Reni Santoni — the actor who famously played Poppie in Seinfeld — has died. Late yesterday it was revealed the American actor passed away in a hospice on August 1. He was 81.
The news was broke by TV writer-producer Tracey Newman, who confirmed Santoni died over the weekend, in a Facebook post.
The actor had been "sick for quite a while," Newman wrote, adding: "Those of you who knew him know how funny he was, what a terrific actor, improviser, performer, etc. So brilliant. I loved him very much and will miss him terribly. Another great one is gone. I have a lot of wonderful pictures of him, and will post them over the next week. My heart goes out to his son, Nick, who has been such a comfort to Reni over that past five years or more."
Born in New York City, Santoni was best known for playing the hugely memorable Seinfeld character Poppie, an extremely unhygienic restaurateur who appeared in Season 6. Known for not washing his hands — and for having unfortunate couch-destroying bladder issues — Poppie would later appear in the show's finale in 1998.
Besides Seinfeld, Santoni appeared in films such as Dirty Harry (1971), Bad Boys (1983) and Cobra (1986). He also starred in Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical 1967 film Enter Laughing, as well as appeared in other TV shows over the years, including Hardcastle and McCormick, Manimal, Hawaii Five-O, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and Miami Vice.
The news was broke by TV writer-producer Tracey Newman, who confirmed Santoni died over the weekend, in a Facebook post.
The actor had been "sick for quite a while," Newman wrote, adding: "Those of you who knew him know how funny he was, what a terrific actor, improviser, performer, etc. So brilliant. I loved him very much and will miss him terribly. Another great one is gone. I have a lot of wonderful pictures of him, and will post them over the next week. My heart goes out to his son, Nick, who has been such a comfort to Reni over that past five years or more."
Born in New York City, Santoni was best known for playing the hugely memorable Seinfeld character Poppie, an extremely unhygienic restaurateur who appeared in Season 6. Known for not washing his hands — and for having unfortunate couch-destroying bladder issues — Poppie would later appear in the show's finale in 1998.
Besides Seinfeld, Santoni appeared in films such as Dirty Harry (1971), Bad Boys (1983) and Cobra (1986). He also starred in Carl Reiner's semi-autobiographical 1967 film Enter Laughing, as well as appeared in other TV shows over the years, including Hardcastle and McCormick, Manimal, Hawaii Five-O, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue and Miami Vice.
Reni Santoni passed away yesterday morning. April 21, 1939-August 1, 2020. He had been sick for quite a while. Those of...
Posted by Tracy Newman on Sunday, 2 August 2020