Legendary soap star Joe Marinelli dies at 68 from stomach cancer
Actor Joe Marinelli was best known for his roles on soaps General Hospital and Santa Barbara.
Soap star Joe Marinelli has died at the age of 68 from stomach cancer. He was born in Meriden, Connecticut, USA on January 21, 1957 and went on to study at RADA in London. When he returned to the States, he did lots of local theatre but had to support himself by working as a carpenter.
Luckily for Joe Marinelli, his carpenter boss was the brother of Jill Farren Phelps, executive producer of the soap Santa Barbara and she spotted him. He landed the role of the cross-dressing mobster Bunny Tagliatti on the NBC soap.
Joe Marinelli went on to star as Pauly Hardman on the CBS drama Guiding LIght and played the role of Joseph Sorel on the soap General Hospital, he starred as Joseph Sorel from 1999 until 2001. Nicky Annunziata paid tribute to Joe on Facebook and wrote: “I’m shocked by hearing this… Joe Marinelli… just wow… it seems like yesterday we were causing havoc on ‘Port Charles’ on General Hospital, those were such fun times. I cherished those days we worked together…. Often going for a late lunch or early dinner near the studio in Los Feliz afterwards; or going to the Actors Gym in Hollywood on a Monday night.”
Nicky went on to say that “We would talk randomly throughout the years but life happens and those times got less and less… social media reconnected us a bit more after we ran each other at Disney for an audition, which I he said I would get and I did (maybe he something to do with hit lol)...
Nicky ended his tribute with these words: “My sincere condolences and prayers to his lovely wife Jean and sons Vincent and David and all those that Joe has touched..”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, “In addition to his wife, who has played the French horn at the Hollywood Bowl and for the FX show Better Things, survivors include his sons, Vincent, a film editor and writer, and David, a musician and songwriter. “