Death of an Actor

I just became aware of a sad development the other day. A young actor named Angelo Spizzirri passed away last October at the age of 32. Though not a household name, Spizzirri did a wonderful job in portraying a high school catcher in the 2002 hit film, The Rookie.

I met Angelo in 2003, when he came to the Hall of Fame for a special program about The Rookie. As part of the event, I interviewed Angelo and Jim Morris (the real-life basis of the film) in the Hall’s Bullpen Theater. In conversing with Angelo both on and off microphone, he struck me as being modest and considerate. Combining his down-to-earth manner with his considerable acting talent, I thought he would become a star within the matter of a few years.

On Thursday night, as I was surfing the web, I came across a reference to The Rookie, and decided to look for an update on Angelo’s career. As I looked at his page on the IMDB site, I was shocked to see a date of death under his entry.

As it turned out, Angelo’s acting career hadn’t taken off the way that it should have. After appearing in a handful of small films, Angelo gave up acting in 2006 in order to become the tour manager for several rock bands. And then, last October 20, he died unexpectedly at his home in Los Angeles. I’ve been trying to research exactly what happened to him, but still haven’t been able to pin down a cause of death.

Even in the Internet age, we can quickly lose track of what happens with those people we meet along the way. I’m sorry to say that’s what happened for me with Angelo. Surprisingly little information about Angelo exists on the web, at least in the places I’ve looked. I can only hope that Angelo’s change in careers brought him some level of happiness before he was taken away from us all too soon.