The Joe Spinell Story2001

William Lustig:
In 1982 when we did Vigilante, Joe was starting to become unreliable. The drinking and drugs with him had really started to escalate. He was no longer the professional and loyal man I knew from Maniac. Because of his drinking, it was becoming increasingly difficult to get him to show up for work on the set. I remember one morning, he didn't show up at all. So, I had to send Andy Garonni out searching for him... doing detective work. Andy would go around to various bars around Manhattan trying to find out which one he was in, and from there to which random girl he would pick up. Joe's mother was one of the extras for the courtroom scene we were supposed to shoot on that day. When Joe finally did show up with Andy after he found him where ever he had been, she yelled at Joe when he came onto the set in front of me and everyone about him never showing up and getting drunk. She screamed at him something like: "you owe Bill and Andy an apology! You everyone here an apology!" Joe, turning beat red with embarrassment, just replied, "yeah, Ma... all right, Ma... yeah, Ma... I understand... I was wrong..." After it was all over, Joe stood up on a box and apologized to the whole cast and crew.