Joe Spinell

Joe Spinell is an actor well-known for his roles in such films as The Godfather (1972), Taxi Driver (1976), Starcrash (1978) with Caroline Munro and Maniac (1980).

Born as Joseph Spagnuolo on October 28th, 1936 in New York City, he appeared in various stage productions and transitioned into film. He became known for his roles in cult horror films.

Suffering from hemophilia, he died at his home in Queens on January 13th, 1989 at the age of 52.

In his varied and prolific career he has had many engaging roles.

Some highlights include…

In 1978 he was in The One Man Jury with Angel Tompkins and Chris Mitchum, son of Hollywood legend Robert Mitchum.

1980 Spinell played a psychopathic killer in Maniac.
A character who fetishized murdering women… like too many.
I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it was too many women.

By the end I was just hoping for some sort of intervention.
Maybe the avuncular neighborhood rabbi would pull him aside and try to get to the root cause of his murderess misogyny. But that never happened.

So the movie ended and I made a tuna fish sandwich and went to bed where nihilistic thoughts danced in my head.

1981 was a year that produced several classic films from Spinell.

First he was cast in Nighthawks with Sylvester Stallone and Catherine Mary Stewart.

Then landing the role of Vinny Durand, a taxi driver in The Last Horror Film with June Chadwick as well as Caroline Munro again.

In 1982 he starred in the Michael Keaton film Night Shift with Dawn Dunlap and Monique Gabrielle.

1983 saw Spinell in The Last Fight with Darlanne Fluegel and Fred Williamson whom he would later star again with in One Down, Two to go (1982) and The Messenger (1986).

Joe Spinell Filmography

The Godfather (1972)
The Seven-Ups (1973)
Cops and Robbers (1973)
The Godfather: Part II (1974)
Rancho Deluxe (1975)
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
92 in the Shade (1975)
Taxi Driver (1976)
Rocky (1976)
Stay Hungry (1976)
Next Stop, Greenwich Village (1976)
Sorcerer (1977)
Starcrash (1978)
Paradise Alley (1978)
Big Wednesday (1978)
The One Man Jury (1978)
Nunzio (1978)
Rocky II (1979)
Winter Kills (1979)
Last Embrace (1979)
The Little Dragons (1979)
Cruising (1980)
Maniac (1980)
Brubaker (1980)
The Ninth Configuration (1980)
Forbidden Zone (1980)
Melvin and Howard (1980)
The First Deadly Sin (1980)
Nighthawks (1981)
The Last Horror Film (1981)
Night Shift (1982)
Vigilante (1982)
Movie Madness (1982)
Monsignor (1982)
One Down, Two to go (1982)
Losin’ It (1983)
Eureka (1983)
The Big Score (1983)
The Last Fight (1983)
Walking the Edge (1985)
The Whoopee Boys (1986)
The Messenger (1986)
Hollywood Harry (1986)
The Pick-up Artist (1987)
Deadly Illusion (1987)
Married to the Mob (1988)
The Undertaker (1988)
Operation Warzone (1988)
Rapid Fire (1989)
Maniac Cop 2 (1990)