Dominic "Dom" Santini (Ernest Borgnine): Santini was born and raised on the fictional Caribbean island nation of San Remo. Santini was of Italian-American descent and was bilingual, speaking both English and Italian fluently. A ladies' man in his youth, Dominic was forced to marry Lila—a young woman from a wealthy family—when she falsely claimed to be carrying his child (she would not truly become pregnant until years after their marriage). Though Lila left Dominic and took their daughter, Sally Ann, when Sally was 7, Dominic always kept his cottage in San Remo in the hope that Sally would return. Sally Ann followed a "jet set" existence focused on the casino in San Remo; Lila used Sally to provide her with male companionship. Sally Ann Santini died of a drug overdose in 1984, which devastated Dominic. Weeks later, Lila was murdered by San Remo's criminal element while attempting to blackmail the owner of San Remo's casino; when Dominic was arrested for her murder, Stringfellow helped bring the guilty parties to justice and used Airwolf to destroy the casino. Santini's other known relatives include his younger brother Tony Santini and Tony's daughter (Dominic's niece) Jo Santini, who becomes an important supporting character on the series during its fourth and final season. Dominic also has another niece, Holly Mathews, who suffers from a delusional emotional illness and nearly causes a disaster for her uncle and his friends during the Season 2 episode "The Truth About Holly."