Biography

Richard S. Castellano

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Bronx born, stocky Italian-American actor who only appeared in a handful of films, yet earned some degree of immortality for his role as the loyal Corleone capo Peter Clemenza teaching Al Pacino how to shoot a crooked police captain in the iconic gangster film The Godfather (1972). He was originally a construction company manager, then he gained work with the New Yiddish Theatre, before breaking into film near his thirtieth birthday. However in 1970, in only his fourth film, Castellano received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in Lovers and Other Strangers (1970) and came to the attention of casting agents for The Godfather (1972). After his strong showing as a tough hoodlum in The Godfather (1972), he became somewhat typecast as a screen criminal and appeared in further crime films including Honor Thy Father (1973) and Gangster Wars (1981).

He died in December 1988 from a heart attack at the age of 55.
- IMDb mini biography by: firehouse44@hotmail

In the DVD commentary of The Godfather (1972), Francis Ford Coppola says that Castellano was not in The Godfather Part II (1974) because he wanted to have someone else of his choosing to write his dialogue. According to Castellano's widow, Ardell Sheridan, Castellano was dropped by Coppola because he refused to regain the weight to play Clemenza due to health reasons.
He was the highest paid actor in The Godfather (1972), coming from his first and only Oscar nomination for the movie Lovers and Other Strangers (1970).
Unable to get acting jobs for most of the 1980s, Castellano spent his last years working as an auto mechanic in New Jersey.
Specialized in playing overweight characters. His normal weight was about 200 pounds, but producers invariably insisted that he gain at least 50 pounds for roles.
He played the father of Bruno Kirby, in The Super (1972). They played the same character in The Godfather series. Kirby played Young Clemenza in The Godfather Part II (1974).

[on why he was not in The Godfather Part II (1974)] I saw Clemenza as a teacher. He teaches how to make spaghetti, how to use the gun. [Coppola] can't tell me that Clemenza, after years of loyalty to the old man, would go in and testify against organized crime. Not unless you proved to me... that he had become a fearful man, that he had become a betrayer. The demands on me were impossible. I had settled on a price and everybody else's was settled upon mine. [Coppola] had me losing weight to play Clemenza as a young man. I was down to 194 pounds. When I received the script five minutes later, it had me rolling in at 300 pounds... The next thing, I saw Coppola quoted as saying that I asked for more money than anyone else, that I asked to rewrite the script. Once the lie gets out, the lie is told, and it takes.

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