The Aviles Sisters

Above is Angel. We got an email from Valerie who's in Las Vegas and who just joined the ever growing KV community

Thanks for the info. The web site is great. I saw so many old photos that I had to laugh out loud. I saw the Picasso entry.I have the original LIFE magazine with that article on the shelf in my wall unit. It has always brought a smile to my face as I harken back to days of my youth. I also saw the year book page posted by Nancy Merrill. We all look so cute. I saw so many names of people that I would like to touch base with. Sarah Wenig, Denise and Dawn Rothstein, Susan and Nancy Sing, and Nancy Merrill. I have only fond memories of my formative years on the lower east side. I actually came from the Smith Projects across the street, but many of my classmate over the years lived in KV. What a great place to grow up. Well as I said I now live in Las Vegas. I moved here almost three years ago. My husband and I both retired from NY companies. I from Verizon after 24 years and my husband from the Gas Co. after 34 years. We had enough of cold winter, snow and decided to move to a warm climate. We looked around for while and decided that Las Vegas was affordable,diverse, and lots of fun. We are both avid golfers. Here in Vegas we can golf all year long. We are empty nesters with two grown children and one granddaughter. I have a new career. When I got to Vegas in 2006 they were desperate for teachers. They had a special program to get non-teachers into the classroom. I entered the program and now I teach first grade. I really enjoy teaching. I feel as if I am giving back to the community. The hours are great and I get lots of time off. I have lived a pretty simple life with nothing really great to report but I have reached a point of peace and contentment that is given only by Gods grace.

Mystery Train: Ricky Aviles

From the movie Mystery Train, 1989: Steve Buscemi, Joe Strummer and Rick Aviles riding in a car, Screamin' Jay Hawkins and Cinqué Lee at the desk of a hotel, they all are listening to Elvis Presley sing Blue Moon on the radio.
from wikipedia

Mystery Train is a 1989 anthology film written and directed by independent film director Jim Jarmusch and set in Memphis, Tennessee. The film comprises three different stories involving foreigners (a Japanese couple, an Italian widow, and a British criminal) set on the same night. They are linked by one run-down hotel run by Night Clerk (played by Screamin' Jay Hawkins) and his dishevelled bellboy (Cinque Lee, younger brother of director Spike Lee), a scene featuring Elvis Presley's "Blue Moon" and a gunshot.
In the final story, "Lost In Space", we meet Dee Dee's husband, Johnny (aka Elvis, much to his chagrin, played by former Clash front-man Joe Strummer). Having drunk himself silly after losing his job and brandishing a gun, Johnny, along with his buddy Will Robinson (former stand-up comic Rick Aviles) and brother-in-law Charlie (Steve Buscemi), robs a liquor store, severely wounding the owner in the process, and spends the night hiding out in the hotel getting drunk. While there, Charlie realizes that Will shares the same name as Will Robinson from the TV show Lost in Space, which Johnny's never heard of. So they proceed to tell him about the show, which Will says that's how he feels now with Charlie and Johnny, Lost in Space. The next morning Charlie discovers that Johnny isn't even really his brother-in-law, which angers him because of what they've been through. Johnny then tries to shoot himself, and during the struggle Charlie gets shot in the leg. Come morning the three escape a police car that isn't even looking for them. The closing credits show the train and the airport and the final views of the characters from the first two stories.

Who's Almost Who In Knickerbocker Village History: Ricky Aviles

From Sarah:

Ricky grew up to be a comedian and character actor in major films. He died in 1995. He was a couple of years older - maybe in Bruce's class. His younger sister, Valerie, was in my class and was very talented too.

from wikipeda

Richard "Rick" Anthony Aviles (October 14, 1952 - March 17, 1995) was an American stand-up comedian and actor who is best remembered for the role of Willie Lopez in the movie Ghost.
Aviles' Grandmother emigrated from Puerto Rico to the United States in the mid 1900s looking for a better way of life. Aviles' parents were both born in New York City. His father Mariano Aviles was the only son of Puerto Rican parents and his mother Carmen Reyes Aviles was of Venezuelan descent. His mother was an educated woman who made sure that her children were educated in culture as well as academically. He was the second eldest and was very close with his family .They lived in Manhattan, New York City, where Aviles was born. He was raised in a tough neighborhood and at times got himself into trouble. One of his assets was that he had a comical side to him. Aviles' siblings Angel (actress and media producer) and Rod Reyes(comedian and chef) are also in the arts and entertainment fields. In the 1970s and 1980s, Aviles worked as a stand-up comedian on the Greenwich Village night-club circuit in New York. In 1981, he landed the role of Mad Dog in the movie Cannonball Run. He went on to act in fourteen more film productions. In 1987, Aviles landed a small part as the maintenance man in the movie The Secret of My Success, starring Michael J. Fox. That same year he became the host of It's Showtime at the Apollo, and continued as host until 1991.
In 1990, Aviles landed his most memorable role. He was cast as Willie Lopez, Sam Wheat's killer, in the movie Ghost. The movie was a smash hit at the box office and received multiple Oscar nominations. Besides Aviles, Ghost also starred Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg. He also acted in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III (1990) as Mask #1; Brian DePalma's Carlito's Way (1993) as "Quisqueya", starring Al Pacino; in Waterworld (1995) as the Gatesman, starring Kevin Costner and in Joe's Apartment (1996) as the voice of a cockroach.
Among the television series in which he appeared are Mr. & Mrs. Dracula (1980), The Day Women Got Even (1980), The Carol Burnett Show (1991) and Stephen King's The Stand (1994). Having contracted HIV through heroin abuse, Aviles died on March 17, 1995 in Los Angeles, California, from complications of AIDS.