Charles Cioffi, 'Klute' and 'Shaft' Actor, Dies at 90
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Charles Cioffi died May 22 of natural causes at his home in Marina del Rey, California, at age 90, with his death announced by family and first reported by TMZ.
- Born October 31, 1935, in New York City, Cioffi launched his career at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in the early 1960s and made his Broadway debut in 1968's King Lear opposite Lee J. Cobb, going on to appear in seven Broadway productions including the original 1969 '1776' and a 1992 two-hander with Al Pacino in 'Chinese Coffee.'
- Cioffi's 1971 film debut in 'Klute' cast him as the executive revealed to be the killer stalking Jane Fonda's prostitute Bree Daniels—a role culminating in his character attempting to murder Bree before falling to his death from a skyscraper, with the World Trade Center towers visibly under construction outside his penthouse office window.
- That same year Cioffi played Lt. Vic Androzzi in 'Shaft' and would later portray Tom Cruise's blue-collar father in 'All the Right Moves' (1983), with other film credits including 'Time After Time' (1979), 'Missing' (1982), and 'Newsies' (1992).
- Cioffi's decades-long TV career encompassed a recurring role on 'Get Christie Love!' and guest spots on 'Kojak,' 'The X-Files,' 'Law & Order,' 'Thirtysomething,' 'Little House on the Prairie,' and the daytime soaps 'Ryan's Hope,' 'Days of Our Lives,' 'All My Children,' and 'Another World.'
- Cioffi is survived by wife Anne, two sons, and extended family, according to TMZ.
Why it matters: Cioffi's 50-year career across seven Broadway shows, dozens of TV series, and key 1970s thrillers illustrates how character actors built Hollywood's texture—the Blue Collar Cruise father, the Pacino stage partner, the Klute villain. His death removes a connective thread linking early-'70s New Hollywood to the 1990s golden age of prestige TV.
