On this day in comedy on October 14, 1952, Comedian, Actor, Rick Aviles was born in Manhattan, New York
The Greenwich Village night club scene was Puerto Rican, Avile’s stomping ground as he worked to improve his stand-up comedy. He came up in the generation of the 1970s. and benefited from the boom of the early 1980s. His first film role was in the Cannonball Run in 1981. His televised claim to fame is when he hosted Showtime at the Apollo. Avile’s other television credits include The Carol Burnett Show in 1991.
Rick Aviles gained notoriety in 1991 in the Patrick Swayze hit film, Ghost. He also appeared in The Secret of My Success, Street Smart, Mystery Train, The Godfather Part III, Green Card, Carlito’s Way and Waterworld. He was the voice for a cockroach in Joe’s Apartment.
Things were rolling along at a steady clip, but Aviles had a drug problem. Like most drug problems they eventually become a major problem. Due to his use of heroin, Aviles contracted HIV and on March 17, 1995, he died from AIDS complications.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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