handling of the matter. He noted that he and Fontana subsequently patched up their differences, and as a result the Crosetti character returned to make a farewell appearance as a spirit in Homicide: The Movie. Coen brothers collaboration Polito was a regular in the Coen brothers movies appearing in five of their films. The Coens had seen Polito in the New York stage adaptation of Death of a Salesman in 1986 playing Howard Wagner. They approached him to play the part of The Dane in Miller's Crossing (1990), but after reading the script he turned them down saying he would only play the Italian gangster Johnny Caspar. The Coens auditioned several other actors but eventually used Polito after they made him read his entire role cold. He was offered the role of Lou Breeze in their next film Barton Fink (1991), in a role which was written especially for him. Again he turned down the Coens offer saying he wanted to play the part of movie producer Jack Lipnick. Actress Frances McDormand persuaded him to take the role saying it would change his career. He later appeared in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) as an eccentric businessman, The Big Lebowski (1998) as a private detective and finally in 2001 as a flirtatious salesman in The Man Who Wasn't There. Awards Polito won an Obie Award in 1980 for his theater performances off Broadway, and for his lifetime of work in film and television, he received the Maverick Spirit Event Award at Cinequest Film Festival in 2005. In 2012, he won the award for "Best Actor in a Short Film" at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. Personal life Polito was born on December 29, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John and Delaida "Dee" (née Pompei) Polito. He had an older brother and sister, Rosemary Simpson and Jack Polito, an animator. After acting at the West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, he studied theater at Villanova University. Polito was gay. He married fellow actor Darryl Armbruster on October 16, 2015, fifteen years after they first met. He died, at age 65, from multiple myeloma on September 1, 2016, at the City of Hope Hospital, where he was being treated. Filmography Film Television Video games References External links Grouchoreviews.com interview with Jon Polito Name Dropping with Jason Stuart interview with Jon Polito 1950 births 2016 deaths 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male