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vinyl LP front cover
cover photographer unknown
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Today is the birthday of Sal Mineo,
who was born on January 10, 1939. He was an American actor, singer,
and director. He is best known for his role as John "Plato" Crawford in
the 1955 drama film Rebel Without a Cause, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, making him the fifth-youngest nominee in that category. He was seventeen when he made the film.
Sal Mineo & James Cagney - 1956
photo: Michael Ochs Archive
Mineo's biographer, Paul Jeffers, recounted that Mineo received
thousands of letters from young female fans, was mobbed by them at
public appearances, and further wrote: "He dated the most beautiful
women in Hollywood and New York City."
Mineo had several television appearances before he made his screen debut in 1955 with the Joseph Pevney film Six Bridges to Cross which also starred George Nader (link below).
Two years later, in 1957, Mineo starred in the film Dino which was directed by Thomas Carr, written by Reginald Rose, with music by Gerald Fried. The film also starred Brian Keith and Susan Kohner.
Dino movie poster
In Dino, Mineo plays a juvenile delinquent with Brian Keith) as his case worker after he spent several years for taking part in a murder of a night watchmen when he was 13 years old. (links to complete plot and cast below).
film still
The score for Dino, written by Gerald Fried, is a great, overlooked work. I found it fascinating that he utilized a tuba for some of the cuts, Death In A Warehouse, Defiance
& Meditation, for a truly unique effect. There is a motif used
throughout the film that references a piece of
music by Frank Loesser, Joey Joey Joey, which was originally sung by Art Lund in the Broadway musical, The Most Happy Fella.
Fried composed music for well-known television series of the 1960s and 70s, including Mission: Impossible, Gilligan's Island, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Shotgun Slade, Roots, and Star Trek.
On February 12, 1976, Mineo returned home from a rehearsal for the play P.S. Your Cat Is Dead. After parking his car in the carport below his West Hollywood apartment, he was stabbed in the heart by a mugger who later claimed not to have known who Mineo was. Sal Mineo was buried at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
A1 - Death In A Warehouse
A2 - Reform School
A3 - Homecoming
A4 - Nightmare
A5 - Saturday Night
A2 - Reform School
A3 - Homecoming
A4 - Nightmare
A5 - Saturday Night
Side 2:
B1 - Little Jazz
B2 - Meditation
B3 - First Love
B4 - Defiance
B5 - Waiting And Conclusion
Companies, etc.
Credits:
Composed By, Conductor – Gerald Fried
Coordinator – Bobby Helfer
Edited By – Eve Newman
Trombone – Frank Rosselino*
Trumpet – Maynard Ferguson
Notes:
Soundtrack from The Allied Artists Movie Starring Sal Mineo.
Gerald Fried – Dino (The Original Sound Track Recording)
Label: Epic – LN 3404
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1957
Genre: Stage & Screen
Style: Soundtrack
Viewfinder links:
Sammy Davis Jr. – Six Bridges To Cross & George Nader
Net links:
YouTube links:
Happy Birthday, Sal!
