1. Sal Mineo was best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in the drama film Rebel Without a Cause, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor at age 17, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in the category.
Sal Mineo was of Sicilian descent; his father was born in Italy and his mother, of Italian origin, was born in the United States.
Sal Mineo attended the Quintano School for Young Professionals and was one of the few Italian-American actors of his era to keep his surname, saying he was proud of his heritage and identity.
Sal Mineo's mother enrolled him in dancing and acting school at an early age.
Sal Mineo had his first stage appearance in Tennessee Williams's play The Rose Tattoo.
Sal Mineo played the young prince opposite Yul Brynner in the stage musical The King and I Brynner took the opportunity to help Mineo better himself as an actor.
On May 8,1954, Mineo portrayed the Page in the NBC Opera Theatre's production of Richard Strauss's Salome, set to Oscar Wilde's play.
Sal Mineo made several television appearances before making his screen debut in the Joseph Pevney film Six Bridges to Cross.
Sal Mineo successfully auditioned for a part in The Private War of Major Benson, as a cadet colonel opposite Charlton Heston.
Sal Mineo's performance resulted in an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor and he became the fifth-youngest nominee in the category, at the age of 17.
In Giant, Sal Mineo played Angel Obregon II, a Mexican boy killed in World War II.
Sal Mineo was sometimes referred to as the "Switchblade Kid", a nickname he earned from his role as a criminal in the movie Crime in the Streets.
In 1957, Sal Mineo made a brief foray into pop music by recording a handful of songs and an album.
Sal Mineo starred as drummer Gene Krupa in the movie The Gene Krupa Story, directed by Don Weis with Susan Kohner, James Darren, and Susan Oliver.
Sal Mineo appeared in The Longest Day, in which he played a private killed by a German after the landing in Sainte-Mere-Eglise.
Sal Mineo was the model for Harold Stevenson's painting The New Adam.
Sal Mineo appeared on the Season 2 episode of The Patty Duke Show: "Patty Meets a Celebrity".
Sal Mineo did two more appearances on the same show, including appearing in an installment with Fernando Lamas.
In 1969, Sal Mineo returned to the stage to direct a Los Angeles production of the gay-themed play Fortune and Men's Eyes, featuring then-unknown Don Johnson as Smitty and Sal Mineo as Rocky.
Sal Mineo's last role in a motion picture was a small part in the film Escape from the Planet of the Apes ; he played the chimpanzee Dr Milo.
In December 1972, Sal Mineo stage-directed the Gian Carlo Menotti short opera The Medium in Detroit.
Muriel Costa-Greenspon portrayed the title character, Madame Flora, and Sal Mineo played the mute, Toby.
In 1975, Sal Mineo appeared as Rachman Habib, the assistant to a murderous consular head of a Middle Eastern country, in the Columbo episode "A Case of Immunity," on NBC-TV.
Your Cat Is Dead in San Francisco, Sal Mineo received substantial publicity from many positive reviews; he moved to Los Angeles along with the play.
Sal Mineo met English-born actress Jill Haworth on the set of the film Exodus in 1960, in which they portrayed young lovers.
Sal Mineo expressed disapproval of Haworth's brief relationship with television producer Aaron Spelling, because he was 22 years older than her.
Sal Mineo was found lying and bleeding profusely in the parking alley by his neighbor Raymond Evans, who had heard his cries for help, but Sal Mineo was only able to walk a few steps, after which he collapsed immediately.
Sal Mineo was pronounced dead at the scene at the age of 37, due to massive hemorrhage.
Williams' wife later confirmed that on the night Sal Mineo died, he had come home with blood on his shirt.
Sal Mineo was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.