(Gift) NYT article here.
He was forever cast as a thug, a hit man or some other nefarious character. But he took pride in his ability to play each bad guy differently.
He was forever cast as a thug, a hit man or some other nefarious character. But he took pride in his ability to play each bad guy differently.
"It [Spanish Harlem, where he grew up] was the kind of place, ...where if you lived on one block and you wanted to go a few blocks away, you had to take a couple of guys with you, or else you would get your *** kicked. I mean, that's the only way to put it; I can't say that you would get 'beat up.'"
"So you were always tense, and you were always on guard," he continued. "You were never relaxed." He said he often tapped into those memories when playing characters who were full of jittery, bottled-up anger....
...He left school at 13 and worked odd jobs. Years later, he would sometimes be complimented by real gangsters.
"
They say, 'My God, where did you learn how to play us?'" Mr. Silva told The Chicago Sun-Times in 2000. "I say, 'I lived with "us." I grew up with "us" in New York.' I used to know the guys who used to run the whole areas, the prostitution rings. I used to shine their shoes."..
Mr. Silva was cast in the 1960 movie "Ocean's Eleven" after a chance meeting with Frank Sinatra while at a stoplight on Sunset Boulevard. Clockwise from left: Akim Tamiroff, Richard Conte, Buddy Lester, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr., Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Mr. Silva, Richard Benedict, Norman Fell and Clem Harvey.Credit...United Archives, via Getty Images"So you were always tense, and you were always on guard," he continued. "You were never relaxed." He said he often tapped into those memories when playing characters who were full of jittery, bottled-up anger....
...He left school at 13 and worked odd jobs. Years later, he would sometimes be complimented by real gangsters.
"
They say, 'My God, where did you learn how to play us?'" Mr. Silva told The Chicago Sun-Times in 2000. "I say, 'I lived with "us." I grew up with "us" in New York.' I used to know the guys who used to run the whole areas, the prostitution rings. I used to shine their shoes."..
