DANNY AIELLO’S STUNNING SECRET!
Tough-guy star was a New York gang thug!
GODFATHER gangster Danny Aiello took a shocking secret to his grave — before his acting days, he was a two-fisted thug who staged a string of robberies with a gang!
The 86-year-old star, who died following a brief illness at a New Jersey hospital Dec. 12, admitted that growing up as a tough “in New York City gave me training for any role.”
He added: “I’ve seen people killed, knifed. I’ve got scars on my face. I have emotional recall when I work; the idea is to simply re-create it.”
Danny grew up hard. His laborer dad left the ItalianAmerican family of seven children, and at 9, Danny began selling newspapers, working in a grocery store, helping out at a bowling alley, shining shoes and loading trucks.
Quitting school after eighth grade, he ran with a gang of boys called the Kingsmen, who engaged in burglary and safe“I
think I robbed the [same] bowling alley 20 times,” said the Moonstruck star.
After a three-year stint in the Army in Germany, Danny returned to New York City, married and had four kids.
But the stint in the military had not changed him much — he robbed vending machines and hustled pool to pay bills!
Later, he became a union boss at the NYC Greyhound Bus terminal and a bouncer. “I fought all the time … never lost,” confessed the six-foot-three, 228-pound hunk.
And when he got into acting, he’d punch out other actors who gave him trouble at rehearsals!
He later admitted: “I did everything I had to do to feed my family. I never killed anybody or sold drugs, but that’s about all I didn’t do.”