Actor’s Body Found Dumped in Bronx
On Thursday, police announced that 60-year-old “Green Book” actor Frank Vallelonga Jr. was the man whose body was found dumped in the Bronx, believing him to have been the victim of an overdose.
Vallelonga Jr.’s body was discovered outside of a sheet-metal manufacturing facility in Hunts Point early on Monday. Police said that his corpse had been tossed out of a vehicle. While the cause of death is still undetermined, preliminary discoveries point to an overdose, law enforcement sources said.
The actor is the son of Frank Vallelonga Sr., a Copacabana bouncer known as “Tony Lip.” He was portrayed by Viggo Mortenson in the “Green Book” film, which tells the story of the elder Vallelonga’s 1962 road trip through the segregated South alongside black pianist Don Shirley. Vallelonga Jr. had a starring role in the Oscar-winning film, playing the role of his uncle Rudy Vallelonga.
Just before 4 a.m. on Monday, Vallelonga Jr.’s body was discovered when a 911 caller reported finding the body outside of the sheet-metal factory, according to police.
A day later, police arrested Steven Smith, 35, charging him with concealment of a human corpse. Smith was allegedly seen on surveillance video, dumping Vallelonga’s body from a vehicle.
Smith reportedly confessed while he was being interrogated on another case police were investigating, but the details of that case are not yet known.
Vallelonga Jr.’s body showed no signs of external trauma, and a medical examiner is working to determine a cause of death. Vallelonga Jr. had been working in some capacity with his younger brother, Nick Vallelonga, on a film called “That’s Amore.”
Nick Vallelonga was the writer behind the “Green Book” screenplay, which won best picture at the 2019 Academy Awards, somewhat controversially, as some disagreed with the interpretation of Shirley on screen, claiming that the film perpetuated white savior stereotypes.
Vallelonga Sr., whom “Green Book” was based on, went from a bouncer to an actor, playing Carmine Lupertazzi on “The Sopranos” when he was in his 70s.
Vallelonga Jr., meanwhile, had other acting credits alongside “Green Book” including an episode of “The Sopranos,” the 2018 TV series “The Neighborhood” and the “Gravesend” series in 2020.