The cause of death for Frank Vallelonga Jr., an actor who appeared in “Green Book” and “The Sopranos,” has been revealed.
Last November, police responded to a 3:50 a.m. call reporting that a body had been dumped outside of a factory near 1243 Oak Point Ave in the Bronx. The man, who was later identified as Vallelonga Jr., was found unconscious and pronounced dead at the scene, according to the NYPD. He was 60.
Steven Smith, 35, has been arrested and charged with concealment of a human corpse.
According to the New York Post and the Daily News, the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office on Monday concluded in its autopsy report that Vallelonga Jr “died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl and cocaine.”
TheWrap has reached out to the New York City Office of the Chief Medical Examiner to confirm.
Vallelonga Jr. was the son of the real-life bouncer and actor Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga, who Viggo Mortenson portrayed in the 2018 Best Picture winner “Green Book.” Vallelonga Jr. played his uncle Rudy Vallelonga in the film that his brother Nick Vallelonga co-wrote with Peter Farrelly and Brian Hayes Currie.
“Green Book” tells the true story of Bronx native Tony Lip’s tenure as a bouncer who was later hired to drive pianist Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali) on a tour through the Jim Crow-era South.
Vallelonga Jr. landed his first acting gig in 1994’s “A Beautiful Disguise,” written and directed by his brother Nick. He appeared on an episode of “The Sopranos,” on which his father played mob boss Carmine Lupertazzi, in 2004.
Vallelonga Jr. is survived by his wife Angela and 17-year-old son Frank, as well as his brother Nick.
