Was injured during the Mojave Desert location filming of Escape from Zahrain (1962). He and co-star Madlyn Rhue accidentally tripped during an action scene and set off detonating caps that were being used to simulate machine-gun fire. Sal was burned and taken to a local hospital for a few days.
Was mentioned in the movie/play "Grease" during the song "Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee." The lyric goes: "Oh, no, no, Sal Mineo, I would never stoop so low.".