Photo: Getty
They were married for more than six decades.
By Amy Lamare — Written on Dec 14, 2019
Beloved actor Danny Aiello passed away Thursday night, December 12, in New Jersey. He leaves behind an acting legacy that is nearly unparalleled. From Do The Right Thing to The Godfather Part II to Moonstruck to the video for Madonna's "Papa Don't Preach," Aiello always gave it his all. He leaves behind his wife Sandy Cohen and three children Rick, Jaime and Stacey Aiello. Who is Danny Aiello's wife?
In Hollywood, marriages come and go pretty quickly in a lot of cases. For Aiello and his wife Sandy Cohen, that was absolutely not the case. The two married in 1955 and remained married until his death on Thursday. Aiello and Cohen were married for 64 years. That's super-impressive. They lived in New Jersey and largely eschewed the Hollywood scene. Let's take a look at what we know about Sandy and the relationship between her and Aiello.
1. Who is Danny Aiello's wife?
As if being married for nearly six and a half decades wasn't impressive enough, the two met when Aiello was 16 and Cohen was 15. They were together for 70 years (!) They met in New York City when Aiello looked out a window of a pool parlor and saw Cohen. In a 1990 interview, he said. “That minute I was hooked. I fell in love with the most beautiful girl in the Bronx.” In the same interview, Cohen said: "He was very macho. He was the kind of guy most mothers would not want their daughters to be seen with. But he was so cute and so sweet. He still is.”
2. He was a hustler when they met.
When Aiello and Cohen's relationship started, he was a hustler. He played pool and took people's money when he won. In a 2014 interview, Aiello said: "There are some people that come in with a lot of money. They're just damn stupid. They want to spend their money — they come in, and they want to be beat," he said. Well, that explains Cohen's statement about Aiello not being the kind of guy mothers want to see with their daughter!
3. He got by with a little help from his wife's family.
Aiello enlisted in the Army. He and Cohen got married and started their family. They grew into a family of five with sons Rick, Danny III and Jaime and daughter Stacey. Aiello, who never finished high school, got a leg up when Cohen's uncle got him a job as a baggage clerk for Greyhound. He worked his way up to dispatching buses and eventually to announcing departures and destinations. He said: "I can still do thousands of towns all over the country in their proper order."
4. What is the secret to the success of their marriage?
In 2014, Aiello and Cohen were asked what the key to their then 60-year relationship was. Aiello replied: “Oh, don’t talk to each other! No, I don’t know. I really don’t know. It’s like we’re so different, too. We have nothing in common!” Cohen said that her husband was a "hard person to figure out." She also said that her husband didn't really know who she was. “He’s not that easy. He’s hard. And he’s very deep,” she said.
5. They lost a son to cancer.
Aiello and Cohen's son Danny III was born in 1957. He was in the entertainment business just like his dad. He was a stunt coordinator, director and actor. In fact, he was his dad's stunt double in Spike Lee's iconic film Do the Right Thing. In 1999, he directed his dad in the film Shades of Dust. In 2010, Danny III died at the age of 53 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was survived by his parents, three siblings, wife Cindy and two daughters, Dawn and Allison.
6. She's a grandmother of 10.
Cohen and Aiello's four kids gave them 10 grandchildren: Dawn and Allison Aiello, Brielle Aiello, Ricky Aiello, Tori Aiello, Sydney and Gabrielle Fingerhut, Zac Aiello, Jake Aiello, and William Daniel Poppe.
Our thoughts are with Sandy Cohen and the Aiello family.
Amy Lamare is a writer covering entertainment, pop culture, beauty, fashion, fitness, technology, and the intersection of technology, business, and philanthropy. You can find her on Instagram and Facebook.