 In 1996 he directed two early O'Neill plays, "The Long Voyage Home" and "Ile", at the Provincetown Repertory Theater in Massachusetts.Quintero battled alcoholism and with the help of his life partner, Nicholas Tsacrios, was able to defeat his addiction in the 1970s.He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1987 that necessitated the removal of his larynx which ultimately led to his 1999 death at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan.