Tony Darrow brings an unforced delivery and a useful comic instinct to familiar tough-guy parts. We value his ease in supporting roles, while wishing more films gave him something beyond another gangster to play.
Fi1m perspective
Tony Darrow can make a tough man’s dialogue sound like ordinary conversation. In Martin Scorsese’s GoodFellas (1990), he plays Sonny Bunz, owner of the Bamboo Lounge, with the unstudied delivery that makes him useful in this company. We were disturbed by how hard it was to leave the film’s appalling gangsters, because the performances made their company so persuasive. Darrow belongs to that ensemble without needing to be its centre. It is the first film we would recommend for him.
Scorsese cast him after seeing Street Trash (1987), his film debut as a mobster. Bullets Over Broadway (1994) then began a run of six films with Woody Allen, giving the tough-guy casting a comic outlet. Darrow has improvised lines that directors preferred to the script, and the appeal is easy to understand: dialogue delivered without strain can make a small part feel less like an interruption. We rate that ease, but it is no substitute for being given something to do.
Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) shows what can happen when the part is too thin. Darrow plays Angel, one of the supporting roles that the film never develops sufficiently. Hugh Grant’s awkward gangster impersonations provide the laughs, and James Caan supplies steady support, but slack pacing keeps the farce from gathering speed. We find it amiable rather than fully satisfying. Watch it for Grant; it gives us little reason to single Darrow out.
Playing Larry Barese in The Sopranos (1999–2007) kept the crime work prominent, but Small Time Crooks (2000) gave him one of his larger Allen parts, as the hapless Tommy. His own preference is clear: “My real love is comedy, and Woody gave me the opportunity to do that in ‘Small Time Crooks.’” We would not claim that familiar casting has allowed him to show everything he can do. After GoodFellas, try the comedy before assuming the tough-guy parts tell the whole story.
Biography
Tony Darrow, born Anthony Borgese on 1 October 1938 in the East New York section of Brooklyn, New York, is an American actor. He began his career as a lounge singer, performing in nightclubs and resorts for around ten years before entering acting.
Darrow made his film debut in the cult horror Street Trash (1987). Director Martin Scorsese, having seen the performance, cast him as Sonny Bunz, the owner of the Bamboo Lounge, in GoodFellas (1990). He subsequently appeared in several Woody Allen films, including Bullets Over Broadway (1994), Mighty Aphrodite (1995), Deconstructing Harry (1997), Sweet and Lowdown (1999) and Small Time Crooks (2000).
In 1999 he played Moony in Analyze This. From 1999 to 2007 he portrayed mobster Larry Barese in the HBO series The Sopranos. Other credits include Mickey Blue Eyes (1999) and Kill the Irishman (2011).
