Frank Sivero

Frank Sivero (born Francesco Lo Giudice, January 6, 1952) is an Italian-American character actor, perhaps best known for playing the roles of Genco Abbandando in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part II, and Frankie Carbone (based on Angelo Sepe) in Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas.

Frank Sivero
Frank Sivero in 2009
Born (1952-01-06) January 6, 1952
Siculiana, Sicily, Italy
OccupationActor
Years active1966-2008

Early life

Sivero was born Francesco LoGiudice in Siculiana, Sicily, Italy, and raised in Brooklyn, New York.[1]

Career

Sivero can be seen as an extra in The Godfather as one of the witnesses to Sonny Corleone's brutal beating of his brother-in-law, Carlo. He also appeared in The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler.

The Simpsons lawsuit

In October 2014, Sivero initiated a $250 million lawsuit against Fox Television Studios. The lawsuit alleged that in 1989 Sivero was living next door to writers from The Simpsons and the writers knew he was working on his Goodfellas character. It alleged that the writers "were aware that the entire character of 'Frankie Carbone' was created and developed by Sivero, who based this character on his own personality."[2] A short time later, a character named Louie began appearing on The Simpsons. Louie was described as a mafioso character, second in command to Fat Tony, and similar in appearance and mannerisms to Sivero, and Sivero alleged that his "likeness [was] being infringed in violation of California's publicity rights law."[2][3] The case was dismissed in August 2015, with the judge asserting that the character Louie was a parody of several Mob characters.[4][5]

Filmography

References
  1. "Frankie Sivero Biography ((?)-)". Film Reference. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  2. 'Goodfellas' Actor Suing Fox for $250 Million Over 'Simpsons' Mob Character
  3. Rolling Stone article
  4. 'Goodfellas' Actor Loses $250M Lawsuit Against Fox Over 'Simpsons' Mob Character
  5. Fox Gets $250M ‘Simpsons’ Lawsuit From ‘Goodfellas’ Actor Tossed
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