Cuban-American actor Angel Salazar, who played the role of ‘Chi Chi’ in the cult film ‘Scarface’ (1983), has died at the age of 68, his representatives informed the media on Monday, August 13.
The cause of death is currently unknown. The Hollywood actor and comedian was found dead last Sunday in the New York apartment of a friend of his. For now, the cause is believed to be due to heart problems, according to his representative Roger Paul, who told the American newspaper. The New York Times.
Angel Salazar, a life linked to cinema
Ángel Salazar became famous after playing ‘Chi Chi’, Tony Montana’s henchman (played by Al Pacino) in ‘Scarface’, but his film career includes other well-known titles such as ‘Punchline’ (1988) and ‘Carlito’s Way’ (1993).
The actor was born in 1956 in Cuba, from where he fled in the early 1970s by swimming across Guantanamo Bay to the U.S. naval base; he was sent to Miami and then to a foster home in the Bronx, New York, the Times reported.
At 18, and faced with difficulties finding work as an actor, he tried his luck at a comedy club in the Big Apple and thus began a successful career as a comedian to which many today also dedicate tributes.
Comedian Adam Hunter told X that he worked with him a few months ago and called him a “comedy legend,” while musician Tito Puente Jr. told him: “From Scarface to Carlito’s Way, your characters and comedy will always be missed.”
