Angel Salazar, who played Scarface, has died at the age of 68.
Salazar had a long and successful career, but he was best known for his role as Al Pacino’s trusted sidekick Chi Chi in the gangster movie directed by Brian DePalma.
Ann Wingsong, Salazar’s agent and best friend, told TMZ that the actor died over the weekend in his sleep at a friend’s home in Brooklyn.
Wingsong told the news source that Salazar’s friend went to check on him in a room on Sunday morning and found his body in bed.
The cause of death wasn’t given, but the representative said Salazar had heart problems.
During his stand-up routine, the Cuban-American comedian and actor was known to say “Sheck it out” before, during, and after jokes.
With only five roles under his belt, Salazar got the part of Chi Chi, Pacino’s loyal bodyguard Tony Montana in the 1983 cult classic Scarface.
People who saw the movie will always remember how Chi Chi saved Tony’s life in the scary and bloody “chainsaw scene.”
A hit squad hired by drug lord Alejandro Sosa (Paul Shenar) will also make it hard for them to forget how Chi Chi died when his back was filled with lead.
Later, Salazar worked with Tom Hanks in Punchline, a 1988 drama directed by David Seltzer.
A funny young man helps a housewife get started in stand-up comedy, which is the main plot of the story.
In real life, Salazar is a comedian who has been on Last Comic Standing and many HBO comedy specials.
It would be in the 1993 crime drama Carlito’s Way that the comedian/actor would work with Pacino and DePalma again.
Among his other notable roles are those in Walk Proud, The Wild Life, Sylvester, Hot to Trot, and Maniac Cop 2.
The last movies that Salazar was in were The Black Ceaser (2022) and The Gilbert Diaries: The Movie (2023).
