Lenny Montana
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- March 13, 1926
- Died
- May 12, 1992 (aged 66)
- Birthplace
- Brooklyn, New York, USA
Biography
Tall and solidly built, this Italian-American professional wrestler turned actor was born Lenny Passaforo in Brooklyn, New York, and is best remembered for his first on-screen role as the not too bright but ever loyal bodyguard Luca Brasi in The Godfather (1972). Montana didn't get a lot of screen time before being eliminated by the henchmen of opposing gangster Al Lettieri with a garrote and a knife; however, he caught the eye of casting agents and over the next ten years racked up roles in 16 movies. Usually cast as "muscle for hire", he was equally good at playing the intimidating thug or a buffoonish hoodlum, such as in Battle Creek Brawl (1980) and The Jerk (1979). His last film appearance was in the B-thriller Blood Song (1982), which he also co-wrote. He died in May 1992 of a heart attack while in Italy.
Known For
Filmography
Halloween Monster Bash
Movie · as Skipper (archive footage)
Blood Song
Movie · as Skipper
Pandemonium
Movie · as Coach
...All the Marbles
Movie · as Jerome
Evilspeak
Movie · as Jake
The Big Brawl
Movie · as John
Defiance
Movie · as Whacko
Below the Belt
Movie · as The Geek
Magnum, P.I.
TV · as Marquis' Bodyguard · 1 ep
The Jerk
Movie · as Con Man
Seven
Movie · as The Kahuna
Matilda
Movie · as Hood #1
They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way
Movie · as Brick
Fingers
Movie · as Luchino
Contract on Cherry Street
Movie · as Phil Lombardi
Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television
TV · as Luca Brasi (uncredited) · 4 eps
Patty
Movie · as The Racketeer
Strike Force
Movie · as Italian Dockworker
The Funny Face of the Godfather
Movie · as Saro
Kojak
TV · as McCoy · 1 ep
The Godfather
Movie · as Luca Brasi
Search
TV · 1 ep
Change of Habit
Movie · as Grocer (uncredited)