Known for his “troubled teen” roles, Sal Mineo was one of Hollywood’s first openly queer actors before he was tragically stabbed to death at the age of 37.
RGR Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoSal Mineo , an American actor who asterisk in movie from the fifties to the seventies .
In 1955 , a untested thespian discover Sal Mineo come out as John “ Plato ” Crawford in the filmRebel Without A CausealongsideJames Deanand Natalie Wood . The role sling Mineo to stardom , make him a teen heartthrob practically overnight and fasten him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor .
Throughout the fifties , Mineo take on several more “ tumultuous teen ” roles , garner him the nickname “ Switchblade Kid . ” Tragically , this name would come to take on dry new meaning when Mineo was dig to death outside his Hollywood rest home in 1976 .
RGR Collection / Alamy Stock PhotoSal Mineo, an American actor who starred in films from the 1950s to the 1970s.
This is the news report of Sal Mineo , the trailblazing LGBTQ+ actor who was bolt down in a robbery gone haywire .
The Early Life Of Sal Mineo
conduct Jan. 10 , 1939 in New York City , Sal Mineo was the son of Josephine and Salvatore Sr . , a casket Divine from Sicily .
At eight years old , Sal Mineo reportedly became involved with street gangs in the Bronx . To keep him out of the street , his mother signed him up for dancing and performing lessons . Mineo was a hard doer with congenital talent and charisma , and it did n’t take long for him to break into theater .
His first professional performance was the function of Salvatore in Tennessee Williams ’ playThe Rose Tattooin 1951 . From there , Mineo bring down roles in a bit of other stage productions , includingThe King and Iand Oscar Wilde’sSalome .
Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation SocietyA young Sal Mineo.
Fire Island Pines Historical Preservation SocietyA young Sal Mineo .
Mineo made his big - screen debut in the 1955 filmSix Bridges to Cross . That same yr , Mineo also appear in the filmThe Private War of Major Benson . But it was n’t until he landed a supporting role in the 1955 filmRebel Without A Causethat Sal Mineo truly became a household name .
Making It Big In Hollywood
Sal Mineo ’s boastful break of serve was the 1955 romantic dramaRebel Without A Cause , starringJames Deanand Natalie Wood .
The film was a critical and boxwood office hit , earning Mineo his first Academy Award nomination at only 17 age old for his portrayal of the worried adolescent John “ Plato ” Crawford .
It also cemented Sal Mineo into the intellect of the American young person . Before long , “ Mineo Mania ” gripped the nation ; every hebdomad , the teen heartthrob receive M of letter from rooter across the United States .
Warner BrothersSal Mineo (right) inRebel Without A Cause(1955).
From there , the offers came pouring in . Throughout the 1950s , Mineo acted in several Hollywood moving picture , includingGiant(1956),Crime in the Streets(1956),The Young Do n’t Cry(1957 ) , andDino(1957 ) . In many of these film , Mineo took on the role of a “ troubled teen ” — a theatrical role into which he had find himself pigeonholed sinceRebel Without A Cause .
Meanwhile , Mineo also dip his toe in the music industry . He relinquish several songs in the 1950s , including “ Start Movin ' ” and “ Lasting Love , ” which both charted on the Billboard Top 100 .
But as Mineo aged , he also outgrow the roles he ’d been typecast into throughout his vocation . He soon realized he needed to blaze a new track for himself to remain relevant in the fierce macrocosm of Hollywood .
ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoSal Mineo with his fiancée, Jill Haworth. The couple met on the set of the 1960 filmExodus, but reportedly broke off their engagement after Mineo had an affair with a man.
Warner BrothersSal Mineo ( right ) inRebel Without A Cause(1955 ) .
Later Career And Professional Struggles
In the 1960s , Sal Mineo was struggle to find acting roles , despite having turn out himself to be a subject thespian .
“ The prevailing winds around Sal in the former ’ sixty were anything but favorable , ” wrote film critic Peter Bogdanovich , accord toMichael Gregg Mich ’s biographySal Mineo . “ The old established prig in Hollywood could never quite forgive him his teenage popularity . ”
No longer a teenager , Mineo had aged out of the section that had made him famous .
University of Southern California LibrariesPolice investigate the scene of Sal Mineo’s death.
“ I went through a time when my name was mud in Hollywood , ” Mineo said . “ I was getting older , and nobody want to give me a luck to try anything else … I had a selection to make . I could sit back and experience sorry for myself , blaming Hollywood for having exploited me , or I could live . I decided to live . ”
He managed to snag a few more film roles , playing minuscule part inThe Greatest Story Ever Told(1965 ) andEscape from the Planet of the Apes(1971 ) . He also sample his deal at conduct and started to cut up out opportunities for himself . In 1969 , he aim and starred in the playFortune and Men ’s eye , a prison play which explored themes of homosexuality and power .
Just a match of year later , Mineo would come out as bisexual , arrive at him one of the first openly queer actors in Hollywood .
Public DomainLionel Ray Williams is allegedly responsible for the stabbing death of Sal Mineo.
Sal Mineo Comes Out As Bisexual
ZUMA Press , Inc. / Alamy Stock PhotoSal Mineo with his fiancée , Jill Haworth . The couple meet on the set of the 1960 filmExodus , but reportedly transgress off their engagement after Mineo had an affair with a man .
In a bombshellinterviewwith Boze Hadleigh in 1972 , Sal Mineo unveil that he was bisexual , joking that he had “ a girl in every port — and a mates of guy in every port wine too . ”
“ I do n’t like suffer to just do straight parts , or gay parts , and I do n’t like to be assure I can only love a charwoman — or a guy , ” Mineo say .
Around this clip , Mineo also confess that he had had feelings for hisRebel Without A Causeco - sensation James Dean . Mineo and Dean had such tangible alchemy in the film that some speculated they had an off - screen family relationship . But according toCrime Magazine , Mineo claimed he had n’t been aware of his sexuality at the clock time .
“ If I ’d understood back then that a guy wire could be in love life with another one , it would have happened , ” he said . “ But I did n’t come to that realization for a few more years and then it was too later for Jimmy and me . ”
Mineo ’s openness about his gender may have chip in to his dwindling job offers . But it did n’t halt the actor from pursue his dreams , and by 1976 , Mineo ’s vocation had start to pluck up again . That year , he appear as a epicene eccentric in the stage comedyP.S. Your Cat Is Deadin San Francisco . The success of the show take Mineo back to Los Angeles , and he reportedly look forward to this new chapter in his living .
regrettably , it would n’t last long . Mineo was fatally stabbed outside his home only a few weeks later .
The Tragic Death Of Sal Mineo
University of Southern California LibrariesPolice look into the picture of Sal Mineo ’s death .
Shortly before 10 p.m. on Feb. 12 , 1976 , Sal Mineo returned home from a rehearsal ofP.S. Your Cat Is Dead . He parked his railroad car in a carport behind his West Hollywood apartment edifice and set forth walking toward his home when a man approached him .
The interaction was swift . The piece stab Mineo in the bosom ; Mineo began bleeding profusely .
No one witnessed Sal Mineo ’s slaying , but a handful of citizenry hear his cries for help . Multiple witnesses who arrived on the picture soon after the approach reported picture a suspicious snowy adult male with long fuzz fleeing from the surface area .
When authorities arrived , they launch Mineo on the ground with a 10 - foot flow of blood come from his chest . He was pronounced dead from a massive hemorrhage at 9:55 p.m.
ab initio , investigators suspected Mineo ’s killer whale was someone he know . They start looking into his relationships . The actor had kept multiple address Word of God full of names and phone figure . The police called up dozens of humankind who may have had relationship with Mineo , and even confab the homophile bars Mineo frequented in lookup of clew . Everywhere they call on , they foregather dead ends .
But soon , in a surprising turn of events , investigators would determine that Sal Mineo ’s death was not a targeted attack , but merely a petty looting gone wrong .
The Search For A Killer Turns Up Surprising Evidence
In May 1977 , a unseasoned woman adjoin a district attorney ’s witnesser to confess that she knew who killed Sal Mineo .
concord to a 2018Hollywood Reporterarticle , the fair sex ’s husband , Lionel Ray Williams , a vernal pizza pie livery man with a felonious disc , had come home the night of the stabbing with a blooming shirt and tell her he ’d “ just stabbed a dude ” in Hollywood .
Later , when a news report about Mineo come on the TV , Williams reportedly told her , “ That ’s the dude I killed . ”
Public DomainLionel Ray Williams is allegedly responsible for the stabbing death of Sal Mineo .
According to Williams ’ wife , Williams had been hiding out at an flat building complex in Hollywood , mean to rob someone , when a “ vernal - looking white dude ” park his railcar , spotted Williams , and started yelling . Williams stabbed him in the breast and ran away without engage any money .
Lionel Williams did not fit the description of the valet witness had seen running from the vista . He was shorter and Black . Still , it was possible that witnesses had misidentified the defendant , or else had discern a second man running after Williams . But police take stiff evidence marry Williams to Sal Mineo ’s death before they could charge him .
That evidence finally came in 1977 , when Williams was serving a time for check counterfeit . That year , a deputy sheriff claim to have overheard Williams tell his cellmate , “ I killed a dude a while back . An player by the name of Sal Mineo . ” Another safeguard soon reported hearing Williams make this same title .
in the end , Lionel Williams was charged with the execution of Sal Mineo .
In March 1979 , Williams was sentenced to at least 50 years in prison for a string of robberies and for the second - grade murder of Sal Mineo . He was parole in 1990 after serving just 12 age of his sentence .
For his part , Williams has repeatedly deny any involvement in the murder , and his conviction remains controversial to this day , with critic claiming there was n’t enough evidence to endorse claims that Williams had killed Mineo .
As for Sal Mineo , his family buried him at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Westchester County , New York . Although his life was tragically cut short , Mineo is commend not only for his telling functioning alongside Hollywood ’s giving headliner , but for his trailblazing career as an open member of the LGBTQ+ community in 1970s Hollywood .
After reading about the life-time and death of Sal Mineo , dive into the bafflingdeath of Natalie Wood , Mineo’sRebel Without a Causeco - star . Then , read the narrative ofMichael Massee , the actor who accidentally kill Brandon Lee while filmingThe bragging .
