Carl Ciarfalio, 1953 – 2025

Stuntman and actor Carl Ciarfalio, 72, died this week, his family announced. Carlfalio started his career as a teen at Knott’s Berry Farm. By the late 1970s he was working as a stuntman and bit player (he eventually worked his way up to stunt coordinator). His resume is astonishing, including such TV shows and movies as Knight Rider, Invaders from Mars, Sledge Hammer!, Beetlejuice, Casino, Glory, The Hunt for Red October, Wayne’s World, Get Shorty, Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion, Sharknado 2, and more than 100 other credits. Ciarfalio told interviewer David J. Fowlie of his small role in Casino, “of course, casting says, ‘Oh my God, stunt people can’t act. They just drool and blah blah blah.’ They bring you in this little room, 10×10, and there’s these two women in there – a casting woman and one assistant – and the casting woman said to me, ‘Mr. Scorsese would like to know how many ways you can tell somebody to eff-off’’ And, she said, ‘they’re hurting you, but you’re belligerent to them and do you mind saying that?’ And I said, ‘Well, fuck no. I can do this all day.’ So, you know, I blurted it out all the effin-heimers I knew and they said, ‘Well, we’ll send this to Mr. Scorsese and we’ll see what he has to say.’ And I guess he liked it. I got the part.”