Vinny Vella

Vincent Frank Vella (January 11, 1947 – February 20, 2019) was an American actor, talk show host and comedian. He acted in more than forty films often in the role of a gangster. He was best known for the role of Artie Piscano in Martin Scorsese's Casino and Jimmy Petrille in the HBO series The Sopranos.

Vinny Vella
Born	Vincent Frank Vella (1947-01-11)January 11, 1947 Greenwich Village, New York City, New York, US
Died	February 20, 2019(2019-02-20) (aged 72) New York City, New York, US
Occupation(s)	Actor, talk show host, comedian
Spouse	Margaret Ann Hernandez
Children	5

Early life

Vella was born on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, New York City. His father was from Bari, Italy and his mother was from Naples, Italy.^[1][2] Vella's father had a fish store in Little Italy.^[1]

Career

Vella acted in more than forty films often in the role of gangster.^[3] He was best known for the role of Artie Piscano in Martin Scorsese's Casino.^[4] He played Jimmy Petrille on the HBO series The Sopranos.^[4] He was the subject of a 67-minute 2000 documentary called Hey, Vinny by director John Huba.^[3] In New York City, he hosted a public-access television cable TV show on MNN, the Vinny Vella show.^[5] He appeared in more than 35 advertisements.^[3]

Personal life

He was married to Margaret Ann Hernandez; they had one son, Vincent Vella Jr. Besides Vincent Vella Jr., Vinny was also a father to Ben and Anthony Hernandez, Jennifer Maloney and Lauren Vella. Vella was at one time the "Mayor of Elizabeth Street".^[6] In 2007, he opened his own pizzeria in Williamsburg, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn.^[7][8]

In June 2008, Vella was involved in controversy around a lottery ticket, according to some sources, and threatened to sue over it.^[9]

Death

Vella died at home on Elizabeth Street, New York City ^[where?] on February 20, 2019, due to liver cancer, at age 72.^[4][10]

Filmography

Film

Vella's films include:

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Season of Change	Michael	[11]
1995	Casino	Artie Piscano	[4]
1997	Donnie Brasco	Mobster In Photo	Uncredited[12]
1999	Ghost Dog	Sammy 'The Snake'	[3]
1999	7/11: Seven Years Eleven Apartments	Asher Elkayam	[3]
2000	Wannabes	Carmine	[3]
2000	Hey, Vinny	Himself	Documentary, by director John Huba[3]
2001	Kissing Jessica Stein	Cab Driver	[3]
2002	Analyze That	Mello	[4]
2003	This Thing of Ours	Carmine	[3]
2003	Coffee and Cigarettes	Vinny	(segment "Those Things'll Kill Ya")[3]
2004	The Kings of Brooklyn	Man	[3]
2006	Find Me Guilty	Graziedei	[12]
2007	Holla at Me	Frankie Maldini	[3]
2009	Chasing the Green	Vincent	[13]
2009	Sicilian Tale	Don Sebastiano Militello	[3]
2009	New York Blood	The Boss	[3]
2011	Kill the Irishman	Frank 'Little Frank' Brancato	[3]
2017	Monsters of Mulberry Street	Paulie Spagnuolo	[14][deprecated source]
2019	The Irishman	Meat Company Yard Manager
TBA	Blood Money		[3]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999-2004	The Sopranos	Jimmy Petrille	4 episodes[4]
2004	Law & Order	Jilts	Episode: "Everybody Loves Raimondo's"[3]
2013	The Vinny Vella show	Vinny	1 episode[5]