I used to make up stories about my father. I would go to the movies and look for a character who looked like my father.

Filmography. One of his earliest roles came as a ballplayer in the 1973 baseball drama Bang the Drum Slowly with Robert De Niro. He played nightclub owner and Lee Harvey Oswald assassin Jack Ruby in the 1992 biopic Ruby and a political bigshot with mob ties in City Hall starring Al Pacino.

He had a pivotal role in the 1989 Spike Lee film Do the Right Thing as Salvatore 'Sal' Frangione the pizzeria owner which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Aiello is also known for his role as Don Domenico Clericuzio in the miniseries Mario Puzo's The Last Don.