Frank Vincent

Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. Known for often portraying violent mobsters and criminals, he was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in Raging Bull (1980), Billy Batts in Goodfellas (1990), and Frank Marino in Casino (1995). On television, he played Phil Leotardo on the fifth and sixth seasons of the HBO crime drama The Sopranos (2004–2007). Vincent voiced Salvatore Leone in the Grand Theft Auto video game series from 2001 to 2005. Vincent also worked as an acting coach, providing assistance and guidance to co-stars who did not have formal acting training.

Vincent, who was of Italian descent with roots in Sicily and Naples, was born in North Adams, Massachusetts, and raised in Jersey City, New Jersey. His father, Frank Vincent Gattuso Sr., was an iron worker and businessman. He had two brothers, Nick and Jimmy, and a half-sister, Fran.

Skilled at the drums, piano and trumpet, Vincent originally aspired to a career in music. By day he was a studio musician who worked with many recording artists such as Paul Anka and Del Shannon. Vincent had his own jazz band, billed "Frank Vincent and the Aristocats", that played in the evenings. In 1969, Vincent's band needed a piano player to secure bookings and Vincent ended up hiring Joe Pesci to play guitar. As the popularity of lounge music waned, Vincent and Pesci turned to stand-up comedy, performing as "Vincent and Pesci" from 1970 to 1976. Their act coupled Abbott and Costello-inspired double-act antics with Don Rickles-style insult comedy, which proved popular. During this time, the men developed a strong professional and personal friendship.

Vincent and Pesci later landed parts in the low-budget gangster film The Death Collector (1976), where they were spotted by Robert De Niro. De Niro told Martin Scorsese about both Vincent and Pesci. Scorsese was impressed by their performances and hired Vincent to appear in a supporting role in Raging Bull (1980), in which he once again appeared with Pesci and co-starred with De Niro. Vincent appeared in small roles in two Spike Lee films: Do the Right Thing (1989) and Jungle Fever (1991). In the latter, he played the abusive patriarch of an Italian-American family.

One of his notable appearances in foreign films was as a supporting character in Juan José Jusid's Made in Argentina (1987), in which he played Vito, a wealthy Manhattan businessman who befriends the film's protagonist, a substance-abuse counselor who treated Vito's son, played by Luis Brandoni.

Vincent was often cast as a gangster. For example, in Scorsese's film Goodfellas (1990), he played Billy Batts, a made man in the Gambino crime family, who is killed by Joe Pesci's character; he also played a role in Scorsese's film Casino (1995) as Frank Marino (based on real-life gangster Frank Cullotta), the sidekick of Pesci's character who ends up killing him.

In 1996, Vincent appeared in the music video for rap artist Nas' song "Street Dreams." In the television movie Gotti (1996), Vincent played Robert "D.B." DiBernardo, an associate of Mafia boss John Gotti's, whose life the film chronicled. Vincent appeared in a small role in the 1998 film Belly, starring Nas and DMX and directed by Hype Williams. Vincent also served as an acting coach on the film. 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.

In 1999, Vincent won the Italian American Entertainer of the Year Award.