Ángel Salazar, who played Scarface, has died at the age of 68.
Although Salazar was best known for his role as Al Pacino’s trusted sidekick Chi Chi in the gangster movie directed by Brian DePalma, he had a long and successful career.
TMZ reports that Ann Wingsong, Salazar’s agent and best friend, said that the actor died in his sleep at a friend’s Brooklyn home over the weekend.
The friend went to check on Salazar in a room on Sunday morning and found his body in bed, Wingsong told the news source.
The reason for death wasn’t said, but the representative said Salazar had heart problems.
In his stand-up routine, the Cuban-American comedian and actor was known to say “Sheck it out” before, during, and after jokes.
Salazar got the part of Chi Chi, Pacino’s loyal bodyguard Tony Montana in the 1983 cult classic Scarface, after only five roles as an actor.
Movie fans will always remember how Chi Chi saved Tony’s life in the scary and bloody “chainsaw scene.”
Also, it will be hard for them to forget how Chi Chi died when drug lord Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar) hired a hit squad to kill him.
Salazar later worked with Tom Hanks in Punchline, a 1988 drama directed by David Seltzer.
Young, funny comic helps housewife get started in stand-up comedy; this is the plot of the story.
Salazar has been on Last Comic Standing and many HBO comedy specials. He is a comedian in real life.
The comedian and actor would work with Pacino and DePalma again in Carlito’s Way, a crime drama released in 1993.
He has also worked on movies like Walk Proud, The Wild Life, Sylvester, Hot to Trot, and Maniac Cop 2.
In 2022 and 2023, Salazar’s last roles were in The Black Ceaser and The Gilbert Diaries: The Movie.
