Tony Lo Bianco, the star of the Academy Award-winning film The French Connection and accomplished actor of both stage and screen, has died. He was 87.
Representatives for the actor confirmed his passing to Fox News. He died June 11 at his horse farm in Maryland after a battle with prostate cancer. "His beloved wife, Alyse, was by his side," the statement said.
A child of Sicilian immigrants, Lo Bianco was born and raised in Brooklyn and was a Golden Gloves boxer before making a career change into being an actor. He founded the Triangle Theatre in 1963 and would perform in Broadway shows like Tartuffe and The Royal Hunt of the Sun.
Lo Bianco made his film debut in 1965's The Sex Perils of Paulette. He continued to appear in stage shows before portraying a murderer in 1970's The Honeymoon Killers. The following year, he starred in his breakout role as Italian-American mobster Sal Boca in The French Connection. The movie went on to win five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director.
He continued to appear in movies and TV shows in subsequent decades, including multi-episode stints on police shows like Police Story and Jessie and, later, Law & Order and Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
When reflecting on his life and career in a 2015 interview, Lo Bianco was satisfied with how it all turned out.
"I would describe myself as a fellow who never forgot where he came from. Someone who has been influenced by family life," he said. "I look at shows or performances and think about how I can make them better. When I see an actor or an actress or a director, I always think, 'What is he or she missing?' That is where my mind goes. How I can get to the depth of what is being said or being told? That is part of the artistic side of my life, and I think it transfers into me as a human."
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/DCmx5ly
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