Brian Tarantina obit

Actor Brian Tarantina Dead at 60 ... Rep Cites Illness

He was not on the list.

Brian Tarantina has died ... TMZ has learned.

Law enforcement sources tell us that the veteran actor was found dead early Saturday morning in his Manhattan apartment from what we're told appeared to be a fatal drug overdose to the officers and first-responders who came out.

Our sources say Brian's niece went to check in on him at his Hell's Kitchen residence at around 12:30 AM, and discovered her uncle unresponsive on the couch. We're told the niece told cops she'd last talked to him late Tuesday night. Upon finding him, she called 911, and we're told when officers and paramedics arrived ... they found a white powdery substance near his body, believed to be alleged narcotics. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

It's unclear at this point what the white substance might've been. We're told the NYC medical examiner's office will conduct an autopsy to determine an official cause of death.

Brian has been working in the biz for a long time, often playing supporting characters through the '80s and '90s, and even into the 2000s and onward. He's perhaps best known for tough guy roles in flicks like "Jacob's Ladder," "Uncle Buck," "The Jerky Boys," "Summer of Sam," "Knight and Day," "Carlito's Way," "Donnie Brasco," "City By the Sea" and others.

He's got a much more extensive resume than that though. The guy's been in tons of stuff over the years ... shows like "Law & Order," "Miami Vice," "Spin City," "Oz," "NYPD Blue," "ER," "The Sopranos," "Gilmore Girls," "Heroes," "The Black Donnellys," "The Blacklist," "Madame Secretary," "Blue Bloods" and most recently in "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" playing Jackie.

Filmography

Film

    The Cotton Club (1984) - Vince Hood

    Critical Condition (1987) - Tommy Pinto

    The January Man (1989) - Cone

    Uncle Buck (1989) - E. Roger Coswell

    Runaway Dreams (1989) - Jay Carver

    Born on the Fourth of July (1989) - Vet #2

    Jacob's Ladder (1990) - Doug

    The Saint of Fort Washington (1993) - Fred

    Carlito's Way (1993) - Speller

    The Jerky Boys: The Movie (1995) - Geno

    Sweet Nothing (1995) - Dee Dee

    Bed of Roses (1996) - Randy

    The Associate (1996) - Eddie

    Donnie Brasco (1997) - Bruno

    Walking to the Waterline (1998) - Lucy 'Replacement'

    Better Living (1998) - Danny

    Roberta (1999) - Donald

    Summer of Sam (1999) - Bobby Del Fiore

    The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - Fighting Neighbor

    The Photographer (2000) - Camera Salesman

    Personal Velocity: Three Portraits (2002) - Pete Shunt

    City by the Sea (2002) - Snake

    Duane Hopwood (2005) - Mr. Alonso

    Trust the Man (2005) - Crazy Hair Driver

    Unconscious (2006) - Morelli

    A Crime (2006) - Joe

    The Brave One (2007) - Gun Store Clerk

    Ghost Town (2008) - Ghost Cop

    Motherhood (2009) - Opera Lover in Car

    Knight and Day (2010) - Scrap Yard Man

    Rob the Mob (2014) - Ronnie

    Zarra's Law (2014) - Frankie Andreoli

    #Lucky Number (2015) - Blue Collar Mafia

    BlacKkKlansman (2018) - Officer Clay Mulaney

    Breaking Brooklyn (2018) - Randy Davis

    Ask for Jane (2018) - Angry Doctor

    The Kitchen (2019) - Burns (final film role)

Television

    One Life to Live (1968) - Lucky Lippman (1990-1991) / Ray Castillo (2004)

    NYPD Blue (1997) - Darin Gammel

    Third Watch (1999) - James French

    The Sopranos (2001) - Mustang Sally

    Gilmore Girls (2001-2002) - Bootsy

    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2008) - Bill Jensen

    Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life (2016) - Bootsy

    The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-2018) - Jackie