One Of MY Favorite Actor’s Got Left Out of Oscar’s “In Memoriam” Tribute! (NSFW)

Every Year At The Academy Awards, Oscar's "In Memoriam" tribute to those who died is guilty of spotlighting some who passed, but not all.  More are left out than are included.  Take for instance one of my very favorite actors Dennis Farina. Over the course of his 32-year career, Farina specialized in playing cops and other authority figures, utilizing his background in law enforcement to springboard into acting.

Farina got his start working as a police consultant for Hollywood filmmakers, which led to him getting cast in a small role in Michael Mann’s ‘Thief.’ From there, he entered the acting scene full-force, leaving behind an 18-year career in the Chicago police department. He appeared in various film and television projects before being cast as Lt. Mike Torello in the Mann-produced series ‘Crime Story’ in 1986. He immediately followed up that series with a memorable performance in one of my all time favorite comedies ‘Midnight Run.’, playing alongside Robert DeNiro and Charles Grodin.  You might remember these scenes from the movie. Warning...rough language!

He continued to work throughout the ’90s, appearing in films like ‘Get Shorty,’ ‘Saving Private Ryan’ and ‘Snatch.’ In 2004, he joined the cast of ‘Law and Order’ as Detective Joe Fontana.For a brief time starting in 2008 Farina hosted "Unsolved Mysteries" on Lifetime Network.   His final major TV role came in HBO’s critically acclaimed but short-lived series ‘Luck,’ but he also had a brief but memorable stint on ‘The New Girl.’

I also have great memories from the 80's and 90's of Dennis voicing the "Old Style" ads during the Cubs Radio broadcasts and also appearing in a series of TV ads for Old Style.

To the Academy Awards...this man was too important to leave out of your "In Memoriam" tribute last night.