Reni Santoni, ‘Dirty Harry’ and ‘Seinfeld’ Actor, Dead at 81

Actor Reni Santoni, who starred alongside Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry and had a memorable recurring part on Seinfeld, died Saturday at age 81. Santoni also starred in Cobra with Sylvester Stallone and The Magnificent Seven sequel Guns of the Magnificent Seven. He was also featured in Carl Reiner‘s semi-autobiographical comedy Enter Laughing in 1967.

Santoni died in hospice care in Los Angeles after years of health problems, including cancer, his friend, writer Tracy Newman, told The Hollywood Reporter. His survivors include his son, Nick. He was last seen in a 2012 episode of the TNT legal comedy Franklin & Bash with Breckin Meyer and Mark-Paul Gosselaar.

Santoni was born in New York City on April 21, 1939, and entered the entertainment world in Off-Broadway productions. In 1962, he made his film debut in Strangers in the City and appeared in his first major Hollywood production two years later as a junkie in Sidney Lumet’s The Pawnbroker. In 1967, he was cast in Enter Laughing, which was based on the hit Broadway play that earned Alan Arkin a Tony. While the play was a success, the film was not, and it did not put Santoni on a path to major stardom.

Instead, Santoni took small, memorable parts in film and television for the rest of his career. In 1969, he appeared in Guns of the Magnificent Seven, the second Magnificent Seven sequel. In 1971, he starred as Detective Chico Gonzalez, the partner of Eastwood’s Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry. He was also seen in episodes of CHiPS, The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-0, Lou Grant, The FBI, Barnaby Jones, The Odd Couple and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law. Santoni also had lead roles in a few short-lived shows, like 1983’s Manimal and 1986’s Sanchez of Bel Air.

Santoni’s films include The Brady Bunch Movie, Cobra, 28 Days, the 1998 Doctor Dolittle remake, Howard Stern’s Private Parts and HBO’s The Late Shift. He also starred in 1992’s Only You, which featured his longtime romantic partner Betty Thomas. In 1982, he reunited with Reiner for Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid.

For Seinfeld fans, Santoni is known for playing Poppie, the pizza chef who first disgusts Jerry Seinfeld’s character because he did not wash his hands before leaving the bathroom. The character debuted in Season 5’s “The Pie” and came back for “The Couch” and “The Doorman” in Season 6. Poppie was also brought back for “The Finale” in 1998.