Scarface Actor Geno Silva Dies at 72

Scarface actor Geno Silva has passed away at the age of 72. In the film, he stopped Tony Montana dead in his tracks as The Skull and imprinted on an entire generation of theater-goers. He died on May 9th in his home in Los Angeles. The cause of death is listed as complications from frontotemporal degeneration as announced by his family. A career that spanned four decades is nothing to sneeze at. He had a part in Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit in 1981 and Steven Spielberg's Amistad. Younger viewers might remember him in The Lost World: Jurassic Park from the acclaimed director as well. He even was directed by David Lynch in Mulholland Drive in 2001.

Robert Towne directed the actor in Tequilla Sunrise in 1988 and F. Gary Gray also tabbed him for A Man Apart in 2003. Television viewers have a long relationship with Silva too. He was a regular on Key West in 1993 on Fox. There were also appearances on Hill Street Blues, Miami Vice, Star Trek: Enterprise, Walker Texas Ranger, and Alias. Silva even hit Broadway back in 1979 in the production of Zoot Suit along with Edward James Oleos.

In Scarface, his character The Skull gets contracted by Alejandro Sosa to work for him as a new recruit. He gets quickly dispatched to Miami to kill Montana. That telltale shotgun blast is a lasting image for a lot of fans. Montana falls into that grand fountain off the balcony. Funny enough, he's never really named in the film, but the face and glasses cause everyone to call him The Skull. Careful viewers notice that he pops up when Omar Suarez arranges a meeting with Sosa in Bolivia. Skull actually is the one to hang Omar after the faction discovers that he's been performing as an informant for the New York Police Department.

Silva was born on January 20, 1948 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is survived by his wife Pamela, his daughter Lucia and two grandchildren.