Who was Michael Alaimo? Actor best known for films like "Space Jam” and “The China Syndrome" dies at 86

Michael Alaimo passed away earlier this month on Friday, May 2, 2025. His daughter and TV PR and communications executive, Gabriella Alaimo Thomas, confirmed the news to Variety on Wednesday, May 21. She did not disclose the cause of death but stated that the veteran actor “passed away peacefully."

Michael Alaimo was known for appearing in movies like Space Jam (1996) and The China Syndrome (1979). In Space Jam, He was credited as "Doctor" (per IMDb), who was seen treating the NBA stars in the Michael Jordan-starrer. At the same time, Alaimo portrayed Greg Minor in the 1979 thriller The China Syndrome, which received four nominations at the 52nd Academy Awards.

According to his IMDb biography, Michael was born in November 1938. Per Variety, he was an alumnus of Brooklyn College, where he studied theatre. Later, the actor took part in Joseph Papp’s NY Shakespeare in Central Park between ‘61 and ‘64. Michael Alaimo was involved in political activism, leading a commedia dell’arte troupe, as reported by Variety.

In the following years, the theater actor moved to San Francisco and later Los Angeles. According to Variety, Alaimo toured the Golden City with his anti-war show “F.T.A” before eventually moving to LA. He played episodic roles on TV shows while continuing to appear in various films over the years.

Alaimo was a part of The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977), Mr. Mom (1983), All I Want for Christmas (1991), and many more. He also a TV-career spanning decades with appearances in TV shows like The Six Million Dollar Man, Barnaby Jones, Cheers, The Wonder Years, Night Court, Barney Miller, Mr. Belvedere, Hill Street Blues, and more.

Comedian-actor Jimmy Della Valle pens a heartfelt tribute to his “good friend” Michael Alaimo

A memorial for the veteran theater and TV/movie actor was recently held in LA. The comedian-actor Jimmy Della Valle attended the service with his wife and shared some pictures from Michael’s “celebration of life.” In a recent Facebook post, the standup comedian wrote,

“RIP to my good friend Actor/Comedian/Writer/Director Michael Alaimo:( Vanessa and I Drove in from the Desert to LA to go to the Memorial yesterday for my good friend Michael Alaimo and then drove right back home.”

The comedic reminisced about the experienced actor’s previous work as a series regular on Betty White’s prank show Off The Rockers and added,

“He was one of the funniest guys I have ever met and we bonded instantly when we first met over 10 years ago since we were both comedians and writers. He was always funny without even trying. He was a master of comedy from Comedia Dell' Arte. For Michael comedy just came naturally. He had the sharpest wit and always threw in tags aka little punchlines to anything someone said.”

Della Valletalked about Michael’s family and his love for comedy and the Dodgers. He continued,

“The Memorial was so beautiful and so many hilarious stories were told about him for over 2 hours about his 40 plus years acting, writing, directing and comedy career.”

Michael appeared in one of the episodes of Not For Nothin', a series co-created by Jimmy, which the comedian acknowledged in his tribute.

“I was also lucky to cast him in my Sitcom Not For Nothin where he stole scenes in the 1st episode.”

Della Valle then went on to mention many fellow actors he reunited with at the memorial and concluded,

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“All these actors at the Goombah Lunch always agreed Michael was the funniest guy at the lunch and they all became my adopted Uncles and Michael was definitely one of them I will miss.”

According to Variety, Michael Alaimo is survived by his spouse Louise, daughters Gabriella and Giovanna, son-in-law David, and two granddaughters. He was 86 at the time of his passing.

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