Sal Mineo

Actors

Salvatore Mineo Jr. (January 10, 1939 – February 12, 1976) was an American actor, singer, and director. His first two films were in Joseph Pevney’s Six Bridges to Cross (1955), with Tony Curtis, George Nader, and Julie Adams; and Jerry Hopper’s The Private War of Major Benson (1955), with Charlton Heston, Julie Adams, and Tim Hovey. He is best known for his role as John “Plato” Crawford in Nicholas Ray’s drama film Rebel Without a Cause (1955), with James Dean and Natalie Wood; which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category. He earned a second Academy Award and won a Golden Globe for Otto Preminger‘s Exodus (1960), with Paul Newman, Eva Marie Saint, Ralph Richardson, and Peter Lawford.

Mineo also starred in films such as Don Siegel‘s Crime in the Streets (1956), with James Whitmore and John Cassavetes; George Stevens’s Giant (1956), with Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, Dean, Carroll Baker, Jane Withers, Chill Wills, Mercedes McCambridge, Dennis Hopper, Rod Taylor, Elsa Cárdenas, and Earl Holliman; Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956), with John Saxon and Luana Patten; Dino (1957), with Brian Keith and Susan Kohner; The Young Don’t Cry (1957), with Whitmore and J. Carrol Naish; Tonka (1958), with Philip Carey and Slim Pickens; Raoul Walsh’s A Private’s Affair (1959), with Christine Carère; and The Gene Krupa Story (1959), with Susan Kohner, James Darren, and Susan Oliver. In 1957, made a brief foray into pop music by recording a handful of songs and an album. Two of his singles reached the Top 40 in the United States’ Billboard Hot 100. The more popular of the two, “Start Movin’ (In My Direction)”, reached #9 on Billboard’s pop chart. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.

Later roles include Ronald Neame‘s Escape from Zahrain (1962), with Yul Brynner, Jack Warden, Madlyn Rhue, and Anthony Caruso; The Longest Day (1962), with John Wayne, Kenneth More, Richard Todd, Robert Mitchum, Richard Burton, Steve Forrest, Sean Connery, Henry Fonda, Red Buttons, Peter Lawford, Eddie Albert, Jeffrey Hunter, Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon, Rod Steiger, Leo Genn, Gert Fröbe, Irina Demick, Bourvil, Curd Jürgens, George Segal, Robert Wagner, Paul Anka, and Arletty; John Ford‘s Cheyenne Autumn (1964), with Richard Widmark, Carroll Baker, Karl Malden, James Stewart, and Edward G. Robinson; The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), with Max von Sydow, Dorothy McGuire, José Ferrer, Martin Landau, and Donald Pleasance; Who Killed the Teddy Bear? (1965), with Juliet Prowse and Elaine Stritch; Krakatoa, East of Java (1969), with Maximilian Schell; 80 Steps to Jonah (1969), with Wayne Newton, Jo Van Fleet, Keenan Wynn, Diana Ewing, and Mickey Rooney; and Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), with Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Bradford Dillman, and Ricardo Montalbán. He was murdered in 1976 at the age of 37.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • Six Bridges to Cross (1955) – directed by Joseph Pevney
  • The Private War of Major Benson (1955) – directed by Jerry Hopper
  • Rebel Without a Cause (1955)** – directed by Nicholas Ray
  • Crime in the Streets (1956) – directed by Don Siegel
  • Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) – directed by Robert Wise
  • Giant (1956) – directed by George Stevens
  • Rock, Pretty Baby! (1956) – directed by Richard Bartlett
  • Dino (1957) – directed by Thomas Carr
  • The Young Don’t Cry (1957) – directed by Alfred L. Werker
  • Tonka (1958) – directed by Lewis R. Foster
  • A Private’s Affair (1959) – directed by Raoul Walsh
  • The Gene Krupa Story (1959) – directed by Don Weis
  • Exodus (1960) – directed by Otto Preminger
  • Cry Vengeance! (1961) – directed by Franklin J. Schaffner – TV movie
  • Escape from Zahrain (1962) – directed by Ronald Neame
  • The Longest Day (1962) – directed by Ken Annakin, Andrew Marton, & Bernard Wicki
  • Cheyenne Autumn (1964) – directed by John Ford
  • The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965) – directed by George Stevens
  • Who Killed Teddy Bear? (1965) – directed by Joseph Cates
  • The Dangerous Days of Kiowa Jones (1966) – directed by Alex March – TV movie
  • Stranger on the Run (1967) – directed by Don Siegel – TV movie
  • Krakatoa, East of Java (1968) – directed by Bernard L. Kowalski
  • 80 Steps to Jonah (1969) – directed by Gerd Oswald
  • The Challengers (1970) – directed by Leslie H. Martinson – TV movie
  • How to Steal an Airplane (1971) – directed by by Leslie H. Martinson – TV movie
  • In Search of America (1971) – directed by Paul Bogart – TV movie
  • Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) – directed by Don Taylor
  • The Family Rico (1972) – directed by Paul Wendkos – TV movie
  • Sonic Boom (1974) – directed by Jeffrey Mandel – short