Sal Mineo was an actor, director, and singer who was murdered near his home in West Hollywood in 1976 at the young age of 37. Mineo was born in 1939 into a family of Italian immigrants living in the Bronx. His breakthrough role, which also garnered him an Academy Award nomination, came in 1955 when he played Plato Crawford in Rebel Without a Cause, opposite to James Dean. On February 12, 1976, Mineo was found with fatally stabbed in an alleyway by neighbors who had heard his cries for help. Detectives found money still left in Mineo’s jacket, hypothesizing that the evidence pointed to a personal motive rather than a random robbery. For years his murder remained a mystery, with some speculating that his homosexuality being the motive behind the crime.
First Documented
1976
Last Documented
2000
8567 Holloway Drive
West Hollywood, CA 90069
United States
Abstract
Sal Mineo was an actor, director, and singer who was murdered near his home in West Hollywood in 1976 at the young age of 37. Mineo was born in 1939 into a family of Italian immigrants living in the Bronx. His breakthrough role, which also garnered him an Academy Award nomination, came in 1955 when he played Plato Crawford in Rebel Without a Cause, opposite to James Dean. On February 12, 1976, Mineo was found with fatally stabbed in an alleyway by neighbors who had heard his cries for help. Detectives found money still left in Mineo’s jacket, hypothesizing that the evidence pointed to a personal motive rather than a random robbery. For years his murder remained a mystery, with some speculating that his homosexuality being the motive behind the crime.
sal.png
sal2.png
Citations
Jeffers, Paul H. Sal Mineo: His Life, Murder and Mystery. Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 2000.