Description:
Bronx born, stocky Italian-American actor who only appeared in a handful of films, yet earned some degree of immortality for his role as the loyal Corleone capo Peter Clemenza teaching Al Pacino how to shoot a crooked police captain in the iconic gangster film The Godfather (1972). He was originally a construction company manager, then he gained work with the New Yiddish Theatre, before breaking into film near his thirtieth birthday. However in 1970, in only his fourth film, Castellano received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) and came to the attention of casting agents for The Godfather (1972). After his strong showing as a tough hoodlum in The Godfather (1972), he became somewhat typecast as a screen criminal and appeared in further crime films including Honor Thy Father (1973) and Gangster Wars (1981).
He died in December 1988 from a heart attack at the age of 55.
Birthday
September 4, 1933
Born In
The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
Alternative names
Richard Castellano
Height
175 cm
Spouse/Ex-
Margaret Tiernan 1953 - ? (divorced),Ardell Sheridan ? - December 10, 1988 (his death)
Trivia
Nephew of Paul Castellano.
Quotes
[on why he was not in The Godfather Part II (1974)] I saw Clemenza as a teacher. He teaches how to make spaghetti, how to use the gun. [Coppola] can't tell me that Clemenza, after years of loyalty to the old man, would go in and testify against organized crime. Not unless you proved to me... that he had become a fearful man, that he had become a betrayer. The demands on me were impossible. I had settled on a price and everybody else's was settled upon mine. [Coppola] had me losing weight to play Clemenza as a young man. I was down to 194 pounds. When I received the script five minutes later, it had me rolling in at 300 pounds... The next thing, I saw Coppola quoted as saying that I asked for more money than anyone else, that I asked to rewrite the script. Once the lie gets out, the lie is told, and it takes.
Nickname
Richie
