The actor who played a devoted henchman of one of cinema’s most iconic gangsters died over the weekend.
Ángel Salazar passed away peacefully in his sleep at a friend’s home in Brooklyn on Sunday. He was 68 years old, and is best remembered for his portrayal of Chi Chi, the dependable sidekick to Al Pacino’s Tony Montana, in Brian De Palma’s ultraviolent cult classic, Scarface.
Salazar’s cause of death hasn’t been disclosed, but his rep and long-time friend Ann Wingsong told TMZ the actor had been suffering from heart-related issues.
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In the seminal 1983 movie, Salazar’s character is one of two henchmen who burst into a bathroom to rescue the protagonist from a hideous death-by-chainsaw at the hands of rival drug dealers.
Chi Chi later meets a grim end at the final showdown in Montana’s opulently tacky mansion, gunned down alongside Pacino’s character by a hit squad sent in by drug kingpin Alejandro Sosa.
It wasn’t the only time the Cuban-American actor was cast alongside Pacino, with the pair reuniting ten years later for De Palma’s 1993 gangster flick, Carlito’s Way. In the meantime Salazar had also starred opposite Tom Hanks in the 1988 comedy-drama Punchline, with other credits in Hot to Trot and Maniac Cop 2.
Beyond his cinematic work, he was also a respected stand-up comedian, boasting a slate of HBO specials and having made an appearance on the hit show Last Comic Standing.
His fellow comics have since taken to X, formerly Twitter, to pay tribute to the iconic gangster-actor. Comedian Auggie Smith, for one, remembers watching Salazar one night at California comedy club the Ice House, where he ‘absolutely murdered’ the crowd.
