Tony Darrow
Encyclopedia
Tony Darrow is an American
actor.
Darrow was born Anthony Borgese and grew up in the East New York
section of Brooklyn
. Darrow had plenty of opportunity to observe would be mobsters and their attitudes while growing up in his neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a child, Tony was gifted with a great singing voice. As a teenager, he gravitated towards show business, entering and winning talent shows while working odd jobs.
After ten years of singing in nightclubs, Tony received an offer to appear in what turned out to be a cult film, Street Trash
. He played a mobster in the film. Several months after Street Trash, Darrow was contacted by the famous film director Martin Scorsese
. It turned out that Scorsese had seen Street Trash and wanted him to audition for a role in Goodfellas
. The audition proved to be good, earning Tony a small part in the film as the owner of the Bamboo Lounge, Sonny. Tony was also in the Woody Allen
films Bullets Over Broadway
, Mighty Aphrodite
, Deconstructing Harry
, Small Time Crooks
and Sweet and Lowdown
.
In 1999, Darrow got a big role in Analyze This
with Robert De Niro
and Billy Crystal
. The following year, he appeared in Mickey Blue Eyes
with Hugh Grant
, and got another big role as mobster Larry Barese
in the HBO hit series The Sopranos
, which he was on for the entire series run (1999–2007). More recently, Darrow starred in the independent film Lynch Mob.
In June 2009, Darrow was charged with extortion in a 2004 incident. Along with Gambino crime family
soldier Joseph "Joey Boy" Orlando and associate Giovanni "Johnny" Monteleone, Darrow was accused of ordering the maiming of a man in Monticello, New York
who owed money to a loan shark
. Darrow pleaded guilty in Federal Court to these charges in February, 2011 in exchange for a sentence of up to 33 months.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor.
Darrow was born Anthony Borgese and grew up in the East New York
East New York, Brooklyn
East New York is a residential neighborhood located in the Eastern section of the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, United States. The neighborhood is part of Brooklyn Community Board 5...
section of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Darrow had plenty of opportunity to observe would be mobsters and their attitudes while growing up in his neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a child, Tony was gifted with a great singing voice. As a teenager, he gravitated towards show business, entering and winning talent shows while working odd jobs.
After ten years of singing in nightclubs, Tony received an offer to appear in what turned out to be a cult film, Street Trash
Street Trash
Street Trash is a 1987 comedy horror film directed by J. Michael Muro . It won the Silver Raven at the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film...
. He played a mobster in the film. Several months after Street Trash, Darrow was contacted by the famous film director Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
. It turned out that Scorsese had seen Street Trash and wanted him to audition for a role in Goodfellas
Goodfellas
Goodfellas is a 1990 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a film adaptation of the 1986 non-fiction book Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scorsese...
. The audition proved to be good, earning Tony a small part in the film as the owner of the Bamboo Lounge, Sonny. Tony was also in the Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
films Bullets Over Broadway
Bullets Over Broadway
Bullets Over Broadway is a 1994 crime-comedy film written by Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath and directed by Woody Allen. It stars an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri, and Jennifer Tilly....
, Mighty Aphrodite
Mighty Aphrodite
Mighty Aphrodite is a 1995 romantic comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The screenplay was inspired by the mythological tale of Pygmalion....
, Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry is a black comedy film by Woody Allen released in 1997. This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to...
, Small Time Crooks
Small Time Crooks
Small Time Crooks is a 2000 American crime-comedy film directed, written, and starring Woody Allen, along with Tracey Ullman and Hugh Grant.-Plot:...
and Sweet and Lowdown
Sweet and Lowdown
Sweet and Lowdown is a 1999 American comedy film written and directed by Woody Allen which tells the story of a fictional arrogant, obnoxious, alcoholic jazz guitarist named Emmet Ray who regards himself as perhaps the best guitarist in the world, or second best, after his idol, Django Reinhardt...
.
In 1999, Darrow got a big role in Analyze This
Analyze This
Analyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist...
with Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro, Jr. is an American actor, director and producer. His first major film roles were in Bang the Drum Slowly and Mean Streets, both in 1973...
and Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
. The following year, he appeared in Mickey Blue Eyes
Mickey Blue Eyes
Mickey Blue Eyes is a 1999 film directed by Kelly Makin. Hugh Grant stars as Michael Felgate, an English auctioneer living in New York City who becomes entangled in his soon-to-be father in-law's mafia connections...
with Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
, and got another big role as mobster Larry Barese
Larry Barese
Lorenzo "Larry Boy" Barese, played by Tony Darrow, is a fictional character on the HBO original series The Sopranos. He is the only one of the five original captains of the DiMeo crime family that remains in that position of the crime family throughout the show...
in the HBO hit series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, which he was on for the entire series run (1999–2007). More recently, Darrow starred in the independent film Lynch Mob.
In June 2009, Darrow was charged with extortion in a 2004 incident. Along with Gambino crime family
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...
soldier Joseph "Joey Boy" Orlando and associate Giovanni "Johnny" Monteleone, Darrow was accused of ordering the maiming of a man in Monticello, New York
Monticello, New York
Monticello is a village located in the Town of Thompson in Sullivan County, New York, United States. The population was 6,512 at the 2000 census. It is the seat for the Town of Thompson and the county seat of Sullivan County...
who owed money to a loan shark
Loan shark
A loan shark is a person or body that offers unsecured loans at illegally high interest rates to individuals, often enforcing repayment by blackmail or threats of violence....
. Darrow pleaded guilty in Federal Court to these charges in February, 2011 in exchange for a sentence of up to 33 months.