- published: 06 Aug 2008
- views: 17857
Louis Giovanni "Gianni" Russo (born December 12, 1943) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather.
Russo was born in Manhattan, raised in Little Italy and Rosebank, Staten Island. He claims that he has Mafia connections and that his uncle was a soldier in the Gambino crime family. There are claims that the Gambinos persuaded Francis Ford Coppola to cast Russo as Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather (1972). After reprising the Rizzi character in a brief flashback scene at the end of The Godfather Part II, Russo went on to act in more than 35 movies, including Goodnight, My Love (1972), Lepke (1975, as Albert Anastasia), Laserblast (1978), Chances Are (1989), The Freshman (1990), Side Out (1990), Another You (1991), Super Mario Bros. (1993), Any Given Sunday (1999) and Seabiscuit (2003).
Russo claims that he started a fledgling career in organized crime working as an errand boy and mob associate for Frank Costello as an adolescent but later abandoned the dangerous and volatile lifestyle of organized crime.
I woke up with a message on the wire...
It was from my lover telling me goodbye.
The image that was fading on the other side
Never thought to leave a reason why.
Sometimes when my mind begins to wander,
I realize that things aren't what they seem.
There's a question lingering within my mind,
Could it be my lover was a dream?
Why can't I be saved by science?
Can science rescue me?
Saved by technology,
Since it put me in the place I seem to be.
Thinking back on what we had together,
Suddenly the truth appeared to me.
My imagination caught me by surprise.
My computer reprogrammed my dream.
Saved by science.
Can science rescue me?
Saved by technology,
Since it put me in the place I seem to be.
Science...
Saved by science.
Can science rescue me?
High technology will set me free.