Gianni Russo

Actor

December 12, 1943 (82 years)

Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Biography

With a singularly nebulous background, which, by his account, included stints as a Las Vegas nightclub emcee, radio personality, and jewelry tycoon, and comparatively little acting experience, Gianni Russo won the role of Carlo Rizzi in The Godfather (1972) on the basis of his screen test. Since then, Russo has remained busy as an actor, mostly playing assorted "wiseguys" and Mafia types. He was appeared again with Marlon Brando in a small role in The Freshman (1990) in which Brando parodied his…

Filmography

8.1

Prison Break

Smallhouse

Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.

8.7

The Godfather

Carlo Rizzi

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

7.4

Strong Medicine

The lives of staff in the womens' health clinic of a fictitious hospital in Philadelphia.

8.6

The Godfather Part II

Carlo Rizzi

In the continuing saga of the Corleone crime family, a young Vito Corleone grows up in Sicily and in 1910s New York. In the 1950s, Michael Corleone attempts to expand the family business into Las Vegas, Hollywood and Cuba.

7.6

The Rockford Files

Johnny Bongard

Cranky but likable L.A. PI Jim Rockford pulls no punches (but takes plenty of them). An ex-con sent to the slammer for a crime he didn't commit, Rockford takes on cases others don't want, aided by his tough old man, his lawyer girlfriend and some shady associates from his past.

7.0

Walker, Texas Ranger

Morris Foley

Modern-day Texas Ranger, Cordell Walker's independent crime-solving methods have their roots in the rugged traditions of the Old West. Walker's closest friend is former Ranger, C.D. Parker, who retired after a knee injury, and now owns "C.D.'s," a Country/Western saloon/restaurant. Rookie Ranger, James "Jimmy" Trivette is an ex-football player who bases his crime-solving methods on reason and uses computers and cellular phones. Alex Cahill is the Assistant DA who shares a mutual attraction with Walker, but often disagrees with his unorthodox approach to law enforcement.

6.2

Jake and the Fatman

Jake and the Fatman is a television crime drama starring William Conrad as prosecutor J. L. "Fatman" McCabe and Joe Penny as investigator Jake Styles. The series ran on CBS for five seasons from 1987 to 1992. Diagnosis: Murder was a spin-off of this series.

7.1

Hunter

Tony Rondino

Hunter is an American police drama television series created by Frank Lupo, and starring Fred Dryer as Sgt. Rick Hunter and Stepfanie Kramer as Sgt. Dee Dee McCall, which ran on NBC from 1984 to 1991. However, Kramer left after the sixth season to pursue other acting and musical opportunities. In the seventh season, Hunter partnered with two different women officers. The titular character, Sgt. Rick Hunter, was a wily, physically imposing, and often rule-breaking homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. The show's main characters, Hunter and McCall, resolve many of their cases by shooting dead the perpetrators. The show's executive producer during the first season was Stephen J. Cannell, whose company produced the series.

6.7

Renegade

Don Carmine Bendetti

Framed for murder, Detective Reno Raines becomes a fugitive bounty hunter who fights crime while trying to clear his name. His troubles began after he testified about police corruption, leading Lt. Donald Dixon to set him up.

7.2

Kojak

Russ Barton

A bald, lollipop sucking police detective with a fiery righteous attitude battles crime in New York City.

6.6

Wiseguy

Vinnie Terranova does time in a New Jersey penitentiary to set up his undercover role as an agent for the OCB (Organized Crime Bureau) of the United States. His roots in a traditional Italian city neighborhood form the underlying dramatic base throughout the series, bringing him into conflict with his conservative mother and other family members while acting undercover as syndicate enforcer.

6.8

Rush Hour 2

Red Dragon Pit Boss

It's vacation time for Carter as he finds himself alongside Lee in Hong Kong wishing for more excitement. While Carter wants to party and meet the ladies, Lee is out to track down a Triad gang lord who may be responsible for killing two men at the American Embassy. Things get complicated as the pair stumble onto a counterfeiting plot. The boys are soon up to their necks in fist fights and life-threatening situations. A trip back to the U.S. may provide the answers about the bombing, the counterfeiting, and the true allegiance of sexy customs agent Isabella.

5.6

Striptease

Willy Rojo

Bounced from her job, Erin Grant needs money if she's to have any chance of winning back custody of her child. But, eventually, she must confront the naked truth: to take on the system, she'll have to take it all off. Erin strips to conquer, but she faces unintended circumstances when a hound dog of a Congressman zeroes in on her and sharpens the shady tools at his fingertips, including blackmail and murder.

8.6

Mario Puzo's The Godfather: The Complete Novel for Television

Carlo Rizzi (uncredited)

A seven-hour chronological edit of The Godfather and The Godfather Part II, expanded with over an hour of restored scenes to trace the Corleone family’s rise from Vito’s youth in Sicily to Michael’s reign in 1950s America.

4.5

Super Mario Bros.

Scapelli

Mario and Luigi, plumbers from Brooklyn, find themselves in an alternate universe where evolved dinosaurs live in hi-tech squalor. They're the only hope to save our universe from invasion by the dino dictator, Koopa.

6.8

The Family Man

Nick

Jack's lavish, fast-paced lifestyle changes one Christmas night when he stumbles into a grocery store holdup and disarms the gunman. The next morning he wakes up in bed lying next to Kate, his college sweetheart he left in order to pursue his career, and to the horrifying discovery that his former life no longer exists. As he stumbles through this alternate suburban universe, Jack finds himself at a crossroad where he must choose between his high-power career and the woman he loves.

6.2

After the Sunset

Clippers Fan

An FBI agent is suspicious of two master thieves, quietly enjoying their retirement near what may - or may not - be the biggest score of their careers.

7.0

Hardball

Battles is a 45-year-old hard-nosed veteran cop who is forced to take a desk job or retire. Battles is soon assigned a new partner, the 25-year old hotshot Kaczierowski who follows his own set of rules when dealing with criminals. The pair are soon at odds over their respective methods of law enforcement. HARDBALL is an American crime drama television series that ran on NBC during the 1989-1990 television schedule.

6.8

The Hat Squad

Fortunata

The Hat Squad is a crime drama television series that ran for only one season on CBS, during the 1992–1993 season. 13 episodes were made, but only 11 of them aired.

6.8

Toma

This series Is based on the real-life story of New Jersey detective David Toma. Toma was a master of disguise and undercover work. Toma himself made a cameo appearance in many episodes.