Frank Anthony Vallelonga Sr. (July 30, 1930 – January 4, 2013), better known by his stage name Tony Lip, was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of crime boss

Carmine Lupertazzi This is a list of fictional characters from the HBO series ''The Sopranos'', its video game '' The Sopranos: Road to Respect'' and its prequel film ''The Many Saints of Newark.'' Main characters Cast table Main character biographies Tony Sopran ...

in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

series, ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

''. Lip portrayed real-life

Bonanno crime family The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

mobster

Philip Giaccone Philip Giaccone (July 12, 1932 – May 5, 1981), also known as "Philly Lucky", was an American mobster in the Bonanno crime family who was murdered with Dominick Trinchera and Al Indelicato for planning to overthrow Bonanno boss Philip Rastelli. ...

in '' Donnie Brasco'', and real-life

Lucchese crime family The Lucchese crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, in the United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as ...

mobster Francesco Manzo in ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' W ...

''. It was at the Copacabana nightclub that he first met

Francis Ford Coppola Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...

and Louis DiGiamo, leading to a small role in ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

'', his film debut. He also co-wrote the book ''Shut Up and Eat!'' (2005). His life in the early 1960s, when he was the driver and bodyguard for the black classical pianist

Don Shirley Donald Walbridge Shirley (January 29, 1927 – April 6, 2013) was an American classical and jazz pianist and composer. He recorded many albums for Cadence Records during the 1950s and 1960s, experimenting with jazz with a classical influenc ...

, was dramatized in the 2018 film, '' Green Book'', in which he was portrayed by

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. R (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and multimedia artist. Born and raised in the State of New York to a Danish father and American mother, he also lived in Argentin ...

Early life

Frank Anthony Vallelonga was born in

Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Beaver Falls is a city in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 9,005 at the 2020 census. Located 31 miles (50 km) northwest of Pittsburgh, the city lies along the Beaver River, six miles (9 km) north of its co ...

, the son of Italian parents, Nazarena and Nicholas Vallelonga. His family moved to the

Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

when he was an infant, and he grew up on 215th Street. He earned the nickname "Lip" in his childhood, as a reference to his reputation for having the ability to talk people into doing things he wanted them to do.

Career

From 1951 to 1953, he served in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

and was stationed in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. He worked at the Copacabana nightclub, starting in 1961, as ''

maître d'hôtel The ''maître d'hôtel'' (; ), head waiter, host, waiter captain, or ''maître d ( , ) manages the public part, or "front of the house", of a formal restaurant. The responsibilities of a ''maître d'hôtel'' generally include supervising the wa ...

'' and supervisor. He was working as a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

when he was hired to drive and protect pianist

on a tour through the

Jim Crow South The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the Sout ...

from 1962 to 1963. This tour is the basis of the 2018 film '' Green Book'', co-written by Lip's son

Nick Vallelonga Nicholas Anthony Vallelonga (born September 13, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is best known for co-writing and producing the film '' Green Book'', for which he received two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Pictur ...

, in which Lip is portrayed by

Personal life and death

Lip resided in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

, with his wife, Dolores Vallelonga (née Venere), who died in 1999. Lip died at age 82 on January 4, 2013, in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...

. He was survived by his sons,

, Frank Vallelonga Jr., brother Rudy Vallelonga, and one grandson.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1972) – Wedding guest (uncredited) * '' Crazy Joe'' (1974) – Mafia hood (uncredited) * ''

The Super Cops ''The Super Cops'' is a 1974 action adventure film directed by Gordon Parks and starring Ron Leibman and David Selby. The film is based on the book ''The Super Cops: The True Story of the Cops Called Batman and Robin'' by L. H. Whittemore. The ...

'' (1974) – Detroit hitman (uncredited) * ''

Dog Day Afternoon ''Dog Day Afternoon'' is a 1975 American biographical crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and produced by Martin Bregman and Martin Elfand. The film stars Al Pacino, John Cazale, James Broderick, and Charles Durning. The screenplay is wr ...

'' (1975) – Cop at JFK (uncredited) * ''

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'' (1980) – Nightclubber (uncredited) * ''

The Pope of Greenwich Village ''The Pope of Greenwich Village'' is a 1984 American crime black comedy film directed by Stuart Rosenberg and starring Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Daryl Hannah, Geraldine Page, Kenneth McMillan and Burt Young. Page was nominated for the Academy ...

'' (1984) – Frankie * '' Year of the Dragon'' (1985) – Lenny Carranza * ''

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

'' (1987) – Max * ''

Last Rites The last rites, also known as the Commendation of the Dying, are the last prayers and ministrations given to an individual of Christian faith, when possible, shortly before death. They may be administered to those awaiting execution, mortall ...

'' (1988) – Cabbie * '' Lock Up'' (1989) – Guard * ''

'' (1990) – Frankie the Wop * '' 29th Street'' (1991) – Nicky Bad Lungs * '' Innocent Blood'' (1992) – Frank * ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'' (1992–1996) – Doc / Bobby Murrows * ''

Who's the Man? ''Who's the Man?'' is a 1993 thriller buddy comedy film directed by Ted Demme in his feature film directing debut. The film stars ''Yo! MTV Raps'' hosts Doctor Dré and Ed Lover as its two main protagonists and features cameo appearances from s ...

'' (1993) – Vito Pasquale * ''A Brilliant Disguise'' (1994) – Pete * ''In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King'' (1995) – Paulie * '' Donnie Brasco'' (1997) – Philly Lucky * ''A Brooklyn State of Mind'' (1998) – Bartender * ''

'' (2001–2007) –

* ''The Signs of the Cross'' (2005) – Mario * ''All In'' (2006) – Darkman * '' Stiletto'' (2008) – Gus

References

External links

*
Tony Lip
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lip, Tony 1930 births 2013 deaths Male actors from New Jersey American male television actors American people of Italian descent People of Calabrian descent People from Paramus, New Jersey United States Army soldiers Military personnel from Pennsylvania Military personnel from New York City Male actors from New York City Writers from New York City American expatriates in Germany