Aviles' parents emigrated from Puerto Rico to the United States in the late 1940s looking for a better way of life. They lived in Manhattan, New York City, where Aviles was born. He was raised in a tough neighborhood and at times got himself into trouble. One of his assets was that he had a comical side to him. Aviles' siblings Angel Aviles and Rod Reyes are also in the arts and entertainment fields.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Aviles worked as a stand-up comedian on the Greenwich Village night-club circuit in New York. In 1981, he landed the role of Mad Dog in the movie Cannonball Run. He went on to act in fourteen more film productions. In 1987, Aviles landed a small part as the maintenance man in the movie The Secret of My Success, starring Michael J. Fox. That same year he became the host of It's Showtime at the Apollo, and continued as host until 1991.

In 1990, Aviles landed his most memorable role. He was cast as Willie Lopez, Sam Wheat's killer, in the movie Ghost. The movie was a smash hit at the box office and received multiple Oscar nominations. Besides Aviles, Ghost also starred Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg. He also acted in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III (1990) as Mask #1; Brian DePalma's Carlito's Way (1993) as "Quisqueya", starring Al Pacino; in Waterworld (1995) as the Gatesman, starring Kevin Costner and in Joe's Apartment (1996) as the voice of a cockroach.

Among the television series in which he appeared are Mr. & Mrs. Dracula (1980), The Day Women Got Even (1980), The Carol Burnett Show (1991) and Stephen King's The Stand (1994).

Having contracted HIV through heroin abuse, Aviles died on March 17, 1995 in Los Angeles, California, from complications of AIDS.