‘The Morning Show’ Actor Dies After Stomach Cancer Diagnosis: Joe Marinelli Was 68

Actor Joe Marinelli, who most recently appeared as Donny Spagnoli in the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show, has died at the age of 68.

The veteran actor passed away in Burbank, California on Sunday, his wife, musician Jean Marinelli, told The Hollywood Reporter. Marinelli’s agent, Julie Smith, added to CNN that the actor had been battling throat and stomach cancer for several years.

Born in Meriden, Connecticut on January 21, 1957, Marinelli moved to Southern California when he was 4. After attending Arcadia High School in Los Angeles and Reno High School in Nevada, he studied at Loyola Marymount University and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. He pursued an acting career after later returning to the U.S., first performing in local L.A. productions before eventually going on to add more than 50 credits to his name over the course of a decades-long career.

Marinelli is perhaps best remembered for his roles on various network soap operas. For more than 170 episodes from 1988 to 1990, he memorably portrayed Bunny Tagliatti, a cross-dressing mobster, on NBC’s Santa Barbara, a role that earned him a Soap Opera Digest Award. He followed the role with his portrayal of Joseph Sorel on ABC’s General Hospital from 1999 and 2001, and also portrayed bank robber Pauly Hardman on CBS’ Guiding Light.

Marinelli’s other credits include appearances on Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Cagney & Lacey, ER, The King of Queens, NYPD Blue, The West Wing, The Practice, House, Castle, Desperate Housewives, Parenthood, Ray Donovan, the Paramount+ show The Offer, and numerous others.

The actor’s final acting credit, per his IMDb profile, was in The Morning Show, the Apple TV+ drama series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Across 22 episodes from 2019 through 2023, Marinelli appeared as show director Donny Spagnoli. Along with the rest of the cast, which also includes Billy Crudup, Mark Duplass, Steve Carell, and Julianna Margulies, he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award in 2022 for best dramatic ensemble.

Paying tribute to the actor following his passing, Duplass told THR, “I really loved him and what he stood for. We didn’t spend 10,000 hours together, but we were spiritually aligned in many ways.”

Marinelli is survived by his wife of 34 years, Jean, as well as his sons Vincent and David.