Frank Vincent Trivia: 21 fun facts about the actor!

Frank Vincent was an American actor.

Let’s see some facts about him!

1. Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. was born August 4, 1939 in North Adams, Massachusetts and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey.

2. His father, Frank Vincent Gattuso, Sr., was an iron worker and businessman.

3. He had two brothers, Nick and Jimmy, and a half-sister, Fran.

4. Vincent was of Italian descent and had ancestors from Sicily and Naples.

5. As a player of the drums, trumpet and piano, Vincent originally aspired to a career in music, but turned to acting in 1976, when he co-starred in the low-budget gangster movie The Death Collector along with Joe Pesci, where they were spotted by Robert De Niro.

6. Vincent had small roles in two Spike Lee films in 1989 and 1991 respectively: Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever.

7. One of his notable appearances in foreign film was in Juan José Jusid’s Made in Argentina, in which he played Vito, a wealthy Manhattan businessman who befriends the substance abuse counselor who treated his son.

8. Vincent has often been cast as a gangster. He appeared in Scorsese’s 1990 film Goodfellas, where he played Billy Batts, a made man in the Gambino crime family. He also played a role in Scorsese’s 1995 film Casino as Frank Marino (based on real-life gangster Frank Cullotta), the sidekick of Pesci’s character.

9. In 1996, Vincent appeared in the music video for rap artist Nas’ song “Street Dreams” in character as Frankie Marino from Casino.

10. In the television movie Gotti, Vincent played Robert “D.B.” DiBernardo, an associate of Mafia boss John Gotti, whose life the film chronicled.

11. In the HBO TV series The Sopranos, he had his most prominent role, as Phil Leotardo, a ruthless New York City gangster who, as boss of the show’s fictional Lupertazzi crime family, becomes the show’s chief antagonist in the final season.

12. Vincent also had a leading role in the heist movie This Thing of Ours in 2003. One of his more light-hearted roles was in a British television commercial for Peugeot cars.

13. In early 2005, Vincent appeared on Irish television in a series of television commercials for Irish bank Permanent TSB.

14. In 1999, he won the Italian American Entertainer of the Year Award. Another noted performance is his appearance in the 2003 film Remedy.

15. In 2001, Vincent voiced the character of Mafia boss Salvatore Leone in the controversial computer and video game Grand Theft Auto III. He later reprised that role in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004) and Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (2005).[10]

In 2006, he released his first book, A Guy’s Guide to Being a Man’s Man to positive reviews.

16. His idol is Dean Martin.

17. He has also released a line of hand-rolled cigars which have his picture prominently displayed on the band.

18. In the summer of 2008, he played Lieutenant Marino in the independent film The Tested, directed by Russell Costanzo.

19. In 2009, he made a cameo appearance alongside fellow Sopranos actor Steve Schirripa in the Stargate Atlantis episode “Vegas”.

20. He starred in Chicago Overcoat in 2009 as the main protagonist.

21. In early September 2017, Vincent had a heart attack. As a result, he underwent open heart surgery in New Jersey on September 13, during which he died, aged 78. He is survived by his wife Kathleen and their three children.