Look Who it Was Random video

SAL MINEO Too Young / Young As We Are

2,849 views · Published 1 May 2016 · 4:19 · Indexed 23 October 2026

Channel: daveinprogress3 · 2016 · Howto & Style

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My friends and regular visitors to my youtube page know how diverse my sensibilities are pop music wise, but I felt compelled to create and post this clip of Sal Mineo having just watched James Franco's feature 'Sal' in which the tragic last day of the actor's life is imagined. I recall as a youth watching him in 'Exodus' (one of his 2 Oscar nominated performances) and being saddened to read he was murdered in the 1970's. Franco's directorial project is far from perfect but it reignited for me the fascination with another young and doomed star of the silver screen. A contemporary and co-star and friend with another icon James Dean, Sal Mineo was murdered in February of 1976, and few people either know of him or remember him. Beyond his nominated work in Exodus and Rebel Without A Cause (when he was just a teenager), Mineo was also a singer and I've weaved two of his recordings to provide the montage of the handsome boy and the 30 something he became before his untimely and tragic end. He displayed great sensitivity and soul on the screen, but could not easily graduate into adult roles and have the career that perhaps he was feted for. Being openly gay probably contributed to that struggle, and the 2011 film 'Sal' doesn't overly embellish or focus on this, but shows a man with passion and a desire to perform and tell stories. This tragedy had an effect on me, and I thought i'd share it.

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