Profile Text
Birth Name: Reinaldo Santoni
Date of Birth: April 21, 1938
Place of Birth: The Bronx, New York City, New York, U.S.
Date of Death: August 1, 2020
Place of Death: Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Ethnicity: Puerto Rican [Spanish, smaller amounts of Corsican and Sicilian Italian, possibly other]
Reni Santoni was an American actor and writer. His roles include the films Enter Laughing , A Great Big Thing , Anzio , Guns of the Magnificent Seven , The Student Nurses , Dirty Harry , I Never Promised You a Rose Garden , They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way , Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid , Bad Boys (1983), Brewster’s Millions , Radioactive Dreams , Summer Rental , Cobra , The Pick-up Artist , The Package (1989), Men Don’t Tell , The Brady Bunch Movie , Private Parts (1997), Can’t Hardly Wait , 28 Days , and Irene in Time ; the series Sanchez of Bel Air , Murder One , Murder, She Wrote ; Quantum Leap , NYPD Blue , Seinfeld , and Midnight Caller ; the made-for-tv movie The Late Shift (1996); and the mini-series <em.Kingpin . He was also known as Reni Sands.
Reni was the son of Puerto Rican parents, Esther Sierra Uson and Teodoro/Theodore Santoni Gonzalez. He was married to Lisa James, and had a son.
Reni’s paternal grandfather was Renardo “Renaldo” Santoni y Díaz (the son of Bartolomé Santoni y Battistini and Gumersinda Diaz Brignoni). Renardo was born in Puerto Rico. Bartolomé was born in Corsica, France, the son of Angel Santo Santoni Massei and Gratia Maria Battistini Alessandri. Reni’s great-grandmother Gumersinda was born in Puerto Rico, the daughter of Antonio Diaz y Arce and Carmen Brignoni Estin. Carmen’s father, Jose Francisco Brignoni Pravia, was Sicilian, and Carmen’s mother, Maria Isabel Estin, likely also had an Italian father.
Reni’s paternal grandmother María González y Cumba (the daughter of Genaro “Jenaro” González and Eulogia Cumba). María was born in Aguada, Puerto Rico.
Reni’s maternal grandfather was Marcelino Sierra Acosta (the son of Leonardo Sierra Baez and Victoria Acosta Luyanda). Marcelino was born in Rio Piedras, San Juan, Puerto Rico, to parents who were also born there. Leonardo was the son of Isidro/Isidoro Sierra Figueroa and Rosalia Gertrudis Pedrasa/Pedraza.
Reni’s maternal grandmother was Amalia Uson Cortes (the daughter of Jacinto Uson and Martina Cortes). Amalia was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Source: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com