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Lenny Montana
Acting
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 appeara…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Lenny Montana's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
Halloween Monster Bash
as Skipper (archive footage)
Blood Song
as Skipper
Pandemonium
as Coach
Evilspeak
as Jake
...All the Marbles
as Jerome
Below the Belt
as The Geek
The Big Brawl
as John
Defiance
as Whacko
The Jerk
as Con Man
Seven
as The Kahuna
They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way
as Brick
Matilda
as Hood #1
Fingers
as Luchino
Contract on Cherry Street
as Phil Lombardi
Patty
as The Racketeer
Strike Force
as Italian Dockworker
The Funny Face of the Godfather
as Saro
The Godfather
as Luca Brasi
Change of Habit
as Grocer (uncredited)