Breaking News Story from the Bronx -

An off-duty NYPD police officer was shot and killed today as he tried to stop a burglary in the house next door to his. The two suspects ended up in the hospital (the police officer apparently was able to shoot them before he died), and they're in serious condition. One of the suspects was Lillo Brancato, the actor who played the older "C" in "A Bronx Tale".

Apparently Brancato has been heavily involved lately in drug use.

Brancato has also appeared in a few episodes of "The Sopranos", and in a surprisingly good role as a soldier who learns Shakespeare in the Danny DeVito movie "Renaissance Man".

I saw this on the news. This guy fell off the map since A Bronx Tale, he was good in it though. Sort of shocked me.

He made two more decent appearances right after that.... he was very good in "Renaissance Man" (his 'We band of brothers' speech was awesome) and a small part in "Crimson Tide" as a radar officer on a submarine.

FWIW - I was shocked, too, when I heard that he was involved in this shooting.

Wow, I had no idea he'd gone downhill like that. I used to have the biggest crush on him, no chance anymore though.

Sheesh. A little "H", robbery and murder, ...and all of a sudden, we're not worthy... :rolleyes:

My mom told me this story tonight, and I was just going to post it here, until I found this thread.

How sad. For the officer, especially, but also to see that someone we "know" has taken such a bad turn.

Same here. I loved him in A Bronx Tale (absolutely gorgeous!)...such a shame he ended up like this.

Sonny told him to stay away from those kids. Now he's a jerk off just like them.

What a shame. Maybe his not being able to find his niche in hollywood took it's toll on him.


Pvt. Donnie Benitez in Renaissance Man was probably his best role since A Bronx Tale.

He also appeared in an episode of NYPD Blue.


Don Cardi

It wasn't too long ago I was checking out his filmography on IMDB and he's had more roles than I thought. He's even been involved in recent projects so it's not as if he's not working. So this is a bit hard to understand. It's not as if he's been out of film for years.

Now he joins Robert Iler in the Sopranos Alumni Felony Club.

The New York Times Magazine several years ago had a feature article on DeNiro. They interviewed him on the set of "Bronx Tale," and he was his usual, enigmatic self. But he took pride in his recruitment of Brancato, who got the part by sending DeNiro a video of his "Godfather" and "Goodfellas" imitations. During the interview, DeNiro constantly called Brancato in and told him, "Lillo, do Frankie Pentangeli...do Al..."
Hell, if only I'd known that doing GF and Goodfellas schtiks could have gotten me a part in "Bronx Tale."

Turnbull, do Des Spellacy.....do Thomas "Tom" Spellacy....do Jack Amsterdam.

You would have definitely gotten a part.


Don Cardi

Hell, if I could send impressions to him I probably would right now.

This is the saddest news. I am familar with the apartment complex the shooting took place in. I wonder if he lived there. He was a cutie.

The reports I've seen say that Brancato lives in Yonkers (just north of the shooting scene). Its not much, but reports are specifying that he had no part in the shooting (the other guy did it).

That's what he told Tony and Pussy.

Actually, Pussy was already dead.

"I got a wife an' kids...I got a scholarship named after me...I met the Pope, fer Chrissakes. An' you knew that hoo-er, and you didn't say nothin'? Who absolves you, you HYPOCRITE!!"
Pure joy!

"I met the Pope, fer Chrissakes....."

(Truly laughing out loud. )

The Post (that bastion of factual reporting), said today that Brancato got the role in Bronx Tale after being spotted by a talent scout at Jones Beach.

TOM SPELLACY: Did Amsterdam ever tell you about Dominic LoPresti, that little ginzo tried to muscle in on his construction business? So Jack takes him down to a laundry in Lincoln Heights, stuffs him in a dryer...shrinks the poor bastard down to 40 pounds...

DESMOND SPELLACY: Is that a fact?

TOM SPELLACY: Des, I don't know the Holy Ghost for a fact, but you're in the Holy Ghost business, so I believe you.

DESMOND SPELLACY: Meaning I should believe you...

TOM SPELLACY: No...meaning that if you step in sh**, and call it clover, then don't believe me...

I found this article with DeNiro's remarks on this:


Protege's downward spiral stuns De Niro



BY JESS WISLOSKI and DEREK ROSE
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Actor Robert De Niro expressed shock yesterday that the one-time protege he plucked from obscurity and gave a starring movie role is suspected in the murder of a cop.
Lillo Brancato made his movie debut 12 years ago opposite De Niro, went on to a role in "The Sopranos" and once performed with former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

"This is deeply disturbing news, a tragedy beyond comprehension," De Niro said yesterday. "I join others in extending my deepest sympathy to Officer \[Daniel\] Enchautegui's family.

"The sense of loss is one we all feel."

De Niro, who directed and starred in the 1993 film "A Bronx Tale," cast a previously unknown 17-year-old Brancato to play his son.

Brancato used his role in the movie to woo Yonkers beauty Stefanie Armento - the daughter of his .accused murder accomplice Steven Armento, her mother told the Daily News.

"He would tell her, 'I was in "A Bronx Tale." I can show you what life is like,' " said Donna Nelson, Stefanie's mother and Steven Armento's ex-wife.

"She can't help but be in love with him."

But the Fordham University premed student soon realized Brancato was slipping into a life of drugs and broke up with him after six months, Nelson said.

Brancato, however, apparently wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Stefanie Armento, 20, changed her cell phone three times amid his persistence, the mom said.

Last week, he threw a lighted cigarette in Stephanie's face, the mother added. Despite the turmoil, Steven Armento, 48, remained buddies with the actor. "Steven and Lillo were two of a kind with partying and drugs," Nelson said.

Brancato, born in Colombia but adopted and raised by Italian-American parents in Yonkers, had been in a heroin spiral for the past four years, to the dismay of his family, sources said.

In one of his last acting gigs, Brancato played former U.S. Senate candidate Rick Lazio in a 2001 "Inner Circle" City Hall press spoof with Giuliani.

"At the time, obviously we had no idea he would be accused of such a horrendous crime," said Giuliani spokesman Sunny Mindel. "The mayor extends his sympathy to Officer Enchautegui's entire family. The city has lost a fine officer."

Friends said Brancato had been planning to enter a drug treatment program this week - and then move to Los .Angeles to focus on his acting career.

Family members said cops wouldn't let them see the actor at the hospital. "They should at least let my parents in there," Brancato's brother Vincent said. "God forbid he dies."


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