Gregory Gerald Antonacci (February 2, 1947 – September 20, 2017) was an American

television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, director, producer, and writer. He portrayed

Johnny Torrio John Donato Torrio (born Donato Torrio, ; January 20, 1882 – April 16, 1957) was an Italian born-American mobster who helped build the Chicago Outfit in the 1920s later inherited by his protégé Al Capone. Torrio proposed a National Crime Sy ...

in ''

Boardwalk Empire ''Boardwalk Empire'' is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on the premium cable channel HBO. The series is set chiefly in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era of the 1920s ...

'' in every season, from 2010 to 2014, and as Phil Leotardo's right-hand man Butch DeConcini in ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The story revolves around Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey-based American Mafia, Italian-American mobster, portraying h ...

'' from 2006 to the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

in 2007.

Early life and career

Antonacci was born in

Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

. As a director, producer, and writer, he worked on a number of television series, including '' Busting Loose'', '' Brothers'', ''

The Tortellis ''The Tortellis'' is an American sitcom television series and the first Spin-off (media), spin-off of ''Cheers'', starring Dan Hedaya and Jean Kasem. It aired on NBC from January 22 to May 12, 1987. Synopsis Hedaya and Kasem had appeared on ''Ch ...

'', '' Perfect Strangers'', '' The Royal Family'', '' The John Larroquette Show'', '' Herman's Head'', ''

It's a Living ''It's a Living'' (renamed for season two as ''Making a Living'') is an American sitcom television series set in a restaurant at the top of the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. The show aired on ABC from October 30, 1980, until June 11, 1982. ...

'', ''

Soap Soap is a salt of a fatty acid used in a variety of cleansing and lubricating products. In a domestic setting, soaps are surfactants usually used for washing, bathing, and other types of housekeeping. In industrial settings, soaps are used ...

'', and other series. As an actor, he had roles in ''

The Rockford Files ''The Rockford Files'' is an American detective drama television series starring James Garner that aired on the NBC network from September 13, 1974 to January 10, 1980, and remains in syndication. Garner portrays Los Angeles private investigat ...

'', as Vinnie Morabito on '' Busting Loose'', Tony Manucci on '' Makin' It'', Butch DeConcini on ''

,'' and Johnny Torrio on ''

''. In 1976, he played the role of Hector in " A Nun's Story" and " Good Time Girls" during season two of ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' (originally ''Laverne DeFazio & Shirley Feeney'') is an American sitcom television series that played for eight seasons on ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of '' Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' st ...

''. He made a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

as a

mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix ''-ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and r ...

in the 2013 film ''

The Family A family is a domestic or social group. Family or The Family may also refer to: Mathematics *Family of curves, a set of curves resulting from a function with variable parameters *Family of sets, a collection of sets *Indexed family, a family wh ...

''. Antonacci was also a playwright, theatrical actor, and director, participating in multiple productions and roles at the

La MaMa Experimental Theater Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

in the East Village throughout the early through mid-1970s. He wrote and performed in the 1971

Off-Off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the pro ...

musical "Dance Wi' Me (or, The Fatal Twitch)," which was directed by Joel Zwick and produced at La MaMa. This play was produced again at La MaMa in 1974, and then renamed and re-staged as the Broadway musical " Dance With Me," opening January 23, 1975 at the Mayfair Theatre in New York City.

Personal life and death

In 1978, Antonacci married actress

Annie Potts Anne Hampton Potts (born October 28, 1952) is an American actress. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for '' Corvette Summer'' (1978) and won a Genie Award for '' Heartaches'' (1981), before appearing in ''Ghostbusters'' (1984), '' Pretty ...

. They divorced in 1980. In 1981, he married actress Lynda Costanzo. They had one child. He died at the age of 70 in

Massapequa, New York Massapequa (, ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Oyster Bay in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Massapequa area. The p ...

, on September 20, 2017. His death occurred exactly one week after that of

Frank Vincent Frank Vincent Gattuso Jr. (April 15, 1937 – September 13, 2017) was an American actor. During a five-decade career, Vincent often portrayed mobsters. He was a frequent collaborator of filmmaker Martin Scorsese, appearing as Salvy in ''Raging B ...

, who played Phil Leotardo, Butch DeConcini's boss, on ''The Sopranos''.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
Greg Antonacci's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antonacci, Greg 1947 births American writers of Italian descent 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from New York City 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male television actors American television directors Television producers from New York City American television writers American male television writers People from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan American male dramatists and playwrights 2017 deaths 20th-century American male writers Film directors from New York City Screenwriters from New York (state) American film directors of Italian descent