John Cassisi (born September 5, 1962) is a former American

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in film, movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associ ...

who starred in the 1976 movie ''

Bugsy Malone ''Bugsy Malone'' is a 1976 gangster musical comedy film written and directed by Alan Parker (in his feature film directorial debut). A co-production of United States and United Kingdom, it features an ensemble cast, featuring only child actors ...

'' as "Fat Sam" and subsequently in the

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

Fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

''.

Biography

He was "discovered" by ''

'' director

Alan Parker Sir Alan William Parker (14 February 1944 – 31 July 2020) was an English filmmaker. His early career, beginning in his late teens, was spent as a copywriter and director of television advertisements. After about ten years of filming adverts ...

, when Parker visited a

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

classroom and asked students to nominate the "naughtiest" boy in class. In 1982, he played the role of Herschel in the broad-way film "Gemini" alongside former Bugsy Malone star

Scott Baio Scott Vincent James Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on ...

. After retiring from acting in 1982, Cassisi became involved in construction work. From 2012 to 2014, he served as the Director of Global Construction for Citigroup. In 2015, he pled guilty to a bribery scheme and was sentenced to two to six years in prison plus a $500,000 forfeiture. Cassisi is married and has had three children. His eldest son, Robert, died after suffering from a pulmonary embolism at the age of 26.

Partial filmography

References

External links

* American male television actors American male child actors 1962 births Living people Criminals from New York City Citigroup employees {{US-tv-actor-1960s-stub