Tony Darrow (born Anthony Borgese; October 1, 1938) is an Italian-American actor. Darrow was born in the

East New York East New York is a residential neighborhood in the eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. Its boundaries, starting from the north and moving clockwise, are roughly the Cemetery Belt and the Queens borough li ...

section of

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 ...

. He had plenty of opportunity to observe would-be mobsters and their attitudes while growing up in his neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a teenager, he gravitated towards show business, entering and winning talent shows while working odd jobs. After ten years of singing in nightclubs, Darrow received an offer to appear in what turned out to be a cult film, '' Street Trash'' in which he played a mobster. Several months after ''Street Trash'', Darrow was contacted by the film director

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, inclu ...

. It turned out that Scorsese had seen ''Street Trash'' and wanted him to audition for a role 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 ...

''. He was successful and was cast as the owner of the Bamboo Lounge, Sonny. Darrow was also in the

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

films ''

Bullets over Broadway ''Bullets Over Broadway'' is a 1994 American black comedy crime film directed by Woody Allen, written by Allen and Douglas McGrath and starring an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri and Jennifer Tilly. The fil ...

'', ''

Mighty Aphrodite ''Mighty Aphrodite'' is a 1995 American comedy film written, directed by, and co-starring Woody Allen, alongside Mira Sorvino, Helena Bonham Carter, Michael Rapaport, and F. Murray Abraham. The screenplay was vaguely inspired by the story of '' ...

'', ''

Deconstructing Harry ''Deconstructing Harry'' is a 1997 American black comedy film written, directed by, and co-starring Woody Allen, alongside Caroline Aaron, Kirstie Alley, Bob Balaban, Richard Benjamin, Eric Bogosian, Billy Crystal, Judy Davis and others. The fil ...

'', ''

Small Time Crooks ''Small Time Crooks'' is a 2000 American crime-comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen, the film's plot has some similarities to that of the 1942 comedy ''Larceny, Inc.'' Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies on June 15, 2006 It stars All ...

'' and ''

Sweet and Lowdown ''Sweet and Lowdown'' is a 1999 American comedy-drama mockumentary film written and directed by Woody Allen. Loosely based on Federico Fellini's film ''La Strada'', the film tells the fictional story, set in the 1930s, of self-confident jazz g ...

''. In 1999, Darrow played a large role in ''

Analyze This ''Analyze This'' is a 1999 American mafia comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan, and Peter Tolan. The plot follows a crisis-stricken mafioso (Robert De Niro) who solicits the assi ...

'' with Robert De Niro and

Billy Crystal William Edward Crystal (born March 14, 1948)On page 17 of his book ''700 Sundays'', Crystal displays his birth announcement, which gives his first two names as "William Edward", not "William Jacob" is an American actor, comedian, and filmmaker. ...

. Later the same year, he appeared in '' Mickey Blue Eyes'' with

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as both a charming, and vulnerable romantic lead and has since transitioned into a dramatic character actor. Among his numerous a ...

, and got another big role as mobster Larry Barese in the HBO hit series ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster, portraying his difficulties as he tries to balance ...

'', which he was on for the entire series run (1999–2007). More recently, Darrow starred in the independent film ''Lynch Mob''. In June 2009, Darrow was charged with extortion in a 2004 incident. Along with Gambino crime family soldier Joseph "Joey Boy" Orlando and associate Giovanni "Johnny" Monteleone, Darrow was accused of ordering the maiming of a man in Monticello, New York who owed money to a

loan shark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

. Darrow and Orlando both pleaded guilty in federal court to these charges in February 2011, in exchange for a sentence of up to 33 months. However, Monteleone cooperated with the FBI. At sentencing, Darrow's attorney successfully argued that Darrow's 50+ year history of community service, medical condition, and lack of prior criminal history warranted a sentence of house arrest, followed by a period of probation. Orlando was sentenced to 51 months in prison and Darrow received six months of house arrest.

Partial filmography

*'' Street Trash'' (1987) - Nick Duran *''

'' (1990) - Sonny Bunz *''The Good Policeman'' (1991) *''Men Lie'' (1994) - Hot Dog Customer *''

Bullets Over Broadway ''Bullets Over Broadway'' is a 1994 American black comedy crime film directed by Woody Allen, written by Allen and Douglas McGrath and starring an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri and Jennifer Tilly. The fil ...

'' (1994) - Aldo *'' Who Do I Gotta Kill?'' (1994) - Tony Bando *''

'' (1995) - Boxing Trainer *''The North End'' (1997) - Nunzio *''

'' (1997) - Camera Operator *''

Celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

'' (1998) - Moving Man in Loft *''

'' (1999) - Moony *'' Mickey Blue Eyes'' (1999) - Angelo *''

'' (1999) - Ben *''

'' (2000) - Tommy *''Crooked Lines'' (2003) - Jimmy Pico *''Searching for Bobby D'' (2005) - Ralph Argano *''Lynch Mob'' (2009) - Boss Giavanni *'' One Angry Man'' (2010) - Bobby *'' Kill the Irishman'' (2011) - Mikey Mendarolo *''The Goat'' (2013) - Patsy Pirati *''

Friends and Romans ''Friends and Romans'' is a 2014 American independent comedy film written and directed by Christopher Kublan and starring Michael Rispoli, Annabella Sciorra, Paul Ben-Victor and Tony Sirico. It was awarded Best Narrative Feature and Best Cinemato ...

'' (2014) - Frankie Fusso *'' The Brawler'' (2019) - Tommy *''Offstage Elements'' (2019) - Carlo Capozzoli *''Duped'' (2019) - Attorney / Carmine (''pre-production'') *''Made in Chinatown'' (2021) - Al Capella

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Darrow, Tony 1938 births Living people American male film actors Gambino crime family Male actors from New York City People from East New York, Brooklyn