Sal Mineo: His Life, Murder, and Mystery

by H. Paul Jeffers

Book Overview

This series' focus is high-profile titles that are being discussed in the media -- biographies of people in the news, literary figures, musicians, politicians, TV and film celebrities, and of people... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786707771
• ISBN13: 9780786707775
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Running Press Book Publishers
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Sal Mineo:his life, murder and mystery

This is a rare account of a gifted and talented actor whose life was taken from us much to soon at 37 years old in 1976. H.Paul Jeffers tells the story of the highs and lows of a child actors rise to stardom and pursuit to be unique while breaking the mold of the "Hollywood system". Jeffers tells the story in a clear and very readable style. With this work the author keeps the success and trajedy of this artist's brief life from being lost to oblivion. A highly recommended read!

"A Gay Icon Lives On"

Finally! Finally! Someone has written a biography of Sal Mineo's career and his personal life. This is a long over-due book. I think Paul Jeffers has done a wonderful job in giving us Sal Mineo's career every step of the way, and also in writing about his personal life. Yes, this book may be one-sided by only talking about Sal's gay relationships, and not mentioning his heterosexual affairs with women. However, the last years of his life he admitted he was gay, and that's all I expected from this author. I will always remember my introduction to Sal Mineo. I happened to catch a movie on late night TV called "Who Killed Teddy Bear" and couldn't believe how erotic this young actor was who was stalking this woman name Norah Dain. There Sal was lying on the bed, very muscular, in white briefs (a first for TV in 1965) making a sexy phone call to an unsuspecting Norah. I couldn't believe my eyes, who is this actor? Well, ever since then I followed his career like a true devoted fan. I don't think anyone could ever forget "Rebel Without a Cause"after seeing it. Sal & James Dean & Natalie Wood's acting performance made history with this movie & will always be remembered. Finally, young people and their trouble lives were being recognized. It's just so sad that Sal's life had to end at such an early age, when his career was looking up again. Hollywood was not kind at all to Sal. However, he will always be with us through his movies that we certainly will never forget. I enjoyed this biography of Sal's career and life, and thank Paul Jeffers for this well-researched book. Sal was a talented & very original type of actor who will never be forgotten by his fans, and especially by me. Highly Recommended!!!

A bio worth waiting for

A biography of the late Sal Mineo has been a long time coming, but respected biographer H. Paul Jeffers presents a comprehensive picture of the talented young actor that was well worth waiting for. Jeffers' account of Mineo's life reflects the careful research and attention to detail that one has come to expect of this author's writings. Some may feel that repeated references to the actor's homosexual lifestyle have been overdone. But by all accounts of the time, this was a well known aspect of the man and could hardly be ignored. Jeffers' reference to his own acquaintance with Mineo can be taken as the reader wishes, but in my opinion serves only to authenticate his friendship with and personal knowledge of the actor.If you liked Sal Mineo, you'll love this book. It provides an insight one hopes for but so seldom finds in a biography.

Excellent Bio reveals the voice of the real Sal Mineo

H.Paul Jeffers biography of the talented, uncompromisingtheatre and film professional that was Sal Mineo, is a fascinatinglook at the "forgotten star" (who just happened to benominated for Academy Awards twice by the age of 21!) that is longoverdue. My "review" must be qualified by the fact that Iknew Sal and, indeed, am an interview-ee in the book. I worked on theN.Y. & L.A. productions of the play FORTUNE AND MEN'S EYES, asasst stage manager, director of understudies (in L.A.), and in othercapacities, including actually performing in the show. Acting andrehearsing with Sal and with the understudies, was a great learningexperience, as the man had, in the productive twenty of his thenthirty years, become a polished professional who communicatedbeautifully as a director with his cast, and electrifyingly in his ownon-stage performance, with both actors AND audience. Working with himwas sometimes frustrating, always productive. Socializing with himwas sometimes puzzling, but always fun. The most fascinating aspectof Mr. Jeffers' bio is that in it Sal simply rings true!! The voice ofMineo, both as directly quoted, and as heard through the musings ofothers like myself who knew and worked with him over the years, ringsTOTALLY true!! This IS Sal Mineo!! I enjoyed reading about the career,learning a great deal that helped me to fill in holes in myunderstanding of this complex man. Whereas I always thought that Salhad been mismanaged careerwise by others, Jeffers' book makes merealize at long last, that the mismanagement was always with Salhimself. Career choices, including AND ESPECIALLY personal choices(revelations?) that affected his career, were Sal's alone. There isno question that Sal Mineo decided that, as long as he wasn't going tobe the big star that he had once been, that he would just be himself.Paul Jeffers' book lets both the casual, interested reader and theperson like me, a good acquaintance--not a close friend-- put Sal inperspective. Slight controversy seems to be stirring up over certainrevelations in the Jeffers bio about the sexuality of Sal, the authorand others, yet these things are simply the truth. Hardly a one-nightstand, H.Paul Jeffers was a close friend of Sal Mineo's from Fortune'sNew York run until his death. And though Sal had certain closerelationships with members of the opposite sex (most notably hisExodus co-star Jill Haworth, a truly lovely person and his close andcaring friend for the rest of his life) he was, as far as I couldascertain, basically and unashamedly homosexual. Sal urged H.PaulJeffers to write his life story. And Jeffers has done just that,unsparingly and with fascinating results for those intersted in Salboth as the fine, though wasted and sadly unfulfilled talent he wasand as the proud gay man he also was. If you want to know Sal Mineo(as closely as you probably will ever have the chance) as bothprofessional and person, then buy this book and read it now. It willbe talked about, and you might a

Plato Lives!

As a great of fan since I first saw him on the screen in "Rebel Without A Cause," I can say I am so elated that there is finally a biography on this great, yet underrated actor. Sal Mineo was not just the usual movie star. He was a person who could relate to the common moviegoer due to his upbringing in the Bronx by hardworking and caring Italian immigrants. From 217th Street to Hollywood, Sal never forgot who he was, and truly was known to be a nice guy.In his book "Sal Mineo: His Life, Murder, and Mystery," author H. Paul Jeffers explores Sal's early days as the son of a coffin maker to his tragic end in the garage of the West Hollywood apartment complex he lived. As a close friend of Mineo's, Jeffers gives us an intimate portrait of this great actor. The only previous biographical information available on Mineo was in biographies of James Dean and magazine articles, and therefore I really can't compare this book to another Mineo biography on the market. While there is rumor that Jason Gould (Barbra Streisand's son) is writing a biography on Mineo (one of his favorite actors), we will have to wait to see if the book will paint a more complete portrait of Sal.While Jeffers book succeeds in telling Mineo's rise and then fall, he focuses too much on Mineo's sexual orientation, and at times it can get boring. Just hearing that Sal's apartment was full of gay pornography and leather S & M gear made me feel a bit disturbed that someone's sexual life still can hurt him after death. While Sal was one of Hollywood's first actors to come out of the closet virtually by choosing roles that reflected his sexuality, too much detail can often sour a book.I was also disappointed that the author did not take more time to discuss more about Sal's family, such as his mother Josephine, brothers Victor and Michael, and sister Carina. I would have liked to see more of the family discussing Sal's importance to them and the film world, but instead we hear about their financial problems. To even make this point more evident, Carina's name is not even listed in the index, even though she is mentioned several times in the biography.The book's photographs were great, and it was interesting to see an actual police photograph of the Sal's body covered in a blanket after an unknown assailant stabbed him to death. While the book claims that the suspect in Mineo's murder was never found responsible in his death, he is serving a sentence for it in a California prison. Sal's roles as Plato in "Rebel Without A Cause," Dov in "Exodus", and Dino in "Dino" made him a star, but I would like to have know more about his roles in films that explored his sexuality to the fullest extent such as "Who Killed Teddy Bear?". While his final film role was that playing an ape in "Escape from the Planet of the Apes," Sal's career was hurt by his decision to choose film and stage roles that explored homosexuality. It was taboo then and Sal was a pioneer and rebel in the entertainment world. Sal al