Early Life
Foronjy was born into a Brooklyn family of Armenian descent during an era when organized crime was deeply embedded in neighborhood life, and he grew up surrounded by what he later described as the city's mob world. He did not finish high school. As a young man he worked as a butcher, a skill he had learned from his father-in-law, and he accumulated an extensive criminal record that included forging checks, credit card fraud, and armed robbery.4
Convicted of armed robbery, Foronjy received a sentence that resulted in approximately eight and a half years of incarceration, which he served at Sing Sing and Attica state prisons.4 He was released at age 32. By his own account, he spent his prison years productively: he read more than 500 books, learned to type, and developed the discipline that would later support an acting career.3 In his memoir, he described a courtroom confrontation with a judge over what he felt was unequal sentencing as a formative moment.3
It was watching Telly Savalas play Lieutenant Theo Kojak on the television series Kojak that first made Foronjy think seriously about acting.1 After his release he began taking acting classes and secured an agent.
Career
Foronjy made his screen debut in Sidney Lumet's Serpico (1973), the Al Pacino police corruption drama, playing a small role as a character named Corsaro.2 Lumet's notice of Foronjy launched a long professional relationship. Foronjy later said he cried when Lumet gave him the job.3 Over the following three decades he accumulated more than 30 film and television credits, frequently cast as cops, mob figures, and working-class New Yorkers whose physicality and background lent instant authenticity.2
His early films included The Jerk (1979) and a return to Lumet's company for Prince of the City (1981), in which he played Detective Joe Marinaro, a more substantial role in that densely cast true-crime drama about a New York narcotics detective who turns informant.2 He worked with Lumet again on The Morning After (1986), playing a police sergeant in the psychological thriller starring Jane Fonda and Jeff Bridges.2
In 1984 he appeared in two films that became cult favorites on different ends of the cultural spectrum: Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America, in which he played Officer Whitey,2 and Alex Cox's punk-era Los Angeles oddity Repo Man, in which he played Arnold Plettschner, a memorably monologuing rent-a-cop whose speech about his prison guard days at Attica drew directly on Foronjy's own biography.2
His most commercially successful role came in Martin Brest's Midnight Run (1988), in which he played Tony Darvo, the mob boss whose bail-jumping accountant sets the film's cross-country chase in motion.1 The film starred Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin and became one of the defining comedies of the decade. Foronjy's Tony Darvo is a supporting but recurring presence throughout the film.
He played the mobster Peter Amadesso in Brian De Palma's Carlito's Way (1993), opposite Al Pacino and Sean Penn, and appeared in John Landis's mob comedy Oscar (1991).2
His television work was equally steady over the same period. Credits included M*A*S*H, Hill Street Blues, The Jeffersons, Silver Spoons, Who's the Boss, Murphy's Law, Cagney and Lacey, Hunter, Under Suspicion, The Big Easy, and 18 Wheels of Justice.2
Memoir
In 2020, Foronjy published From the Mob to the Movies: How I Escaped the Mafia and Landed in Hollywood, released under the pen name Richie Salerno through WildBlue Press.3 The book traces his path from the Brooklyn mob world and state prison to a career as a Hollywood character actor. It was his only published book.
Ghostbusters II
In Ghostbusters II (1989), Foronjy played Con Ed Supervisor Fianella,5 an official from Consolidated Edison who investigates disturbances connected to the river of mood-altering slime flowing beneath the city. The role was a supporting part consistent with his body of work playing officials and authority figures in New York-set productions.
Personal Life
Foronjy is survived by his partner, Wendy Odell Chiaro; four children, Charles Foronjy, Susan Argentina, Christine Argentina, and Richard Foronjy; three brothers, Charles, Frank, and William; and 17 grandchildren.1 He spent his retirement years in the Hudson Valley, New York.
Death
Richard Foronjy died on May 19, 2024, at the age of 86.1 His passing was announced by his family. He was included in the In Memoriam segment of the 97th Academy Awards ceremony in 2025.6
References
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Variety, "Richard Foronjy, Character Actor in 'Midnight Run' and 'Serpico,' Dies at 86" (May 21, 2024), https://variety.com/2024/film/people-news/richard-foronjy-dead-midnight-run-serpico-1236012180/.
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"Richard Foronjy," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Foronjy.
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Salerno, Richie [Richard Foronjy] (September 8, 2020). From the Mob to the Movies: How I Escaped the Mafia and Landed in Hollywood. WildBlue Press. ISBN 9781952225321.
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The Hollywood Reporter, "Richard Foronjy, Convicted Criminal Turned Character Actor, Dies at 86" (May 21, 2024), https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/richard-foronjy-dead-criminal-character-actor-1235905793.
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Ghostbusters News, "Richard Foronjy, Carlito's Way and Ghostbusters II Actor, Dies at 86" (May 22, 2024), https://ghostbustersnews.com/2024/05/22/richard-foronjy-carlitos-way-and-ghostbusters-ii-actor-dies-at-86/.
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Gold Derby, "Oscars 2025 In Memoriam: Maggie Smith, Louis Gossett Jr, Gena Rowlands" (accessed 2026-06-13), https://www.goldderby.com/film/2025/oscars-2025-in-memoriam-maggie-smith-louis-gossett-jr-gena-rowlands/.
