Fair complexioned, cold eyed actor Richard Bright has notched up an impressive array of character performances of often shifty, or deadly characters on the wrong side of the law. First came to attention as a burglar in the engrossing The Panic in Needle Park, and then followed it the following year playing a slick con artist hustling naive Ali MacGraw for the bank robbery loot in The Getaway, before Steve McQueen pummels Bright to get the money back. Additionally, in 1972 he made his first appearance as bodyguard / enforcer "Al Neri" protecting Al Pacino in The Godfather, and returned in the same role in The Godfather: Part II and, 16 years later, he was back once again still protecting mob boss Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part III. Bright's look's have endeared him to casting agents looking for criminals & cops, as he has also appeared in Sergio Leone's, Once Upon a Time in America, Sam Raimi's crazy _Crimewave (1985/I)_ , the union tale, Teamster Boss: The Jackie Presser Story and Witness to the Mob. In addition, he has appeared regularly on TV in police/drama shows such as Hill Street Blues, Houston Knights, Third Watch and The Sopranos.


He was struck and killed by the rear wheels of a tour bus on the Upper West Side of New York City. The bus driver did not even know anyone was struck and kept on driving. Police interviewed the driver, at the bus terminal, and no charges were filed.