Lenny Montana

Tall and solidly built this ItalianAmerican professional wrestler turned actor was born Lenny Passaforo in Brooklyn New York and is best remembered for his first onscreen role as the not too bright but ever loyal bodyguard Luca Brasi in The Godfather 1972 Montana didnt get a lot of screen time before being eliminated by the henchmen of opposing gangster Al Lettieri with a garrote and a knife however he caught the eye of casting agents and over the next ten years racked up roles in 16 movies Usually cast as muscle for hire he was equally good at playing the intimidating thug or a buffoonish hoodlum such as in Battle Creek Brawl 1980 and The Jerk 1979 His last film appearance was in the Bthriller Blood Song 1982 which he also cowrote He died in May 1992 of a heart attack while in Italy