Ask TV Squad: What happened to Ray Sharkey?

Reader Lisa Litts asks the following question:

I would like to find out what happened to Ray Sharky. I don't remember what show he was on a show in the 80's. I would like to know if he is still living or dead.

Sadly, Lisa, Ray Sharkey, passed away in 1993 of AIDS. However, before his untimely death (he was only forty-years-old) Sharkey did appear in a number of successful series in the 1980's. He is mainly remembered as Sonny Steelgrave, crime-boss and friend to Vinnie Terranova (Ken Wahl) on the CBS drama Wiseguy. While Sharkey appeared in only about a dozen episodes in the first season (which began in the fall of 1987) he made a lasting impression.  While playing Steelgrave on Wiseguy he also had an recurring role U.S. District Attorney Harry Breitel on the NBC show Crime Story.

Sharkey began his career with a small role in the 1974 movie The Lords of Flatbush, which also starred then little-known actors Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone. After that he went onto appear in more then forty movies and one dozen television series. In 1980 he won a Golden Globe award for best actor in the movie The Idolmaker.

In 1992 the actor was arrested in Vancouver, British Columbia for possession of cocaine and heroin. It is alleged that he received the AIDS virus from using dirty needles during his drug addiction.