Brian Tarantina, ‘Gilmore Girls’ and ‘Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ Actor, Dies at 60

Variety Staff

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Brian Tarantina, a character actor known for his roles on “Gilmore Girls,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and many other TV series, died Saturday in New York City. He was 60.

WCBS-TV New York reported that Tarantina was found dead in his Hell’s Kitchen apartment. A cause of death has not been determined.

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Tarantina most recently played a New York City nightclub emcee on Amazon’s Emmy-winning period comedy “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The series paid tribute to Tarantina with a tweet declaring “The Gaslight won’t be the same without you.”

Tarantina was a native New Yorker. His long list of TV credits included guest shots on such series as “Law & Order,” “NYPD Blue,” “Miami Vice,” “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “Oz,” “ER” and “Heroes.” He also played two different recurring roles on “One Life to Live.”

On the original WB Network/CW drama “Gilmore Girls,” he played newstand owner Bootsy. He returned for an appearance in Netflix’s 2016 sequel series “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.”

He was a regular on the 2007 NBC drama series “The Black Donnellys.” More recent credits included “Madam Secretary,” “Blue Bloods,” “Elementary,” “The Night Of” and “Person of Interest.”

Tarantina also had a varied career on the big screen, with credits ranging from 1983’s “The Cotton Club,” 1989’s “Uncle Buck,” “Carlito’s Way,” “Donnie Brasco” and “Born on the Fourth of July” to more recent roles in 2018’s “BlacKkKlansman,” and this year’s “The Kitchen.”

In the 1980s, Tarantina logged several roles on Broadway, starting with the 1983 play “Angels Fall.” He was in the 1985-86 production of “Biloxi Blues” and 1985’s “The Boys of Winter.” In 1995 he appeared with Ellen Burstyn and Giancarlo Esposito in the play “Sacrilege.”

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