Spike Lee salutes Do the Right Thing star Danny Aiello: 'We made cinema history together'

Actor Danny Aiello died on Thursday night, and some of his famous film collaborators toasted him the next day. Spike Lee, who directed and costarred with Aiello in Do the Right Thing, posted multiple remembrances on Instagram Friday.

“I’m heartbroken. Just found out my brother Danny Aiello made his transition last night. Danny, we made cinema history together with Do the Right Thing,” Lee wrote in the first caption beside a photo of Aiello and himself on set. “May you rest in paradise.”

Aiello was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as pizzeria owner Sal in Lee’s 1989 masterpiece about simmering racial tensions in Brooklyn. Lee played Mookie, who works as a pizza delivery guy for Sal, and one of his Instagram memorials was just a photo of them in character as the two. Lee also posted an image from earlier this year, when he and Aiello celebrated Do the Right Thing‘s 30th anniversary alongside fans.

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• Danny Aiello, Do the Right Thing and Moonstruck actor, dies at 86
• Spike Lee pays tribute to Do the Right Thing on Oscars red carpet
• Watch Spike Lee, Bill Nunn re-create their famous Do the Right Thing scene