Francesco Quinn

Summary

Francesco Daniele Quinn (March 22, 1963 – August 5, 2011) was an Italian-born American actor. The first son of Oscar-winner Anthony Quinn and costume designer Iolanda Addolori (Anthony Quinn's second wife), Francesco is perhaps best known for his breakout role as Rhah in Oliver Stone’s Academy Award-winning Platoon (1986). However, his first major role in television was in the 1985 prime-time television miniseries Quo Vadis?. His final role was the voice of the Autobot Dino (Mirage) in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

Francesco Quinn
Francesco Daniele Quinn as Marcus Vinicius in the 1985 miniseries "Quo Vadis?"
Born
Francesco Daniele Quinn

(1963-03-22)March 22, 1963
Rome, Italy
DiedAugust 5, 2011(2011-08-05) (aged 48)
OccupationActor
Years active1985–2011
SpouseJulie Quinn (Divorced 2008)
Children2
Parent

Early years edit

Francesco Quinn was born in Rome, Italy, the son of Anthony Quinn and second wife Iolanda Addolori, a noted costume designer to whom Anthony Quinn was married for 31 years.[1] Quinn had Mexican, Irish, and Italian ancestry.

Career edit

Film edit

Quinn appeared in many feature films including the New York Independent Film Festival winner Placebo Effect. He acted with his father in several films, including A Star For Two with Lauren Bacall. The two Quinns also had the opportunity to share the role of Santiago in the 1990 mini-series The Old Man and the Sea, son and father playing the character as a young and old man.

Quinn sometimes played moody, dangerous characters, such as vampire Vlad Tepes in the 2003 direct to video alt-historical thriller Vlad, and wandering warrior Thane Le Mal in the short film The Gnostic. Like his father, Quinn also appeared in historical dramas, playing such roles as Latino Captain Salamanca in Steven Spielberg’s mini-series Into the West (2005) and a lead role in TNT's Rough Riders (1997) (TV). One of Quinn's earliest roles was as Marcus Vinicius in the 1985 mini-series Quo Vadis?, co-starring with some major film actors of the 1980s.

Later examples of Quinn's work included Park, which won the audience award at 2007 CineVegas, and the short film Muertas, starring America Ferrera. In 2007, he appeared as Ruben Vega in the Academy Award-nominated short film The Tonto Woman, adapted from the Elmore Leonard short story.

Television edit

From 1999 to 2001, Francesco appeared on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless as Nina Webster's boyfriend, Tomas del Cerro, and was nominated for an ALMA Award (an award reserved for Latino/a performers) as Outstanding Actor in a Daytime Soap Opera for his work as Tomas Del Cerro, an aloof writer from New York.

Quinn also appeared extensively in television guest-star roles in crime and thriller dramas. He was lead guest star in an episode of JAG (1995). On CBS's The Fugitive, Quinn played Victor Gutierrez, a DEA agent with an edge, and played the recurring role of Islamic terrorist Syed Ali on Fox's series 24. Other TV guest starring roles occurred in Criminal Minds, ER, CSI: Miami, The Glades, Navy NCIS, Alias, Crossing Jordan, In the Heat of the Night, Miami Vice, Red Shoe Diaries, The Handler, Soldier of Fortune, Good vs. Evil, Vengeance Unlimited, and The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones. Quinn also portrayed the final criminal/villain, Guillermo Beltran, in the long-running F/X series, The Shield. In 2008, Quinn joined Luke Perry and C. Thomas Howell in the western film A Gunfighter's Pledge.

Quinn was one of the earlier working actors to branch out into contributing to video games with his role as a main character in Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun (1999). In 2010–2011, he took part in the second season of the Italian TV series Il commissario Manara.[2]

Personal life edit

Francesco married Julie McCann and had two children; Massimiliano and Michela Quinn. The marriage ended in divorce in 2008. Before his death he was dating Valentina Castellani.[3]

Quinn has two siblings: Danny Quinn, Lorenzo Quinn. Quinn has eight other surviving half siblings: Alex, Antonia, Catalina, Christina, Danny, Duncan, Ryan, Sean, and Valentina Quinn. His eldest sibling, Christopher, drowned in 1941, aged two.

Athletic pursuits edit

Quinn pursued sports such as skiing, snowboarding, windsurfing, free diving, road cycling, mountain biking, and actively raced motocross and street bikes. Quinn also was an avid motorcycler, and was a spokesman for The Motorcycle Industry Council and Honda. He was fluent in English, French, Spanish and Italian.

Quinn was a contestant on Ty Murray’s Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge on CMT, until he was sidelined with a broken rib after being stomped on by a Level 2 bull.

Death edit

Quinn died on August 5, 2011, in Malibu, California after experiencing what was believed to be a heart attack while running up a street with his children near his home.[4][5][6]

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Role Notes
1986 Platoon "Rhah" Ramucci
1988 Priceless Beauty Peter
1988 Stradivari Alessandro
1989 The Favorite Mahmud II
1989 Indio Daniel Morell
1989 Casablanca Express Capt. Franchetti
1991 A Star for Two Young Gabriel Todd
1991 Murder Blues John Reed
1992 Judgement Jimmy Sollera
1993 Deadly Rivals Bunny Wedman
1994 The Visual Bible: Acts Stephen Video
1995 Top Dog Mark Curtains
1995 The Dark Dancer Ramone
1997 Cannes Man Frank 'Rhino' Rhinoslavsky
1998 Nowhere Land Walfredo
1998 Deadly Ransom Luis Mendes
1998 Placebo Effect Zac
2000 The Translator Jean-Paul Esselen Short
2001 Reflections Him
2003 Vlad Vlad Tepes
2006 Park Smoldering Park Worker
2006 Man vs. Monday Juan Carlos Short
2006 Cut Off Agent Jones
2007 The Warrior Warrior Short
2007 Muertas Carlos Short
2007 Afghan Knights Amad
2008 Hell Ride Machete
2008 The Tonto Woman Ruben Vega Short
2008 Broken Promise Santos
2009 Four Single Fathers Dom
2010 Rollers Quinn
2010 Corruption.Gov Ron Garcia
2011 Transformers: Dark of the Moon Dino / Mirage Voice (Last Film Role)

Television edit

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Quo Vadis? Marcus Vinicius TV miniseries
1987 Miami Vice Francesco Cruz "God's Work"
1990 The Old Man and the Sea Santiago as a Young Man TV miniseries
1992 Red Shoe Diaries Tommy "Double or Nothing"
1992 The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Francois "Young Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Jackal"
1992 In the Heat of the Night Ramon Salazar "Sanctuary"
1996 O. Henry's Christmas Robby Gilliam TV film
1997 Rough Riders Sgt. Rafael Castillo TV miniseries
1997 Soldier of Fortune, Inc. Ramon Boharo "La Mano Negra"
1997 JAG Mustapha Ben Kessar "Code Blue"
1998 Pensacola: Wings of Gold Javier Nuñez "Lost Shipment"
1998 Vengeance Unlimited Col. Oscar Ponce "Security"
1999 Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun General Vega Video game
1999–2001 The Young and the Restless Tomas Del Cerro Regular role
2000 G vs E Agent Shaw "Ambulance Chaser"
2001 The Fugitive Victor "Past Perfect"
2002 Alias Minos Sakkoulas "The Confession"
2002 JAG Kabir Atef Recurring role
2002 Almost a Woman Don Carlos TV film
2003 24 Syed Ali Recurring role
2003 The Handler Det. Lopez "Hardcore"
2004 CSI: Miami Fidel "Murder in a Flash"
2004 NCIS Gunnery Sgt. Freddy Alvarez "One Shot, One Kill"
2004 ER Dr. Alfonso Ramirez "Time of Death"
2005 Into the West Capitan de Salamanca "Wheel to the Stars"
2005 Criminal Minds Michael Russo "Natural Born Killer"
2006 NCIS Cpl. Luis Romero "Once a Hero"
2007 Tinseltown Arturo TV film
2008 A Gunfighter's Pledge Sheriff TV film
2008 The Shield Beltran Recurring role
2008 Danny Fricke Pablo Vicente TV film
2010–11 The Glades Eduardo Garcia "Bird in the Hand", "Family Matters"
2011 Zen Gilberto Nieddu "Vendetta", "Cabal", "Ratking"
2011 Il commissario Manara Fabrizio Raimondi TV series
2011 Natalee Holloway Ricardo Flores TV film (Final TV appearance)

References edit

  1. ^ "Francesco Quinn Biography (1962-)". FilmReference. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  2. ^ "Cast 'Il Commissario Manara 2'". MyMovies. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Briefly: Francesco Quinn". The Independent. London. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
  4. ^ Hevesi, Dennis (August 10, 2011). "Francesco Quinn, Actor in 'Platoon,' Dies at 48". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  5. ^ Schlosser, Kurt (7 August 2011). "Anthony Quinn's son dies at 48". Today. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
  6. ^ "Actor Francesco Quinn dead at 48". United Press International. August 7, 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2011.

External links edit

  • Francesco Quinn at IMDb
  • QuickTime-viewable copy of Francesco Quinn as The Gnostic
  • L.A. Times article "Quinn Begins Again" on Oscar-nominated The Tonto Woman