Actor Joe Mantell, of ‘Marty’ and ‘Chinatown,’ dies at 94

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Joe Mantell, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in the 1955 film ‘Marty’ and delivered one of film’s most famous lines in ‘Chinatown,’ has died, his family said. He was 94.

Mantell died Wednesday of pneumonia at Providence Tarzana Medical Center in Tarzana, said his daughter, Cathy.

Mantell received an Academy Award nomination in 1956 for his performance as Angie, the best friend of Ernest Borgnine in ‘Marty.’ His oft-repeated line to his sad-sack friend — ‘Well, what do you feel like doin’ tonight?’ — was one of the film’s most memorable lines.

In 1974’s ‘Chinatown,’ in which he played the partner of Jack Nicholson’s detective character, Jack Gittes, Mantell spoke the film’s famous last line: ‘Forget it, Jake. It’s Chinatown.’

Mantell was born Dec. 21, 1915, in New York and made his film debut in ‘Undercover Man’ in 1949.

In addition to his daughter, Mantell is survived by his wife, Mary; daughter, Jeanne; son, Robert; and two grandchildren. Services will be private.

-- Keith Thursby