'Green Book' Actor, Franklin Lakes Resto Owner, Found Dead: PD, Report

FRANKLIN LAKES, NJ — An actor in the Oscar-winning movie "Green Book" — who also ran a Franklin Lakes restaurant named for his famous father — was found dead of a suspected overdose in The Bronx this week, according to police and reports.

Frank Vallelonga Jr., the reported owner of Tony Lip's Italian Restaurant, was found dumped in a street while a second man — Steven Smith, 35, of The Bronx — was arrested and charged with concealment of a corpse, NYPD officials said.

Vallelonga, 60, was the namesake son of a Copacabana bouncer whose 1962 road trip through the segregated South with Black musician Don Shirley inspired the movie "Green Book."

The younger Vallelonga — who also appeared in the HBO series "The Sopranos" — played the role of his own uncle while Viggo Mortensen played his father, Frank "Tony Lip" Vallelonga Sr.

How Vallelonga’s path ended on a Bronx street is still under investigation, police said.

Investigators believe Vallelonga died of a drug overdose and were told by Smith that the "Green Book" actor was already dead in a car a woman left behind, the Daily News reported.

Tony Lip's is listed as permanently closed by Google and Patch's call to the eatery Thursday night went unanswered.

Vallelonga’s father "Tony Lip" was a Bronx native who lived in Paramus and made it big as a television and movie actor who played Carmine in "The Sopranos" and also appeared in "The Godfather," "Donnie Brasco," and "Goodfellas," according to his obituary.

According to his obituary, the senior Vallelonga rests at Maryrest Cemetery in Mahwah.