Richard Foronjy, character actor in “Serpico” and “Midnight Run”, dies at 86

Foronjy chronicled his unique path to the big screen in a 2020 memoir, "From the Mob to the Movies."

Richard Foronjy, the character actor known for playing tough-guy roles in movies including Serpico, Midnight Run, and Carlito's Way, died Sunday at 86.

His family announced the news in a statement posted to Foronjy's Facebook page, remembering him as "an actor of unparalleled talent and versatility" who "captivated audiences with his commanding presence and innate charisma." A cause of death was not given.

A Brooklyn native, Foronjy had a checkered past before getting into show business. He spent eight and a half years behind bars after being convicted of armed robbery, according to a 1987 interview, in which he also stated his trouble with the law was particularly helpful to all of his later roles. “I was especially good at playing cops, no doubt because I got to know them so well when they were busting me every other week,” he said at the time.

In 2020, he published a memoir under the name Richie Salerno, From the Mob to the Movies, chronicling his unique path to show business. "Richie turned his life around using the tailoring skills he learned from his father and butchering abilities he picked up from his father-in-law to ingratiate himself with the warden and guards which got him through one hundred and twenty months without a scratch," the memoir's description says. "As luck would have it, after his release he scored an audition for a film Serpico directed by Sidney Lumet, best known for 12 Angry Men and Dog Day Afternoon. That audition turned into a career of long standing as a character actor in major Hollywood films."

Indeed, following his role as a murderer in Serpico in 1973, Foronjy played cops in Lumet's The Morning After (1986) and Prince of the City (1981) and a corrupt policeman in Once Upon a Time in America in 1984. He also portrayed mobsters in Martin Brest’s Midnight Run (1988), which also starred Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin, and Brian De Palma’s Carlito’s Way (1993), alongside Al Pacino and Sean Penn.

Other film roles included Ghostbusters II, The Gambler, Fun With Dick and Jane, The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh, True Confessions, Man of the House, and others. On the television side, Foronjy also had roles in Who’s the Boss, Murphy’s Law, Silver Spoons, The Jeffersons, Cagney & Lacy, Hill St. Blues, M*A*S*H, The Streets of San Francisco, Taxi, and Hunter.

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Foronjy was born Richard Edward Salerno on Aug. 3, 1937. According to the family, he leaves behind sons Richard and Charles; daughters Susan and Christine; brothers Charles, Frank, and William; 17 grandchildren; a "multitude" of great-grandchildren; and his partner, Wendy.

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.