American actor, stand-up comedian and actor
Rick Aviles
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/7/7a/Rick_Aviles.jpg/220px-Rick_Aviles.jpg) Aviles as Willie Lopez in
Ghost
(1990)
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Born
| Richard Anthony Aviles
October 14, 1952
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Died
| March 17, 1995
(1995-03-17)
(aged 42)
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Occupation(s)
| Actor, Stand-up comedian
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Years active
| 1980–1995
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Rick Aviles
(October 14, 1952 ? March 17, 1995) was an American
stand-up comedian
and actor of
Puerto Rican
descent, best remembered for portraying the villainous Willie Lopez in the film
Ghost
.
Career
Born in Manhattan, Aviles worked as a street performer and stand-up comedian on the
Greenwich Village
night-club circuit in New York in the 1970s and 1980s.
[1]
In 1978, a
Variety
reviewer called him "a comic with a future".
[2]
He was frequently seen in the NYC subways, doing his act for the riders. In
1981
, he landed the role of Mad Dog in the film
The Cannonball Run
.
[1]
He went on to act in fourteen more film productions. In 1987, Aviles landed a small part as the maintenance man in the film
The Secret of My Success
, starring
Michael J. Fox
. That same year he became the host of
It's Showtime at the Apollo
, and continued as host until 1991.
[3]
A
Variety
review of his stand-up act in 1990 noted, "Utilizing masterful ethnic impersonations and a remarkably rubbery face, Puerto Rican comic Rick Aviles comes off as one of the brightest and most consistently clever stand-ups working the circuit today".
[4]
In 1990, Aviles landed his most memorable role: Willie Lopez in the film
Ghost
, a smash hit at the box office that received multiple
Oscar
nominations. He also appeared in
Jim Jarmusch
's
Mystery Train (film)
(1989) as Will Robinson;
Francis Ford Coppola
's
The Godfather Part III
(1990) as Mask #1;
Brian De Palma
's
Carlito's Way
(
1993
) as Quisqueya; in
Waterworld
(1995) as the Gatesman, and in
Joe's Apartment
(1996) as the voice of a cockroach.
[3]
Among the
television
series in which he appeared are
Mr. & Mrs. Dracula
(1980),
The Day Women Got Even
(1980),
The Carol Burnett Show
(1991) and
Stephen King
's
The Stand
(1994).
[1]
Death
On April 17, 1995,
Variety
reported that Aviles had died of heart failure on March 17.
[1]
Eleven years later, a 2006 article in
Entertainment Weekly
listed him as among the celebrities who had contracted
HIV
and died from complications of
AIDS
.
[5]
Filmography
See also
References
External links
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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