BY TODD GARBARINI
Salvatore
Anthony Grosso, known affectionately as Sonny Grosso, passed away on Wednesday,
January 22, 2020 at the age of 89. If his name doesn’t ring a bell, his work
most assuredly did. Mr. Grosso was originally a New York City police detective
who was the partner of Detective Eddie Egan. These two gentlemen both, on a
hunch, broke up an organized crime ring which resulted in the seizure of 112
pounds of heroin. This then-unprecedented bust in 1961 provided the basis for
the 1969 Robin Moore chronicle of their exploits, The French Connection,
and was made into the Oscar-winning classic film of the same name two years
later, resulting in a Best Picture win for producer Philip D’Antoni, Best
Director for William Friedkin, Best Actor for Gene Hackman (he personified
Eddie Egan’s Jimmy “Popeye†Doyle), Best Screenplay for Ernest Tidyman’s
adaptation of Mr. Moore’s book, and Best Editing for Jerry Greenberg, most
notably for the still hair-raising car chase through the streets of Brooklyn.
He also worked on the Philip D’Antoni-directed 1973 film The Seven-Ups
which boasts another terrific car chase.
While
still police detectives, both Mr. Grosso and Mr. Egan had small roles in The
French Connection (the former as Klein and the latter as Simonson) while
working in behind-the-scenes roles as technical advisers on the film. Mr.
Grosso got to learn the ropes of New York filmmaking and appeared in The
Godfather (1972) in the scene wherein McCluskey (Sterling Hayden) clocks
Michael Corleone (Al Pacino). His gun made it into the hands of Michael
Corleone in the famous Louis’s Restaurant scene when he kills McCluskey
Sollozzo.
I
was fortunate enough to see Don Rickles at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas in March
2004 and was bowled over when it came to my attention that Mr. Grosso was in
attendance. I commandeered his attention following the show, much like Doyle
wrestled the 1971 Pontiac Le Mans away from the driver in The French
Connection and thanked him profusely for his part in making my all-time
favorite movie a reality. Six years later we met again at a New York City
screening of the film also attended by director Friedkin, and he was kind,
gracious and warm to speak with.
Mr.
Grosso was also a fixture at Rao’s, an exclusive New York restaurant on East
114th Street where grew up around the corner from. Here he hung out
with family and friends, and the establishment was co-owned by the late Frank
Pellegrino Sr. who played Johnny Dio in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas
(1990) and is probably best known as FBI Chief Frank Cubitoso on HBO’s The
Sopranos.
Mr.
Grosso’s new book, a memoir entitled Harlem to Hollywood, My Real-to-Reel Life, will obviously be published posthumously, although I cannot locate a
publication date. I look forward to this book with anticipation, as will all of
us who admire his contributions as a police officer and to the film world.