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A Sopranos Actor Was Implicated In A Real Mob Execution
Michael "Big Mike" Squicciarini was typecast as, well, himself, and his role as "Big Frank" on The Sopranos was no exception. Though it seems impossible for a guy who has played everyone from "Thug Joey" to "Henchman #2," his real-life rap sheet had more mob stereotypes than his IMDb page. While he worked for the DiMeo crime family on the show, he worked for the family they were based on, the DeCavalcantes, in reality.
HBOHis quotes include, "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh that's-a spicy meatball, capisci?"
Big Mike served five years for aggravated assault before officially graduating to murder in 1992, when he lured rival drug dealer Ralph Hernandez to a nightclub owned by mob capo "Joe Pitts" Conigliaro. Pitts was in a wheelchair because he and his partner failed so hard at shaking a dude down that they accidentally shot each other at the same time, but he didn't let that hold him back. Someone (we don't know for sure if it was Big Mike, but it, uh ... it was probably Big Mike) locked Hernandez in a room with Joe, but didn't stick around to see Pitts shoot the man in the forehead.
That would have been the end of it, had Big Mike not gotten stars in his eyes. Police were still investigating the crime, but all they had was a nickname, and you'd be surprised at the number of Big Mikes residing in that part of the country. Then they noticed that this Sopranos guy seemed suspiciously good at gangstering ...
Bill TurnbullWhen they needed to make sure nobody snitched about the ending of the series, who do you think they called?
Witnesses were shown a few episodes of the show, and confirmed that it was an entertainment thrill ride (and also that Big Mike totally helped kill that guy). By then, Big Mike had turned his life around, but his crimes came back to haunt him. He passed away before he could stand trial, and Joe Pitts himself was eventually knocked off in a mob hit. Scorsese himself couldn't have done better.
5
The Actor Who Played Young Ricky Bobby Really Did Like to Go Fast
In Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby, there's a flashback to a ten-year-old Ricky, played by Luke Bigham. Bigham's career soon fizzled out, meaning that Talladega Nights was somebody's acting high point, and dammit if he wasn't intent on reliving it.
Columbia PicturesLooking like "Young Will Ferrell" is a bit of a niche career.
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