Actor Carmine Caridi, best known for portraying Carmine Rosato in The Godfather: Part II, has passed away. He was 85.
Carmine died after having been in coma for a while at a hospital in Los Angeles, his representatives told Variety.com.
“From Broadway, to film and television, Carmine spent over six decades entertaining audiences, and nothing made him happier. His talent, wit, warmth, and charm will be missed.
“Carmine passed peacefully, surrounded by friends and family at Cedars Sinai Hospital,” the representatives said in a statement.
The actor’s character in The Godfather‘s Part II was of crucial importance to the plot. Carmine played a key role in the territorial feud with Frank Pentangeli, played by Michael V. Gazzo.
The veteran actor also appeared in The Godfather: Part III as a different character, Albert Volpe, an investor in Michael Corleone’s( Al Pacino) casinos who is killed in an attack in Atlantic City.
Apart from his performance in Godfather, he is also known for TV shows like Phyllis, Starsky and Hutch, Taxi, NYPD Blue in which he played Detective Vince Gotelli and Fame for essaying the role of Angelo Martelli.
In 2004, however, he was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for circulating screeners of movies vying for Oscar attention. Caridi was the first person to be ousted from the Academy of Motions Pictures.
Later, Carmine and Russell Sprague were also sued by Sony and Time Warner on civil charges of copyright infringement. Carmine was cleared of the wrongdoing charges.