RIP Reni Santoni

[Vandal]

Prolific character actor Reni Santoni, who partnered with Clint Eastwood in "Dirty Harry" and Sylvester Stallone in "Cobra," and who portrayed Poppie the pizza chef in "Seinfeld," has died at 81.



Santoni died in hospice Saturday after a long illness, TV writer and producer Tracy Newman said of her longtime friend.

"Reni Santoni passed away yesterday morning," Newman wrote in a Facebook tribute. "He had been sick for quite a while. Those of you who knew him know how funny he was, what a terrific actor, improviser, performer, etc. So brilliant. I loved him very much and will miss him terribly. Another great one is gone."

Reni Santoni, pictured in 1998, who starred in "Dirty Harry" and "Seinfeld" has died.
The New York City native Santoni starred in 1971's "Dirty Harry" as rookie detective and college sociology major Chico Martinez who gets paired up with Eastwood's "Dirty" Harry Callahan. The cop collaboration came despite Callahan's objections ("Just what I needed, a college boy").

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertai ... 579298002/

[MarkBarrett]

My first thought when I saw the sad news was a different role than listed above when Reni Santoni played an institution official (whatever his job title was) in Sean Penn's Bad Boys.