Although he has had a pretty successful acting career over the years, Ed O’Neill admitted he almost ended up in the mafia.
During a recent episode of the Dinner on Me With Jesse Tyler Ferguson podcast, O’Neill spoke to his Modern Family co-star about how he almost had a life of crime due to struggling financially. “I had friends in organized crime,” he explained about almost joining the mafia in his 20’s. The actor referred an old friend named Jim, who lived in his hometown, Youngstown, Ohio.
“[Jim] called me and said, ‘Hey take a ride with me. I want to talk to you,’” Ed O’Neill recalled. “We’re driving and he said, ‘How you doing? You know, you, you got cut, you got no money,’ I said, ‘No, I’m broke. You know, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Ed O’Neill further recalled his former friend taking him to a “fancy” restaurant he would never go to. “He started talking to the bartender,” he continued. “He says, ‘I’m looking for this kid, his name is whatever, Demko, his name is Jimmy Demko, do you know him?’ And the guy says, ‘No, it doesn’t ring a bell.’”
Jim then described the man before eventually deciding to bribe the bartender. “He gives him 20, and he says, ‘Look, he’s an old friend of mine, I haven’t seen him in years, you know, I’m looking to reconnect, but I’d like to surprise him. So if he comes in again, this is my, you can call this number. You can reach me.’”
After he and Jim leave the restaurant, Ed O’Neill is offered a job that he almost doesn’t resist. “We left and he said, ‘You can do this kind of stuff for me, you know, I’ll protect you, I’ll give you easy stuff. Just you collect here. You do that. You run, drop something off here and there.’”
Jim also said that O’Neill would make good money for doing these runs.
Thankfully, Ed O’Neill’s Father Stepped in After Seeing Him Leave With Jim
While he told Jim that he would think about the offer, Ed O’Neill was quick to decline after having a discussion with his father about the situation.
O’Neill said his father had seen him leave with Jim and immediately had some questions. “He said, ‘I saw you take a ride with Jimmy… I just want to ask you a question. Can you do time?’” the actor said. O’Neill then told his father, “No.”
Ed O’Neill further recalled his father saying he’d have a hard time in jail. “I said, ‘No I don’t think I could do time.’ He said, ‘Ok.’”
After having that conversation with his father, Ed O’Neill went on to New York City where he pursued acting. He became a stage performer within just a few months.