He was best known for his role as Bunny Tagliatti on “Santa Barbara,” and appeared on dozens of other shows.
WASHINGTON — Joe Marinelli, the veteran actor who entertained viewers as the cross-dressing mobster Bunny Tagliatti on NBC’s soap opera “Santa Barbara,” has died at age 68.
Marinelli died Sunday in Burbank after a battle with stomach cancer, his wife of nearly 34 years, musician Jean Marinelli, told The Hollywood Reporter. The news was also confirmed by his longtime friend Leigh J. McCloskey.
“Joe was a champion,” McCloskey wrote on Facebook. “He was a great acting partner, teacher, philosophical friend, passionate believer in people, and a storyteller extraordinaire that with laughter and depth revealed the human spirit so beautifully and in so many different ways.”
Born Joseph Anthony Marinelli on Jan. 21, 1957, in Meriden, Connecticut, he moved with his family to Southern California in 1961. He studied at Loyola Marymount University and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
Marinelli also trained with actress Jean Muir and casting director Michael Shurtleff, performing in local theater while working as a carpenter.
He began landing screen roles in the mid-1980s, including appearances on “Cagney & Lacey,” “Hill Street Blues” and “L.A. Law.” His breakout role came in 1988 when he joined “Santa Barbara” as Bunny Tagliatti, a mobster who wore women’s clothing and owned a nightclub called Bunny’s Lair. Marinelli appeared in over 170 episodes before leaving in 1990. He later won a Soap Opera Digest Award for the role.
He returned to daytime television in the late 1990s, playing Joseph Sorel on “General Hospital” from 1999 to 2001 and Pauly Hardman on “Guiding Light” in 1993.
Marinelli went on to appear in dozens of television shows, including “ER,” “Desperate Housewives,” “House,” “Castle,” “The West Wing,” “The Practice,” “Parenthood,” “Victorious,” “NYPD Blue” and “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.”
He also had a supporting role in the acclaimed 2004 film “Sideways,” where he played Frass Canyon Pourer.
In his most recent role, Marinelli portrayed show director Donny Spagnoli on Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show,” appearing in 20 episodes across the first three seasons. Alongside the ensemble cast, he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award in 2022 for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.
Marinelli is survived by his wife, Jean, and their two sons, Vincent, a film editor and writer, and David, a musician and songwriter.