Frank Vincent
1939-2017
We learned yesterday of the death of actor Frank Vincent at the age of 78.
Frank Vincent is probably best known for two roles, New York city mob boss Phil Leotardo in 38 episodes the great HBO series "The Sopranos" (2004-2007), and as small time hood Billy Batts in Martin Scorese's 1990 classic, "Goodfellas". In the former role, Vincent showed us the potential danger that could come from pumping your own gas at a service station, and in the latter, he taught us never to mess with Joe Pesci.
Vincent's acting career numbered eighty-nine acting credits in IMDB and included rolls in two other Scorsese classics, "Raging Bull" and "Casino". Most of his other rolls consisted of his playing guys with names like Sal, Vinny, and Carmine and having last names that ended with vowels. So, I guess that you could say that he was pretty much typecast, but it was still a long and pretty successful career. Oh, and before he started acting, he was an accomplished musician, playing drums behind such artists as Dell Shannon and Paul Anka.
I conclude with the famous scene from "Goodfellas" when Vincent as Billy Batts told Pesci to go home and get his shine box.
RIP Frank Vincent.
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