The Godfather 1 & 2, Any Given Sunday Rush Hour 2
I just read on impactful book called : Hollywood Godfather: My Life in the Movies & The Mob! I read it cover to cover because it was intense & fascinating.
Actor Gianni Russo has led an intriguing life.
Gianni Russo was a handsome 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.
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. Russo had passionate affairs with Marilyn Monroe, Liza Minelli, and scores of other celebrities. 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.
Hollywood Godfather is a no-holds-barred account of a life filled with violence, glamour, sex—and fun.
Gianni Russo Wines launched nationally in 2009. And he has an expanded product line coming out this year.
Born in Manhattan and raised in Little Italy and Staten Island, Russo overcame polio as a child to start his first “business” at the tender age of twelve, selling pens and erasers on the street corners. At eighteen Russo made his first trip to Miami, where he began to dabble in show-business, working in nightclubs and hotspots before deciding to pursue acting and move to Hollywood.
His Book: Hollywood Godfather: My Life in the Movies & the Mob is an eye-opening read.
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