'Green Book' Actor Frank Vallelonga Jr.'s Body Found in the Bronx

Vallelonga Jr. was also the son of one of the film's main subjects, Frank 'Tony Lip' Vallelonga.

NYPD identified a body found by a sheet-metal manufacturing factory in the Bronx as Frank Vallelonga Jr., as confirmed by Deadline. He was 60 years old. 

Vallelonga Jr. was an occasional actor whose most prominent role was as Rudy Vallelonga in the 2018 Best Picture Academy Award winner Green Book. Along with his performance in the film, Vallelonga Jr. was also the real-life son of one of the film's two main subjects, bouncer Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga.

Reports state that the NYPD received a 911 call on Monday morning stating that there was an unconscious male in front of the factory.

Police described what happened, stating, "Upon arrival, police observed an unidentified adult male, unconscious and unresponsive, on the ground at the location. The male had no obvious signs of trauma observed. EMS responded to the location and pronounced the male deceased at the scene. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death. The investigation is ongoing.”

Relating to the case, a 35-year-old man named Steven Smith has been arrested and charged with concealing a dead body. 

The late Tony Lip was an actor later in life, most notably playing Carmine Lupertazzi in The Sopranos, but before that, he worked as a bouncer.

Green Book is a dramatized retelling of Lip's time in 1962 when he was hired as a driver and guard of sorts for classical jazz pianist Don Shirley. In the film, the two slowly develop a friendship as Lip begins understanding Shirley's hardships as a Black man in the South.

In Green Book, Viggo Mortensen plays Lip, while Mahershala Ali portrays Shirley. Ali went on to win an Oscar for his performance.

Along with Vallelonga Jr.'s involvement in the project as an actor, the Vallelonga family was highly-involved in the movie's making. Vallelonga Jr.'s brother, Nick Vallelonga, produced Green Book and co-wrote the script with Brian Hayes Currie and Peter Farrelly.

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