‘Green Book’ actor died of fentanyl, cocaine overdose: NYC officials
“Green Book” actor Frank Vallelonga Jr., whose body was found dumped in the Bronx in late November, died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl and cocaine, city officials said Monday.
Vallelonga, 60, was found dead outside a sheet metal manufacturing factory in Hunts Point just before 4 a.m. Nov. 28, cops said.
Police said at the time that the actor had apparently died of an OD and that his body had been tossed out of a vehicle.
The city Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Monday that the actor’s death was accidental, caused by “acute intoxication due to combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine,” an ME rep said.
The dead actor’s father, Frank Vallelonga Sr., was the Copacabana bouncer known as “Tony Lip” who was one of the main characters in the 2018 “Green Book” film, which tells the story of the elder Vallelonga as he drove black pianist Don Shirley through the segregated South in 1962.
The movie’s title refers to the book that showed black travelers were they were allowed to stay at the time.
Vallelonga Sr., who died in 2013, was portrayed by Viggo Mortensen.
The younger Vallelonga appeared in the Oscar-winning flick as his uncle, Rudy Vallelonga.
Vallelonga Jr.’s body was reported by a 911 caller in late November.
A day later, Steven Smith, 35, was charged with concealment of a human corpse.
Cops at the time said they had Smith on video tossing the actor’s body from a car and that he later confessed he was involved but denied having anything to do with the death.
Smith told police at one point that a woman named “Pam” approached him to ask for his help in dumping the body of a person who overdosed, according to his criminal complaint.
“That dude was dead already. He overdosed, I didn’t have anything to do with that,” Smith told cops, according to the court docs.
The car that Smith used belonged to Vallelonga Jr.’s brother, Nicholas, who told cops he did not give Smith permission to take his 2021 gray Hyundai Elantra, the documents say.
Smith has since been indicted but failed to show up for his last court appearance, according to the Bronx DA.
“A warrant was issued, and when he is picked up, he will be arraigned on an indictment,” a spokeswoman for the office said.
