Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr. (July 30, 1930 – January 4, 2013) was an American actor best known as Tony Lip.
He was well-known for his portrayal of gangster lord Carmine Lupertazzi in HBO’s The Sopranos. Lip portrayed Francesco Manzo of the Lucchese mafia family in Goodfellas and Philip Giaccone of the Bonanno crime family in Donnie Brasco.
He met Francis Ford Coppola and Louis DiGiamo at the Copacabana nightclub, which led to a small part in The Godfather, his feature film debut. He also co-wrote the book Shut Up and Eat!
Viggo Mortensen portrayed his life in the early 1960s as the chauffeur and bodyguard for black classical musician Don Shirley in the 2018 film Green Book.
From 1951 to 1953, he served in the United States Army and was stationed in Germany. He began working as maître d’hôtel and supervisor at the Copacabana nightclub in 1961.
He was working as a bouncer in 1962 and 1963 when he was hired to drive and defend musician Don Shirley on a tour across the Jim Crow South. This tour inspired the 2018 film Green Book, co-written by Lip’s son Nick Vallelonga and starring Viggo Mortensen as Lip.
Tony Lip cause of death: What happened to Tony Lip? What did Tony Lip die of?
His corpse was discovered soon before 4 a.m. Monday on Oak Point Ave. in the Bronx’s Hunts Point neighborhood.
Police were dispatched in response to a 911 call about an incapacitated male. They discovered Vallelonga unconscious and unresponsive on the ground.
EMS arrived and pronounced him dead. According to the NYPD, he exhibited no visible evidence of trauma on his body. The cause of death was being investigated by the Medical Examiner.
