Daniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor.
Aiello, the second youngest of six children, the son of Italian American parents. For many years, Aiello had publicly condemned his father's desertion of his children and his blind wife. Aiello reconciled with his father in 1993, but to this day harbors a resentment of his father's conduct. He moved to the South Bronx when he was age 7 and later attended James Monroe High School. At 16-years-old, Aiello lied about his age in order to enlist in the U.S. Army. After serving for three years, he returned to New York City and did various jobs in order to support himself and later his family. Aiello also once served as a union representative for Greyhound bus workers and was a night club bouncer.
Aiello broke into films in the early 1970s. One of his earliest roles came as a ballplayer in the 1973 baseball drama, Bang the Drum Slowly, with Robert DeNiro. Aiello has a fine singing voice, which has been on display in films such as Hudson Hawk, Once Around; and Remedy that starred his son Ricky Aiello and Jonathan Doscher.
In 1981 Danny Aiello won a Daytime Emmy award for his appearance in an ABC Afterschool Special called, A Family of Strangers.
Aiello's Broadway theatre credits include Gemini, The Floating Light Bulb, Hurlyburly, and The House of Blue Leaves.