Frank Sivero (born Francesco Lo Giudice; January 6, 1952) is an Italian-American actor. He played 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 2021
Born (1952-01-06) January 6, 1952 (age 72)
OccupationActor
Years active1966–Present

Early life

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

Career

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Sivero appeared in The Godfather Part II as Genco Abbandando. He also played Frankie Carbone in Goodfellas. He also appeared in The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler.

The Simpsons lawsuit

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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

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References

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