Lenny Montana

Acting

Lenny Montana

Born — Died

1926-03-13 — 1992-05-12

Place of birth

Brooklyn, New York, USA

Known for

Acting

Credits

25 titles

Tall and solidly built, this Italian-American professional wrestler turned actor was born Lenny Passaforo in Brooklyn, New York, and is best remembered for his first on-screen role as the not too bright but ever loyal bodyguard Luca Brasi in The Godfather (1972). Montana didn't 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 appeara…

Known for

Film credits

1980s · 7 titles

1970s · 10 titles

The Godfather poster
8.7

Spanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his youngest son, Michael steps in to take care of the would-be killers, launching a campaign of bloody revenge.

The Godfather

1972

The Jerk poster
6.9

After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson sets off on a hilarious misadventure that takes him from rags to riches and back again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.

The Jerk

1979

Strike Force poster
5.9

A New York City detective teams up with a federal agent and a state trooper to bust up a drug ring.

Strike Force

1975

Contract on Cherry Street poster
6.8

A policeman devises an unorthodox plan for bringing criminals to justice after his partner is brutally gunned down.

Contract on Cherry Street

1977

Matilda poster
5.7

A small-time talent agent discovers an amazing boxing kangaroo and figures to use it as his stepping-stone into the big time.

Matilda

1978

Fingers poster
6.2

A wanna-be concert pianist spends his days making a living by collecting debts for his Mafioso father, a lifestyle that could eventually ruin his dreams of a musical career.

Fingers

1978

They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way poster
4.4

Dewey and Wallace are small-town lawmen who are ordered by the governor to go undercover as prison inmates to find out where a gang of thieves have hidden their loot. While they're undercover, however, the governor dies, and because no one else knows about the ruse Dewey and Wallace are stranded in prison.

They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way

1978

Seven poster
5.8

A government agent discovers a plot by a cartel of seven gangsters to take over the state of Hawaii. He hires a team of seven hitmen to stop them.

Seven

1979

The Funny Face of the Godfather poster
6.0

The Godfather Don Vito Monreale knows, by chance, the Italian-American singer Nick Bouillon. Since the two are alike, Don Vito decided to exploit this similarity in his favour.

The Funny Face of the Godfather

1973

Patty poster
7.0

Doctors and "experts" sit around the discuss the Patty Hearst kidnaping case, which is seen in flashbacks.

Patty

1976

Series credits

Behind the camera