10 Mob Movie Actors Who Were Actually There
6. Tony Darrow - Goodfellas
Tony Darrow - the stage name of Anthony Borgese - is most famous for his appearances in Goodfellas and The Sopranos. The former saw the former nightclub singer cast in the role of Sonny Bunz, the owner of the Bamboo Lounge who gets bullied by Joe Pesci's Tommy, while in the latter he portrayed DiMeo capo Larry Barese. Darrow became something of a fixture of the mob genre following his appearance in Goodfellas, taking further genre assignments in crime comedies Analyze This and Mickey Blue Eyes.
But the mob was more than just a fiction for Darrow, who is known to have associated with Lucchese heavyweight Paul Vario before his acting career took off. Vario, who was actually the inspiration for the character of Paul Cicero in Goodfellas (who was played by fellow Paul, Paul Sorvino), is said to have booked Darrow for his first singing gig at the actual real-life Bamboo Lounge, with his casting in Goodfellas coming as a frankly ridiculous full-circle moment. He has also previously discussed growing up around John Gotti.
Darrow's mob ties didn't cease when he made the switch to acting, however. Described as a "Gambino associate in real life" by the New York Post, Darrow was sentenced to six months house arrest and two years probation in 2011 for his involvement in sanctioning the beating of a man who owed debts to a loan shark.