Gianni Russo was born on December 12, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York. He is an American actor and singer.

Biography and Career

Gianni Russo was born on December 12, 1943, in Brooklyn, New York and he is an American actor and singer.

He was raised in Rosebank, Staten Island. He claims that he has Mob connections and that his uncle was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. There are claims that the Gambinos persuaded Francis Ford Coppola to cast Russo as Carlo Rizzi in the Godfather.

Gianni states his father was a longshoreman and a musician who worked at the Brooklyn waterfront who was ashamed his only son was crippled from the horrible disease and refused to acknowledge him during his early childhood. He suffered from a gimp arm as a result of the disease.

His best kno wn film role was as Carlo Rizzi in the 1972 movie The Godfather. After reprising the Rizzi character in a brief flashback scene at the end of The Godfather Part II, Russo went on to act in more than 35 movies including The Freshman, Super Mario Bros., Any Given Sunday, and Seabiscuit.

In his 2006 book Supermob, investigative reporter Gus Russo writes that Gianni Russo secured his role in The Godfather by acting as an intermediary between Paramount Studios and NYC Mafia don Joe Colombo Sr., who's Italian Anti Defamation League had shut down early production of the film in Manhattan. Colombo met with the film executives who then hired Russo to play Carlo.

Over the years since the beginning of his stardom he has owned a Las Vegas restaurant called Gianni Russo's State Street, dated Dionne Warwick for more than a decade and has successfully defeated twenty-three federal criminal indictments on a variety of charges stemming from alleged organized crime associations.

Russo is also an accomplished singer. In 2004, he released a CD called Reflections that pays homage to Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra.

General Appearance

Birth Name: Louis Giovanni Gianni Russo
Birth: December 12, 1943

Why do we like Gianni Russo?

We like him because and he is great an American actor and singer.

Why is Gianni Russo Famous?

He is famous because of his great talent of acting and singing.

Gianni Russo Lists

	1943 births
	American film actors
	American people of Italian descent
	Living people
	People from Brooklyn

 

Gianni Russo Movies
The Godfather The Godfather: Part II Lepke The Four Deuces Laserblast Winter Kills Chances Are Side Out The Freshman Another You Out for Justice Stay Tuned Super Mario Bros. Striptease Circles
Gianni Russo Filmography

---

Tags: new york city, actor, 1943, sagittarius

[edit tags]

---

Category: Actors  - ( Actors Archive)

Date Added: 25 March '10

---

Add a link to this page on any related website, blog or forum using this code :

---