my life in the movies and the mob
"Gianni Russo was a . . . 25-year-old mobster with no acting experience when he walked onto the set of 'The Godfather' and entered Hollywood history. He played Carlo Rizzi, the husband of Connie Corleone, who set her brother Sonny--played by James Caan--up for a hit. Russo didn't have to act--he knew the mob inside and out: from his childhood in Little Italy, where Mafia legend Frank Costello took him under his wing, to acting as a messenger for New Orleans mob boss Carlos Marcello during the Kennedy assassination. . . . Along the way, Russo befriended Frank Sinatra, who became his son's godfather, and Marlon Brando, who mentored his career as an actor after trying to get Francis Ford Coppola to fire him from 'The Godfather'. . . . He went on to become a producer and starred in 'The Godfather': Parts I and II, 'Seabiscuit', 'Any Given Sunday' and 'Rush Hour 2', among many other films"--OCLC.
