Danny Aiello
Aiello is best known for playing mobsters and paunchy Italian fathers, and for being confused with other Italian-American actors who also play such characters.
A Manhattan native, Aiello lied about his age when he was sixteen and joined the army. After serving for three years, he returned to New York and picked up a series of odd jobs before landing his big break with a walk-on part in The Godfather: Part II. His ad-libbed line, "Michael Corleone says hello," has become a classic and it led him to similarly Italian-centric roles in films like Defiance, Once Upon A Time In America, Moonstruck, and a slew of films with Woody Allen, like The Purple Rose of Cairo, Broadway Danny Rose, and Radio Days. He's perhaps best known for his Academy Award nominated performance as Sal, the cultural misfit pizza owner, in Spike Lee's epic Do The Right Thing. Never an A-lister, Aiello has worked consistently throughout his career and can be seen in movies like Leon: The Professional, Lucky Number Slevin, and the TV show Dellaventura. He's also branched out into stage work during the past few years, with roles in Gemini, The Floating Light Bulb, The House of Blue Leaves, and The Shoemaker. [Image via Getty]