Celebrity Biographies
henry silva
His tough appearance made him ideal for villain roles. His career spans five decades, from the 1950s to the late 1990s, starring in some 140 films. Henry Silva passed away on September 14, 2022, at the age of 95, in a nursing home in Woodland Hills, California.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on September 15, 1928, Henry Silva worked as a dishwasher and waiter, until in 1955 he was chosen in a theatrical audition to enroll in the Actors Studio. He began his journey as an actor on the big screen with ¡Viva Zapata! , by Elia Kazan , in a minor role for which he did not even appear in the credits. In his early days, he was lavished on television series such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Linked to Frank Sinatra ‘s Rat Pack , Henry Silva worked with the mythical actor and singer in The Gang of Eleven , The Messenger of Fear and Three Sergeants . He also appeared in other successful feature films, such as Cinderella , where he played one of Jerry Lewis ‘ evil stepbrothers .
“A face with high, sharp cheekbones and a small, blunt nose, a face that seems to be carved from steel and is always behind a gun. And eyes that only see the next victim. cold eyes. The eyes of a psychopath “, Diane Haithman, a journalist for Variety, wrote about him in her article” The actor you love to hate “.
In his later career, Henry Silva was a regular presence in action films and spaghetti-westerns shot in Europe where his fluency in Spanish and Italian, as well as his flair for realistic tough-guy roles, led to a long career. continued professionalism until the beginning of this century. He was particularly successful with A River of Dollars , which was very successful in Italy and Spain, and with B movies like Escape from the Bronx. “In the United States they see me as a villain, but in Europe as a hero,” he said in an interview.
At the end of his career he returned to Hollywood, with titles such as the action films Code of Silence -with Chuck Norris- and Above the Law -with Steven Seagal- . After playing one of Dick Tracy ‘s villains , he played mob boss Ray Vargo in Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai.
He said goodbye to the cinema in 2001 with a cameo in Ocean’s Eleven , a remake of the aforementioned The Gang of Eleven .
Divorced in 1955 from Mary Ramus, Henry Silva was united to Cindy Conroy, and to actress Ruth Earl, mother of his two sons, Michael and Scott.