Aw crap, Dennis Farina is dead. The ex-cop was fantastic as a mob boss in one of my favorite road movies, Midnight Run. Michael Mann was critical to Farina’s launch as an actor. He gave him a small part in his terrific Thief, which got edited down to essentially Dennis getting shot to death as an anonymous thug. However, Mann gave him the starring role he deserved and was made for in the retro TV series Crime Story.
No one walks down a dark street to Del Shannon like Farina, 1950s-style cool to the hilt.
Tags: Dennis Farina, Michael Mann
If Michael Mann had been able to do “Crime Story” the way he wanted - as a 20 year story arc - it would have been brilliant. The first season was still great. Thanks for posting this. To me, Dennis Farina is always Mike Torello.
Great Chicago blog, by a guy who grew up with members of Dennis Farina’s family. http://brucecameronelliott.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-toughest-guy-in-old-town.html
Wow — what a slice of life! Thanks for posting that link.
Roger Ebert was a huge fan of Bruce’s Blog, and Anthony Bourdain got turned onto Bruce via Roger. Now Bourdain is about to publish a pile of Bruce’s blog posts as the second book out of Bourdain’s new book operation.
Bruce is a real character, and I believe his serialized blog posts are almost a new literary form. Beware! If you start reading, you might get hooked. I did, and wound up driving from Detroit to Chicago to have a beer; check out Bruce’s lewd political paintings on the walls of the Old Town Ale House; meet the author and all real life folks who star as figures in his blog. It’s a happening, man!
I was fortunate enough to see Farina in a couple of Chicago theatrical productions (his best-known role was probably in “Bleacher Bums”) early in his acting career. It was his career as a Chicago cop that led to Mann’s casting him (in 1981) in “Thief.” On stage, Farina had a remarkable presence and a wonderful voice. In his TV and film work, his sense of humor touched everything he did.