Actor known for mobster roles
FRANK VINCENT 1937-2017
Frank Vincent, whose tough-guy looks brought him steady work as a character actor in film and television for four decades, including mobster roles on The Sopranos and in Goodfellas, died on Wednesday in a New Jersey hospital.
Vincent’ s family gave his age as 80, though some websites list his birth year as 1939. John A. Gallagher, who directed Vincent in Street Hunter and The Deli, said the actor had long identified himself as being younger to avoid the age discrimination common in Hollywood. No cause of death was given.
Vincent was born in North Adams, Mass., and raised in Jersey City, N. J. His first forays into show business were as a drummer, playing in nightclubs and on recordings with singers Paul Anka and Trini Lopez.
He made his film debut in 1976 in The Death Collector, whose cast also included his friend Joe Pesci, a fellow musician. The two had once worked up a comedy act.
Among those who took note of The Death Collector was Martin Scorsese, who cast both Vincent and Pesci in Raging Bull (1980), and, a decade later, Goodfellas.
That film gave Vincent perhaps his most memorable line, in the role of Billy Batts, a mobster who profanely invites Pesci’s character to go home and get his shine box, an insult that proved fatal. Mugs and Tshirts emblazoned with the line were soon being sold.
The character of Billy Batts made such an impression that it kept him off The Sopranos, at least at first, Vincent told an interviewer. He originally auditioned for the pilot of that series, created by David Chase, which began its long run on HBO in 1999.
“David now in retrospect says he didn’t want to hire me at that time because Goodfellas was too popular and the character Billy Batts was too known,” he said.
Vincent was brought into the cast in 2004 as Phil Leotardo, a crime boss.
The character appeared in more than 30 episodes, ultimately meeting a gruesome end.
Vincent’s other credits included another film by Scorsese, Casino ( 1995), and Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing ( 1989) and Jungle Fever ( 1991). He was also the author, with Steven Prigge, of A Guy’s Guide to Being a Man’s Man, published in 2006.