Sal Mineo bio

[jackmanor]

Hope others are just as thrilled as me to hear that James Franco is set to direct a film about the life of Sal Mineo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Tentatively titled Sal, it will tell the story of the openly gay actor who is best known for his appearance opposite James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause.

Mineo was twice nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar (for Rebel, in 1955, and Exodus, in 1960.) He was murdered in West Hollywood in 1976 at the age of 37.

Mineo must have been the first (or one of the first) openly gay Hollywood actors, and his subtle portayal of a gay teenager in Rebel is one of the best ever put on film. IMO.

In the movie, Mineo will be played by relative newcomer Val Lauren.

 

[aijalon18]

Not thrilled with the casting at all. Sal Mineo was such a cute and pretty little guy and the guy playing him is funny looking.

 

[jackmanor]

I'm glad that there is finally a film being made about him and his life. I hope it does him justice.



Was he murdered because he was gay?

He was stabbed in the heart in an alley behind his apartment building as he returned home from a rehearsal for the play P.S. Your Cat is Dead, in which he played a bisexual. He had received rave reviews for his performance in an earlier San Francisco production of the play. Whether that had anything to do with his murder can only be speculation.

 

[bike10]

I became a fan of Sal from his first movie and learned later in life that like me he was gay.

 

[gsdx]

Not thrilled with the casting at all. Sal Mineo was such a cute and pretty little guy and the guy playing him is funny looking.

I noticed that, too, when I Googled him. He has a thin face and most of it is forehead.

 

[EvilTwinTwo]

I'm glad that there is finally a film being made about him and his life. I hope it does him justice.



Was he murdered because he was gay?

I'd like to know too.

 

[kallipolis]

From the IMDB biography, on Sal Mineo:

I quote:

Preparing to open the play in Los Angeles in 1976 with Keir Dullea, he returned home from rehearsal the evening of February 12th when he was attacked and stabbed to death by a stranger. A drifter named Lionel Ray Williams was arrested for the crime and, after trial in 1979, convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder.

Many bizarre rumors floated around about his murder, but when his killer, Lionel Ray Williams, was caught, he turned out to be a drug-addled 17-year-old who had no idea who Mineo was and was only interested in the money he had on him.