The "Godfather" Actor Carmine Caridi Passes Away At The Age Of 85 After Falling Into A Coma

Veteran actor Carmine Caridi, who was remembered for his roles in The Godfather series, died at the age of 85. As per the report by Variety, Carmine Caridi had been taken to the hospital in LA since 25^th April after suffering a fall and contracted pneumonia.

Carmine’s representative, Tim Jordan confirmed the news to Variety,

Carmine Caridi played two different roles in The Godfather film franchise. His role in the second film was heavily involved in the feud with Frank Pentangeli while in the third film he essayed Albert Volpe, who is murdered at one hotel in Atlantic City.

According to studio executive Robert Evans, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola initially chose Carmine Caridi for playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather but he overruled Francis since he thought that Carmine was too tall for this role, which then went to actor James Caan.

In 2004, Carmine Caridi was dismissed from the Academy after he was accused of leaking screeners. He and Russell Sprague were sued by Time Warner and Sony on civil charges of copyright infringement. He was then cleared of wrongdoing.

In a statement to TMZ after his death, Carmine's representative said that it was his biggest regret and he always “deeply saddened” by what happened.

Apart from The Godfather, Carmine Caridi starred in several TV series such as Fame, NYPD Blue, Taxi, and Phyllis, Starsky and Hutch. More recently, Carmine appeared in a 2019 episode of HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm.