Green Book Actor Frank Vallelonga Jr.’s Cause of Death Revealed

New details have emerged surrounding Frank Vallelonga's death.

Four months after the Green Book star was found dead in the early hours of Nov. 28, the New York medical examiner's office has ruled his cause of death as from "acute intoxication due to combined effects of fentanyl and cocaine," according to Page Six. Frank was 60 years old.

According to a statement to E! News from the New York Police Department, Frank was found unconscious outside a sheet-metal manufacturing factory in Hunts Point in the Bronx with no obvious signs of trauma. A 911 caller reported Frank's body and EMS arrived but were unable to revive him and he was pronounced dead at the scene. 

In the aftermath of The Birthday Cake actor's passing, the NYPD arrested and charged 35-year-old Steven Smith with concealment of a human corpse.

Frank had a series of small roles in the mid 1990s with parts in A Brilliant Disguise and In the Kingdom of the Blind, the Man with One Eye Is King, before starring in the Oscar-winning movie Green Book in 2018, which was co-written and produced by his brother Nick Vallelonga.

The film—which went on to win best picture and Best Original Screenplay at the 2019 Oscars—was based on Frank's late father Tony Lip's time as a bodyguard and driver in the 1960s. Green Book starred Viggo Mortensen as Tony Lip as he drove Don Shirley (portrayed by Mahershala Ali) on his tour through the south with Frank playing his uncle Rudy Vallelonga.

 

Prior to his death, Frank was reportedly collaborating on a film called That's Amore with Nick, per multiple outlets.

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