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Sad news as ex-convict turned actor Richard Foronjy has passed away at the age of 86.
THR reports that the actor spent more than eight years in prison before turning to acting, which led to a successful career. His family confirmed that he passed away on Sunday.
He was known for playing cops and crooks in Hollywood. Born on August 3, 1937, he said, “I grew up as an angry kid in Brooklyn. I didn't care about anything.”
In the film Serpico (1973), his role is that of a policeman killer. After that, he played cops in The Morning After (1986) and Prince of the City (1981).
Regarding the parts, he said, “I was especially good at playing cops, no doubt because I got to know them so well when they were busting me every other week.”
The actor said in a 1987 interview he was arrested numerous times for “forgery, bank robbery, credit card rip-offs, assorted crimes and skullduggery…[guilty of] almost everything except drugs and homicides.”
This led to a conviction only once, which landed him an 8.5-year sentence in Sing Sing and Attica. He was released when he was 32.
When it comes to mobsters, he nailed that part. In the movie Midnight Run (1988), he played Tony Darvo. Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993) cast him as Peter Amadesso.
Beyond those roles, he also was in films like The Gambler (1974), Fun With Dick and Jane (1977), The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979), True Confessions (1981), Ghostbusters II (1989), and Man of the House (1995).
With television, he starred in Police Story, M*A*S*H, Taxi, The Streets of San Francisco, Cagney & Lacy and Hunter.
It wasn't an easy road to becoming an actor. He worked as a butcher and took acting classes when he could. Finally, he got an agent who helped land him a gig on Serpico in the role of Corsaro.
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He said about his life of crime, “It was in the days before computers, and I thought I could make an easy living forging checks and collecting credit cards. Then, I began robbing candy stores.”
The star added, “It seemed to me it would be more profitable to go to the source of big-money banks. So I began robbing them. My first bank job brought me $170,000 — a lot more than Willie Sutton ever got. I spent the money lavishly and went to Europe.”
“Eventually, it all caught up with me,” he continued. “I robbed an attorney at gunpoint, and the cops caught me as I was driving away.”
Prison was tough, but he took advantage of his time there. He noted reading more than 500 books and learning to type while behind bars.
Foronjy released a memoir in 2020 titled From the Mob to the Movies.
His family stated, “His journey as a father was marked by challenges and complexities.”
He's survived by his significant other, Wendy, and his children, Charles, Susan, Christin, and Richard; his brothers, Charles, Frank, and William; and 17 grandkids.
RIP Richard Foronjy.
