Richard Romanus, who built his character acting career with a tough guy persona in film and television, has died at 80 at a hospital in Volos, Greece. No cause was given by his son, Robert.
Romanus had a string of memorable roles during his long career. He was Harry Canyon, the cab driver from Heavy Metal, and Richard Lapenna, the husband of Dr. Melfi, in “The Sopranos.” He was loanshark Michael Longo in Mean Streets.
His TV résumé includes Mission: Impossible, Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii Five-0, The Rockford Files, Kojak, Strike Force, and more across the ’70s.
In films, Romanus appeared in Sitting Ducks (1980), Protocol (1984), The Couch Trip (1988), Oscar (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Cops and Robbersons (1994), Nailed (2001) and The Young Black Stallion (2003).
In his later years, Romanus and his wife moved to the Greek town of Skiathos, and he wrote about the experience in Act III: A Small Island in the Aegean,...
Romanus had a string of memorable roles during his long career. He was Harry Canyon, the cab driver from Heavy Metal, and Richard Lapenna, the husband of Dr. Melfi, in “The Sopranos.” He was loanshark Michael Longo in Mean Streets.
His TV résumé includes Mission: Impossible, Starsky and Hutch, Hawaii Five-0, The Rockford Files, Kojak, Strike Force, and more across the ’70s.
In films, Romanus appeared in Sitting Ducks (1980), Protocol (1984), The Couch Trip (1988), Oscar (1991), Point of No Return (1993), Cops and Robbersons (1994), Nailed (2001) and The Young Black Stallion (2003).
In his later years, Romanus and his wife moved to the Greek town of Skiathos, and he wrote about the experience in Act III: A Small Island in the Aegean,...
- 12/30/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Richard Romanus, the tough-guy character actor best known for his turn as Michael Longo, the Little Italy loan shark who gets into it with Robert De Niro’s Johnny Civello in Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets, has died. He was 80.
Romanus died Dec. 23 in a private hospital in Volos, Greece, his son, Robert Romanus, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Romanus handled prominent voice roles for Ralph Bakshi in 1977’s Wizards (as the elf warrior Weehawk) and 1982’s Hey Good Lookin’ (as the leader of a 1950s greaser gang), and in between, he played the cab driver Harry Canyon in another animated film, Heavy Metal (1981).
He also appeared on four episodes of The Sopranos as Richard Lapenna, the on-again, off-again husband of Lorraine Bracco’s Jennifer Melfi, from 1999-2002.
In Mean Streets (1973), Romanus’ character is famously disrespected by Johnny when he leans on him for his money.
“You know, Michael, you make me laugh,...
Romanus died Dec. 23 in a private hospital in Volos, Greece, his son, Robert Romanus, told The Hollywood Reporter.
Romanus handled prominent voice roles for Ralph Bakshi in 1977’s Wizards (as the elf warrior Weehawk) and 1982’s Hey Good Lookin’ (as the leader of a 1950s greaser gang), and in between, he played the cab driver Harry Canyon in another animated film, Heavy Metal (1981).
He also appeared on four episodes of The Sopranos as Richard Lapenna, the on-again, off-again husband of Lorraine Bracco’s Jennifer Melfi, from 1999-2002.
In Mean Streets (1973), Romanus’ character is famously disrespected by Johnny when he leans on him for his money.
“You know, Michael, you make me laugh,...
- 12/30/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A month away from the June 30 expiration of SAG-AFTRA’s collective bargaining agreement with the AMPTP, indie films are in a panic.
With SAG’s negotiating committee calling for a strike authorization vote, producers are stuck in an infinite loop of existential crisis. They’re toggling between a scramble to get cameras rolling, make minute-to-minute decisions about continuing prep work, or making the call to push start dates until — fingers crossed — a strike is averted.
“I’m on an emergency call almost every day about whether to push a movie, whether to keep spending money and see what happens,” one entertainment lawyer told IndieWire. “Independently financed movies, it’s very hard. These are real people putting in real money. It’s not like a studio isn’t real money, but it’s different kinds of risks.”
For indie films, those risks requires that financing be secured by completion guarantors and...
With SAG’s negotiating committee calling for a strike authorization vote, producers are stuck in an infinite loop of existential crisis. They’re toggling between a scramble to get cameras rolling, make minute-to-minute decisions about continuing prep work, or making the call to push start dates until — fingers crossed — a strike is averted.
“I’m on an emergency call almost every day about whether to push a movie, whether to keep spending money and see what happens,” one entertainment lawyer told IndieWire. “Independently financed movies, it’s very hard. These are real people putting in real money. It’s not like a studio isn’t real money, but it’s different kinds of risks.”
For indie films, those risks requires that financing be secured by completion guarantors and...
- 5/26/2023
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Most of the 2022 Primetime Emmy wins were either generally expected or only slightly surprising, but almost no one anticipated the shocking Best Competition Program outcome. A whopping 91% of the thousands of Gold Derby users who made predictions for the race understandably thought “RuPaul’s Drag Race” would sail to its fifth consecutive victory, but the ones who ended up earning bragging rights were the 3% who correctly picked “Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls.” Five months later, RuPaul and his team are seeking their fifth PGA Award win for Best Reality Series, but they are once again faced with the challenge of having to fend off Lizzo’s squad.
These corresponding Emmy and PGA Award lineups are nearly identical, with the only difference being the exclusion of “Nailed It!” from the latter due in part to the producing guild’s set rule of five nominees per TV category. Even considering its Emmy loss,...
These corresponding Emmy and PGA Award lineups are nearly identical, with the only difference being the exclusion of “Nailed It!” from the latter due in part to the producing guild’s set rule of five nominees per TV category. Even considering its Emmy loss,...
- 2/24/2023
- by Matthew Stewart
- Gold Derby
Ready for a new puzzle?
“Hellraiser,” a new take on the immortal 1987 Clive Barker classic (itself based on one of Barker’s more memorably macabre stories), is headed to Hulu in October as part of the streaming service’s Halloween line-up. And a terrifying new trailer has just debuted.
The trailer moodily establishes the return of some of the most iconic elements from “Hellraiser,” including (but not limited to) the insidious puzzle box and the appearance of Pinhead and an inter-dimensional demon (this time played by “Sense 8” standout Jamie Clayton). Instead of a straight remake of the 1987 original, the new movie concerns a recovering addict (Odessa A’zion) who takes possession of the original puzzle box and must try to figure out the mysteries behind it. Talk about fighting your demons!
Development on a proper “Hellraiser” sequel has been going on since at least 2007, with several sets of filmmakers attempting...
“Hellraiser,” a new take on the immortal 1987 Clive Barker classic (itself based on one of Barker’s more memorably macabre stories), is headed to Hulu in October as part of the streaming service’s Halloween line-up. And a terrifying new trailer has just debuted.
The trailer moodily establishes the return of some of the most iconic elements from “Hellraiser,” including (but not limited to) the insidious puzzle box and the appearance of Pinhead and an inter-dimensional demon (this time played by “Sense 8” standout Jamie Clayton). Instead of a straight remake of the 1987 original, the new movie concerns a recovering addict (Odessa A’zion) who takes possession of the original puzzle box and must try to figure out the mysteries behind it. Talk about fighting your demons!
Development on a proper “Hellraiser” sequel has been going on since at least 2007, with several sets of filmmakers attempting...
- 9/20/2022
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
Throughout his many career ups-and-downs, five-time Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell has carved out a place for himself with a series of singularly eccentric, screwy films. Let’s take a look back at all eight of his films, ranked worst to best.
Born in 1958, Russell made his filmmaking debut with the incest comedy “Spanking the Monkey” (1994), which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and brought his Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay victories at the Independent Spirit Awards. The screwball farce “Flirting with Disaster” (1996) quickly followed, which earned him additional writing and directing bids at the Indie Spirits. He achieved a huge critical and commercial success with the Gulf War satire “Three Kings” (1999), for which he competed at the Writers Guild of America in Best Original Screenplay.
He received a more muted response with “I Heart Huckabees” (2004), an existential ensemble comedy that became infamous for leaked...
Born in 1958, Russell made his filmmaking debut with the incest comedy “Spanking the Monkey” (1994), which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and brought his Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay victories at the Independent Spirit Awards. The screwball farce “Flirting with Disaster” (1996) quickly followed, which earned him additional writing and directing bids at the Indie Spirits. He achieved a huge critical and commercial success with the Gulf War satire “Three Kings” (1999), for which he competed at the Writers Guild of America in Best Original Screenplay.
He received a more muted response with “I Heart Huckabees” (2004), an existential ensemble comedy that became infamous for leaked...
- 8/16/2022
- by Zach Laws and Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
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