'Godfather' actor Alex Rocco dead at 79

[spaminator]

'Godfather' actor Alex Rocco dead at 79
Pat Saperstein, Variety.com
First posted: Sunday, July 19, 2015 04:29 PM EDT | Updated: Sunday, July 19, 2015 04:38 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES - Character actor Alex Rocco, who played casino owner Moe Greene in "The Godfather" and appeared in dozens of other movies and TV shows, died Saturday of cancer in Studio City, Calif. He was 79.
Often appearing as a heavy, hood or cop, in "The Godfather," he had the famous line, "Do you know who I am?" Recently he had a recurring role in Starz's "Magic City" and appeared on "Episodes" and "Maron." His daughter Jennifer Rocco reported his death on her Facebook page.
He appeared in several episodes of 1980s TV show "The Facts of Life" as Charlie Polniaczek, and had recurring roles on other shows including "Starsky and Hutch" and "The Famous Teddy Z," for which he won a supporting actor Emmy in 1990. He did voices for animated shows including "The Simpsons," for which he voiced the executive who made Itchy and Scratchy cartoons, and "Family Guy."
His film career included roles in "Freebie and the Bean," "Get Shorty," "Gotcha!," "The Stunt Man" and "That Thing You Do." His son, Marc Rocco, who died in 2009, directed him in "Dream a Little Dream" and "Scenes From the Goldmine."
Actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan, who appeared with him in "Magic City," said in a statement, "We lost a great one yesterday. An amazing talent to be sure... But, more than that, an amazing husband, father, and friend. For those of us lucky enough to get to know Rocco, we were blessed. He gave the best advice, told the best and dirtiest jokes, and was the first to give you a hug and kiss when it was needed."
He was born Alexander Federico Petricone Jr. in Boston, and studied acting with Leonard Nimoy. He made his first TV appearance on "Batman" and went on to guest star on numerous TV series, including "The Rockford Files," "The Love Boat," "Get Smart" and "Murder She Wrote."
He is survived by his wife, actress Shannon Wilcox; daughters Jennifer and Kelli, sons Lucien and Sean; four grandchildren and a sister.
In this Sept. 16, 1990 file photo, actor Alex Rocco holds up his Emmy award for best supporting actor in a television comedy series for his role in "The Famous Teddy Z," during his acceptance speech at the 42nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Pasadena, Calif. Rocco, the character actor best known for playing the bespectacled Las Vegas mobster Moe Greene in “The Godfather,” has died, his daughter announced Saturday, July 18, 2015. He was 79. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)

'Godfather' actor Alex Rocco dead at 79 | Movies | Entertainment | Toronto Sun

 

[Ludlow]

Seen that fella in a lot of movies. Good actor. Rest in peace.

 

[SLM]

Shame, R.I.P.

I remember seeing him in a lot of movies and television while growing up in the 70's.

 

[Locutus]

According to organized crime turncoat Vincent Teresa, Alex was a hanger-on with the Winter Hill Gang of the Boston area. An unwanted advance toward Petricone's then girlfriend on Labor Day, 1961 touched off the Boston Irish Gang War of the 1960s. Georgie McLaughlin who made the advance was beaten by Winter Hill Gang members.[3] Howie Carr, a Boston-area journalist and radio personality who has written extensively about the Boston underworld, has written that the young Petricone (whose nickname was "Bobo") was arrested in Charlestown in November 1961 along with Winter Hill boss Buddy McLean for questioning following the death of Bernie McLaughlin of the McLaughlin gang, the first murder of the war.[4] Petricone was released without charge, and shortly thereafter left the Boston area. (When he returned to the Boston area in 1972 to play a bank robber in the film The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Petricone — now styled "Alex Rocco" — set up a meeting between Robert Mitchum and local Irish-American gangsters to help Mitchum research his part as Eddie Coyle, a low-level Irish-American criminal. Rocco introduced Mitchum to Howie Winter, leader of the Winter Hill Gang.[5] Another Winter Hill Gang member who met with Mitchum was Johnny Martorano. Ironically, Martorano had murdered Billy O'Brien, a low-level gangster who may have been the prototype of the Eddie Coyle character.[6])

After his arrest, Petricone moved to California in 1962 and began using the name Alex Rocco. He first worked as a bartender in Santa Monica, California and took acting lessons from actor Leonard Nimoy, a fellow Boston native. Nimoy was not impressed with Rocco's heavy Boston accent and told him to take speech lessons. Rocco followed through with Nimoy's instructions and after ridding himself of the accent came back to study under Nimoy and character actor and teacher Jeff Corey.[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rocco

 

[EagleSmack]

Do you know who I am? I'm Moe Green... I made my bones when you were dating cheerleaders!

Classic and timeless line

According to organized crime turncoat Vincent Teresa, Alex was a hanger-on with the Winter Hill Gang of the Boston area. An unwanted advance toward Petricone's then girlfriend on Labor Day, 1961 touched off the Boston Irish Gang War of the 1960s. Georgie McLaughlin who made the advance was beaten by Winter Hill Gang members.[3] Howie Carr, a Boston-area journalist and radio personality who has written extensively about the Boston underworld, has written that the young Petricone (whose nickname was "Bobo") was arrested in Charlestown in November 1961 along with Winter Hill boss Buddy McLean for questioning following the death of Bernie McLaughlin of the McLaughlin gang, the first murder of the war.[4] Petricone was released without charge, and shortly thereafter left the Boston area. (When he returned to the Boston area in 1972 to play a bank robber in the film The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Petricone — now styled "Alex Rocco" — set up a meeting between Robert Mitchum and local Irish-American gangsters to help Mitchum research his part as Eddie Coyle, a low-level Irish-American criminal. Rocco introduced Mitchum to Howie Winter, leader of the Winter Hill Gang.[5] Another Winter Hill Gang member who met with Mitchum was Johnny Martorano. Ironically, Martorano had murdered Billy O'Brien, a low-level gangster who may have been the prototype of the Eddie Coyle character.[6])

After his arrest, Petricone moved to California in 1962 and began using the name Alex Rocco. He first worked as a bartender in Santa Monica, California and took acting lessons from actor Leonard Nimoy, a fellow Boston native. Nimoy was not impressed with Rocco's heavy Boston accent and told him to take speech lessons. Rocco followed through with Nimoy's instructions and after ridding himself of the accent came back to study under Nimoy and character actor and teacher Jeff Corey.[citation needed]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Rocco

I listen to the Howie Carr show every day here in Boston. He is an expert on the mob in Boston, particularly the Irish Mob, and has written many books about them.

While the Italian mobs were getting busted all over the country the Irish Mob in Boston flourished. Unlike the other major cities, the Irish Mob was just as strong as the Italian Mob here in Boston. The Italians left them alone because it certainly would have been a bloody war if they tried to muscle in on the Irish neighborhoods. The Italians pretty much stuck to the North End (Boston's equivalent to NYC's Little Italy). The Irish Mobs were brutal and had a lot of soldiers who were crazy enough that the Italians let them be. They weren't like Jimmy Conway (portrayed in Goodfellas) and the Westies in NYC who paid tribute to the local Italian Mob. What they made they kept.