Kingpin Tony Montana’s command to his partner, “Chichi, yayo” (the Anglicized Spanish word for cocaine), was featured on T-shirts and later in memes.
Obituary London Telegraph.
Ángel Salazar, who has died aged 68, was a Cuban-born actor and comedian best known for playing Al Pacino’s sidekick in two contemporary crime films directed by Brian De Palma, Scarface (1983) and Carlito’s Way (1993).
In Scarface, a modern-day adaptation of Howard Hawks’ Florida-set Depression-era drama, Salazar played Chi-Chi, a diminutive foot soldier who rescues Pacino’s immigrant-turned-boss Tony Montana from an ambush by chainsaw-wielding rival Hector the Toad (Al Israel). Cast as Pacino’s assistant, Salazar relied on his authentic Cuban accent to play the last of Montana’s gang, who is shot to death after a Colombian drug cartel raids the protagonist’s cocaine-filled Miami mansion.
The film set an early standard for 1980s excess, ultimately taking seven months to shoot, far longer than the two months originally planned. Its impact on pop culture was equally profound: Tony Montana’s command to “chichi, get yayo” (the Anglicized Spanish for cocaine) was featured on T-shirts and, later, as a meme. Salazar reprised the role in the video for rapper Big Pun’s 1997 US hit “I’m Not a Prayer”.
Carlito’s Way, based on a novel by Puerto Rican judge-turned-author Edwin Torres, also has a lot of Latin influence: Dressed in a flamboyant crimson outfit, Salazar plays Walberto, an old pal who welcomes ex-con Carlito Brigante, played by Pacino, to New York City after his release from prison. (“I knew I’d find you strolling out here. Just a little walk down memory lane.”)
Another masterful display of De Palma’s craftsmanship, Carlito’s Way marked an unofficial Scarface reunion, with Pacino, Salazar and Israel joined on set by Michael P. Moran, known as “Nick the Pig” from the first film. Though it didn’t quite have the momentary fireworks of Scarface (it received mixed reviews and a solid rather than spectacular box office), it was another American melting pot story based on Salazar’s own experiences.
Born March 2, 1956, Salazar left Cuba at age 18, swimming to the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, where he applied for political asylum. He settled in New York, where he began auditioning for stand-up and film roles, initially playing thugs and illegal immigrants in the then-popular urban dramas. His screen debut was as a bad boy in Boulevard Nights (1979), Warner Bros.’ sensitive portrayal of Los Angeles gang life.
After Scarface, he was sensual. Natividad the kitten He appeared in the 1984 teen film The Wild Life, in which he yells “I got a visa! Master charge!” at a strip joint, and was a stand-up comedian in 1988’s Punchline. In later years, he played stocky supporting roles in low-budget films, often featuring Hispanic actors and themes. After the Dan Brown parody Da Pinche Code (2012), he had roles in the vampire-versus-zombie sequels Vamp Bikers Dos (2015) and Vamp Bikers Tres (2016).
Working at this level can be frustrating: “The industry has completely changed,” Salazar lamented in 2017. “I’m an old-fashioned actor, I work from a script. When I ask young filmmakers, ‘Where’s the script?’ Most of them say it’s in their head.”
He’s also had some suspected run-ins with the law: He was charged with drunk driving in 2012 and arrested in Arizona in 2016 for not paying child support.
Still, he was proud of some of the projects he’d done later in his career, particularly his collaborations with Nelson Dennis, the New York state assemblyman-turned-filmmaker, with whom he made the 2003 political satire Vote for Me! and 2018’s Make America Great Again, in which Salazar played a Dominican man surviving the injustices of the US immigration system.
But these liberal efforts ran counter to his own avowed politics, and Salazar, a lifelong Republican, has become a vocal Trump supporter online.
His final film is The Brooklyn Premiere, an indie comedy about a made-for-Scarface parody due for release next year. It’s further evidence that one role can overshadow an actor’s entire career, but as Salazar points out in his stand-up, he and ChiChi have very different approaches to life: “If some Colombian comes up to me with a machine gun… No, I don’t give a damn about Al Pacino.”
Ángel Salazar, born March 2, 1956, died August 11, 2024
