‘Green Book’ Actor Identified as Body Dumped in Hunts Point

Man Hid, Then Dumped Body - Cops Say

A man has been arrested for concealing a corpse in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. -File Photo

By Dan Gesslein 

Bronx Voice 

December 1, 2022 

BRONX - Police have identified the body dumped on a street in Hunts Point as that of an actor who starred in the Oscar winning movie “Green Book” which was based on his father’s story. 

Police have identified 60-year-old Frank Vallelonga Jr. as the victim whose body was concealed then dumped in Hunts Point. Vallelonga starred in the Oscar-winning movie “Green Book” which was based on his father’s life. In the movie Viggo Mortensen played Vallelonga, Sr. who, with black piano player Don Shirley, drove through the segregated South. 

Vallelonga, Jr.’s brother wrote the screenplay and he played his uncle Rudy in the movie. He had several roles including appearing in an episode of “The Sopranos” and “The Neighborhood.”

At around 4 am on November 28, police responded to a 911 call of an unconscious male lying in the street of the 1200 block of Oak Point Avenue in Hunts Point. 

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by EMS.

Following an investigation, police arrested 35-year-old Steven Smith of Barretto Street and charged him with concealment of a human corpse. 

Investigators believe Vallelonga may have died of an overdose. They think Smith tried to hide the corpse but then dumped it from a car onto Oak Avenue. 

The area where the body was dumped is filled with auto body shops, construction supply businesses and storage and recycle businesses- most of which are closed during the early morning hours when the body was dumped on the desolate street. 

Cops say there were no obvious signs of trauma on Vallelonga’s body and the Medical Examiner’s office will determine the official cause of death. The case is still under investigation.