of the...
Movie page
The Pick-up Artist
as EddieA womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt...
Movie page
Nighthawks
as Lt. MunafoWhen one of Europe's most lethal terrorists shows up in New York, an elite undercover cop is...
Movie page
40 Years of Rocky: The Birth of a Classic
as Self (archive footage)Sylvester Stallone and John G. Avildsen narrate behind-the-scenes footage from the making of...
Movie page
Winter Kills
as Arthur FletcherThe younger brother of an assassinated US President is led down a rabbit hole of conspiracies...
Movie page
The Seven-Ups
as ToredanoA tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed...
Movie page
The Last Horror Film
as Vinny DurandA New York taxi driver stalks a beautiful actress attending the Cannes Film Festival, which...
Movie page
Vigilante
as EisenbergNew York City factory worker Eddie Marino is a solid citizen and regular guy, until the day a...
Movie page
Starcrash
as Count ZartharnA pair of smugglers manage to pick up a castaway while running from the authorities, who turns...
Movie page
Last Embrace
as Man in CantinaSecret agent Harry Hannan suffers a mental breakdown when a botched mission in Mexico results in...
Movie page
The Whoopee Boys
as Guido AntonucciTwo New York hustlers (Michael O'Keefe, Paul Rodriguez) go to Palm Beach, Fla., and enroll in a...
Movie page
Rancho Deluxe
as Mr. ColsonTwo drifters, of widely varying backgrounds, rustle cattle and try to avoid being caught in...
Movie page
The First Deadly Sin
as Charles LipskyA serial killer is stalking New York. Inspector Edward X. Delaney is an NYPD detective, nearing...
Movie page
Monsignor
as Bride's FatherThe vows of an ambitious young American priest are tested during World War II. Not only does...
Movie page
Walking the Edge
as BrusstarA Los Angeles taxi driver helps a distraught woman on the run from gangsters after they murder...
Movie page
The Children of Times Square
as Street VendorAn alienated teenage boy runs away from home and ventures to New York City where he falls in...
Movie page
National Lampoon's Movie Madness
as Agent / M.C. ("Success Wanters")A parody of film genres composed of three shorts, spoofing personal growth films, glossy soap...
Movie page
Eureka
as PeteAn Alaskan gold prospector lives in luxury with his family on an island which gangsters want.
Movie page
Melvin and Howard
as Go-Go Club Owner #2 (uncredited)The story of hard-luck Melvin Dummar, who claimed to have received a will naming him an heir to...
Movie page
Next Stop, Greenwich Village
as CopAn aspiring Jewish actor moves out of his parents' Brooklyn apartment to seek his fortune in the...
Movie page
Deadly Illusion
as Crazy Man in Gun BureauA private eye hired to kill a man's wife warns her instead and then finds both are impostors.
Movie page
Thriller Zone
as Vinny Durand (segment "Fanatical Extremes") (archive footage)There are three unrelated, unconnected segments in this horror anthology. In the first segment,...
Movie page
Vampire
as Capt. DesherVampire Anton Voytek's lair is disturbed by the ground breaking for a new church. Anton attempts...
Movie page
Strike Force
as Sol TerranovaA New York City detective teams up with a federal agent and a state trooper to bust up a drug ring.
Movie page
The Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic
as William "Willie" CicciThe Godfather 1901–1959: The Complete Epic is a reduced, 386-minute version of the 1977...
Movie page
The Messenger
as RicoWhen his girlfriend dies of a drug overdose, a former Green Beret decides to take vengeance on...
Movie page
Out of the Darkness
as Jim HalseyA gripping thriller telling the true story of the hunt and capture of David Berkowitz, a.k.a....
Movie page
The One Man Jury
as Mike AbatinoOfficer Jim Wade is a loose cannon on the force with a reputation for roughing up suspects,...
Movie page
The American Nightmare
as SelfAn examination into the nature of 1960's-70's horror films, the involved artists, and how they...
Movie page
Blood Ties
as Joey, New York Goon #1An innocent American engineer is blackmailed by gangsters into a plot to assassinate his cousin,...
Movie page
Operation Warzone
as Brig. Gen. George DelevaneA squad of U.S. troops seek out a mysterious agent hiding out in the jungles of 1960s Vietnam...
Movie page
The Joe Spinell Story
as (archive footage)The Joe Spinell Story is a An outstanding and eye-opening documentary, made in 2001 for the...
Movie page
Trackdown: Finding the Goodbar Killer
as EscobarA New York detective and a victim's colleague hunt a killer who preys on single women.
Movie page
Cops and Robbers
as MartyTwo disillusioned New York policemen plan a $10 million robbery to fuel their low pensions, only...
Movie page
The Undertaker
as Uncle RoscoeA deranged undertaker kills various people to keep as his friends in his seedy funeral home.
Movie page
The Last Fight
as AngeloSinger-turned-boxer Andy 'Kid' Clave signs a contract with a shady promoter Joaquin Vargas. But...
Movie page
Hollywood Harry
as Max CaldwellTongue-in-cheek account of a private eye hired to find a young porn actress.
Movie page
Exorcising 'Cruising'
as Self (archive footage)Part two of the making of William Friedkin's 1980 thriller "Cruising" and the controversies it...
Movie page
The Big Score
as MayfieldA narcotics detective, played by Fred Williamson, lets nothing stand in the way of his bringing...
Movie page
One Down, Two to Go
as Joe SpanglerA pair of tough cops go after the mob who jinxed the martial arts tournament and injured their...
Movie page
The Ransom of Red Chief
as BillTwo con artists kidnap a young boy for ransom. The boy, who calls himself Red Chief, becomes a...
Movie page
The History of 'Cruising'
as Self (archive footage)Part one of the making of William Friedkin’s 1980 thriller "Cruising" and the controversies it...
Movie page
The Little Dragons
as YanceyKarate experts attempt to rescue a girl who was kidnapped by a mother and her two psycho sons.
Movie page
92 in the Shade
as Ollie SlattA young drifter returns to his home in Key West, Florida and attempts to open a fishing charter...
Movie page
Nightside
as Michael VincentDanny Dandoy is a good-humored, streetwise cop working the dusk-to-dawn shift in Los Angeles...
Movie page
Maniac II: Mr. Robbie
as Mr. RobbieA children's television host solves all kids problems. Shot as a promo reel for a sequel to...
Movie page
Nunzio
as AngeloA mentally-challenged delivery boy indulges in fantasies that he is a superhero in the tough...
Movie page
Rapid Fire
as HansenMike Thompson is a former U.S. government agent whom is called on by his no-nonsense ex-employer...
Movie page
A Question of Honor
as Masked witness (uncredited)Television account of an honest New York narcotics cop who becomes unwillingly involved in a...
Movie page
FantastiCozzi
as Count Zarth Arn (archive footage)A feature-length documentary about the life and career of Italian director Luigi Cozzi and his...
Movie page
Portrait of a Teenage Shoplifter
as Door GuardTeenager becomes involved in the thrill of shoplifting with her friends, until she is inevitably...
Movie page
The Equalizer
as Mob BossRobert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private...
TV Show page
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
as William "Willie" CicciAn adaptation of Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II, re-edited in...
TV Show page