Wake held for late actor Dennis Farina in Chicago

CHICAGO, July 30 (UPI) -- A wake was held Monday for police officer-turned-actor Dennis Farina at the Montclair-Lucania Funeral Home in Chicago.

His funeral was scheduled for Tuesday at Assumption Catholic Church, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Farina, who played Detective Joe Fontana on the television series "Law & Order," died of a blood clot in his lung July 22 in Scottsdale, Ariz. He was 69.

While serving as a police consultant on the 1981 film "Thief," director Michael Mann gave Farina a small on-screen role, which led to an acting career in which Farina typically played police officers or mobsters.

He later collaborated with Mann on the 1986 TV movie "Manhunter" and the 1980s detective series "Miami Vice."

Farina's other small-screen credits included turns on the dramas "Luck" and "Crime Story," as well as in the miniseries "Empire Falls."

The actor began his two-year stint on "Law & Order" in 2004 and has also appeared in the films "Midnight Run," "Get Shorty," "Bottle Shock," "Saving Private Ryan," "Striking Distance," "Another Stakeout," "Little Big League," "Snatch," "The Mod Squad," "Big Trouble" and "Out of Sight."