Ray Sharkey is known for his role as Sonny Steelgrave in the television series Wiseguy.
20 Facts About Ray Sharkey
2.
Sharkey's father was a professional drummer who abandoned the family when Sharkey was five years old.
3.
Ray Sharkey was raised by his mother, Cecelia, in Brooklyn's Red Hook neighborhood.
4.
Ray Sharkey became interested in acting after seeing Jack Lemmon in the 1962 film Days of Wine and Roses.
5.
Ray Sharkey went on to appear in more than forty motion pictures and dozens of guest appearances on various television series.
6.
In 1980, Sharkey portrayed rock promoter Vinnie Vacarri in The Idolmaker.
7.
Shortly after appearing in The Idolmaker, Ray Sharkey developed a $400 a day heroin habit.
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Ray Sharkey overdosed several times and was involved in four drug-related car accidents, two of which required him to undergo microsurgery on his eyes.
9.
Ray Sharkey tried undergoing rehab treatment several times but would ultimately relapse a few months later.
10.
In 1987, Ray Sharkey spent two months in an Orange County rehab center in an effort to kick his drug and alcohol addiction for good.
11.
Ray Sharkey was viewed as deserving an Emmy Award nomination but did not receive it.
12.
In November 1992, Graham divorced Ray Sharkey, citing his drug abuse as the reason for the divorce.
13.
Ray Sharkey was diagnosed as HIV positive in the late 1980s.
14.
Ray Sharkey reportedly contracted the virus through intravenous drug use.
15.
Ray Sharkey became ill and was hospitalized with aseptic meningitis in July 1991.
16.
Monica believed she contracted the virus from Ray Sharkey, who continued to deny that he had infected her.
17.
In July 1992, she learned that another woman suspected that Ray Sharkey had infected her with HIV as well.
18.
At the time of the interview, Ray Sharkey weighed 80 pounds, had a hacking cough and was suffering from a brain lesion.
19.
Ray Sharkey died of complications from AIDS at Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, on June 11,1993, at age 40.
20.
Ray Sharkey is interred in Saint Charles Cemetery in Farmingdale, Long Island, New York.