He died aged 72 in November 12, 2006, after having been in intensive care in San Leonardo hospital in Castellammare di Stabia (Naples), with breathing difficulties. The funeral will take place on November 14, in Naples, in the Basilica of Santa Maria del Carmine Maggiore (the same one where Merola was married and also the same when it was celebrated in 1967, the funeral of Totò). Present the political authorities, colleagues and, in the square outside the church, some 40,000 people. At least half of the people followed the coffin in procession to the Monumental Cemetery of Naples, where the artist is buried.