Al Lettieri
{{short description|American actor (1928–1975)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Al Lettieri
| image = Virgil Sollozo.png
| caption = Lettieri as Virgil Sollozzo in The Godfather
| birthname = Alfredo Lettieri{{cite web|url=https://www.ancestry.com/search/categories/bmd_death/?name=Al_Lettieri&birth=1928&death=1975|title=Person Details for Alfredo Lettieri, "U.S. Social Security Death Index, 1935-2014" — ancestry.com|website=Ancestry.com |publisher=}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|02|24}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|10|18|1928|02|24}}
| death_place = New York City, U.S.
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1958–1975
}}
Alfredo Lettieri (February 24, 1928 – October 18, 1975) was an American actor. Active during the 1960s and 1970s, he commonly portrayed villainous characters. He achieved recognition for his performance as mobster Virgil Sollozzo in the crime film The Godfather (1972) and appeared in several other productions alongside Hollywood's biggest screen stars.
Background
Lettieri was an Italian-American who spoke Italian fluently. His brother-in-law was Pasquale Eboli, brother of Genovese crime family boss Thomas Eboli.[http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/03/godfather-family200903 "Meadow Soprano on Line One!"] by Mark Seal, Vanity Fair, 26 February 2009
Career
Lettieri — credited as "Anthony Lettier" — had a role in the 1958 Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Fugitive Nurse" as Arthur Strome.Aveleyman.com - [http://www.aveleyman.com/ActorCredit.aspx?ActorID=10257 Al Lettieri] At the age of 36, he had a role in the television film The Hanged Man (1964).AllMovie - [https://www.allmovie.com/movie/the-hanged-man-v126055/cast-crew The Hanged Man (1964)]
Before his notable film roles materialized, Lettieri offered his services as a dialogue coach on five productions, including the 1968 wartime classic Where Eagles Dare. He was credited variously as "Alfredo Lettieri" and "Al Lettier" during this phase of his career.{{Cite web |title=Al Lettieri {{!}} Actor, Additional Crew, Writer |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0504803/ |access-date=2024-03-20 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}}
Lettieri is best known for his role as Sicilian heroin trafficker Virgil Sollozzo in the 1972 American crime film The Godfather. In his 2024 autobiography, Al Pacino describes how Lettieri took him to visit a suburban New York family that resembled the Corleones after telling him, “You should meet this guy. It’s good for what you’re doing”. Pacino concluded, "Little Al knew some guys. Some real guys. And now he was introducing me to one of them."{{cite news |last1=Pacino |first1=Al |title=Al Pacino on the inside story of The Godfather: 'I was told, you're not cutting it' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/oct/12/al-pacino-inside-story-of-the-godfather-told-not-cutting-it |access-date=12 October 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=12 October 2024}} This was the second film in which Lettieri and Marlon Brando worked together, the first being The Night of the Following Day (1969).{{cn|date=June 2023}}
He wrote the film adaptation that became the screenplay for the 1971 gangster movie Villain, which starred Richard Burton and Ian McShane.EMI Films and the Limits of British Cinema, By Paul Moody - [https://books.google.com/books?id=dQZ0DwAAQBAJ&q=%22Al+Lettieri%22Villain&pg=PA112 Page 112]Rotten Tomatoes - [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/villain_1971 Villain (1971)] Lettieri played the brutal, libidinous henchman Rudy Butler in Steve McQueen's 1972 action film The Getaway,{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=i2giAAAAIBAJ&sjid=VqoFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6279,3210655|title=Notes on Lettieri|date=September 25, 1973|work=The Sumter Daily Item|accessdate=September 21, 2012}} and the menacing hit man Frank Renda in the 1974 Charles Bronson film Mr. Majestyk.Screen Anarchy, July 18, 2018 - [https://screenanarchy.com/2018/07/70s-rewind-mr-majestyk-melons-migrants-and-murder.html 70s Rewind: MR. MAJESTYK, Melons, Migrants and Murder - Peter Martin]{{Cite news |last=Block |first=Alex Ben |date=1974-08-08 |title='Mr. Majestyk' is more violence, more sexism |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-news-mr-majestyk-is-more-vi/170112233/ |access-date=2025-04-11 |work=The Miami News |page=3B |via=Newspapers.com}} He played Ciro Musante in Go Gorilla Go (1976).Rotten Tomatoes - [https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/vai_gorilla_1976 The Hired Gun (Vai Gorilla) (Go Gorilla Go), Cast]
Death
Lettieri died of a heart attack in 1975, aged 47, in New York City.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | The Hanged Man | Al | TV movie |
| rowspan="2" |1965 | Wild Seed | Bartender | {{aka}} Fargo (as Anthony Lettier) |
| Dark Intruder | 2nd Sergeant | TV movie, {{aka}} Black Cloak (as Anthony Lettier) | |
| 1966 | After the Fox | (as Anthony Lettier) | |
| 1967 | The Bobo | Eugenio Gomez | |
| 1969 | The Night of the Following Day | Pilot Al | (as Al Lettier, though is also listed on the credits as Alfredo Letteri, associate producer) |
| rowspan="2" |1971 | A Town Called Bastard | La Bomba | |
| Villain | screenplay adaptation | ||
| rowspan="4" |1972 | The Godfather | Virgil "The Turk" Sollozzo | |
| Pulp | Miller | ||
| Footsteps | Zimmerman | TV movie | |
| The Getaway | Rudy Butler | ||
| rowspan="2" |1973 | The Don Is Dead | Vince Fargo | {{aka}} Beautiful But Deadly, {{aka}} The Deadly Kiss |
| The Deadly Trackers | Gutierrez, Mexican Policeman | ||
| rowspan="2" |1974 | McQ | Manny Santiago | |
| Mr. Majestyk | Frank Renda | ||
| rowspan="2" |1975 | Piedone a Hong Kong | Frank Barella | {{aka}} Flatfoot Goes East, {{aka}} Flatfoot in Hong Kong |
| Winner Take All | Man at Track | Episode: "Time Lock" | |
| rowspan="3" |1976 | Dublin Murders | ||
| Go Gorilla Go | Ciro Musante | ||
| House of Pleasure for Women | Eddie Mordace |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lettieri, Al}}
Category:American people of Italian descent
Category:American male film actors
Category:American male television actors
Category:Male actors from New York City
Category:20th-century American male actors
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