Chuck Zito
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| Chuck Zito | |
|---|---|
| Born | Charles Zito Jr. March 1, 1953 New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, voice actor, radio personality |
| Years active | 1991 - present |
Charles "Chuck" Zito, Jr. (born March 1, 1953), is an Italian-American actor, amateur boxer, martial artist, celebrity bodyguard, stuntman, former boxing trainer and former president of the New York chapter of the Hells Angels.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Zito was born in New York, the 2nd of three children to Charles Zito, Sr. and Gloria Frangione.[2] The son of a professional welterweight boxer, Zito was taught at an early age how to fight and defend himself.[3] At the age of seventeen, Zito dropped out and married his high school sweetheart, Kathy. His involvement with the Hells Angels motorcycle club eventually led to their divorce.[4]
[edit] Hells Angels
A motorcycle aficionado, Zito established the New Rochelle Motorcycle Club which later merged with the Ching-a-Ling Nomads.[5] Zito would later leave the Nomads and join the Hells Angels. In 1984, Zito helped establish the Hells Angels New York Nomad Chapter, and became the chapter's president. In 2005, Zito left the Hells Angels, after twenty-five years, to focus on his acting career.[6]
[edit] Career
Following in his father's footsteps, Zito became an amateur boxer and fought in New York Golden Gloves while working manual labor. In 1980, after assisting the bodyguards of actor Robert Conrad at a motorcycle convention, Zito began his own bodyguard agency. Named Charlie's Angels Bodyguard Services, Zito initially provided protection for actress Lorna Luft and later was hired by her half-sister Liza Minnelli.[7] The actress recommended Zito's service to her plethora of celebrity acquaintances, allowing Zito to quickly develop contacts throughout Hollywood. Zito's clientele included celebrities such as Sean Penn, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Charles Bronson, Sylvester Stallone, Charlie Sheen and Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Parlaying his connection, Zito began a career as a stuntman working on films such as Year of the Dragon, Hudson Hawk and The Rock. In 1996, after a meeting with producer Tom Fontana, Zito joined the HBO prison drama Oz as Italian wise guy Chucky Pancamo. Over the years Zito has alternated with stunt work and acting with credits for stunt work in films like Fifteen Minutes and acting roles in the film This Thing of Ours. Zito is scheduled to appear in The Grasslands and the American remake of the French drama 13, starring friend and former client Mickey Rourke.
In 2003, Chuck Zito released his autobiography, Street Justice, co-authored with Joe Layden. In 2006, Zito expanded into radio with the show Chuck Zito's View on Howard Stern's Sirius Satellite Radio station.
In 2010, Chuck Zito filed a $5 million dollar lawsuit against the cable network FX, alleging that he had a development meeting with them in 2006 and he pitched the idea of an outlaw motorcycle group. He alleges that FX blew him off and then stole his idea, which became the FX show "Sons of Anarchy."[8]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Thomas Gerbasi (March 25, 2003). "Chuck Zito: Friend of the Game". MaxBoxing. Archived from the original on May 20, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20060520202205/http://www.maxboxing.com/Gerbasi/gerbasi032503.asp. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- ^ Chuck Zito and Joe Layden (2003). Street Justice. Macmillan. ISBN 0312320213, 9780312320218. http://books.google.com/books?id=xKMseFs5xqYC&pg=PA8&lpg=PP1&dq=street+justice&output=html. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ Dennis Hamill (January 5, 2003). FOREVER FLEXING HIS REPe. Macmillan. ISBN 0312320213, 9780312320218. http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/2003/01/05/2003-01-05_forever_flexing_his_rep___ch.htmll. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- ^ "Street Justice - Google Books". Google.com. http://www.google.com/books?id=xKMseFs5xqYC&pg=PA197&lpg=PP1&dq=street+justice&output=html. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ Street Justice - Google Books. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?pg=PA87&lpg=PA86&dq=new+rochelle+motorcycle+club&sig=YVGcNqfKT5Ksv3827vqDDCfm46s&ei=tbiLSYzQDpmatwfI8eGrCw&ct=result&id=xKMseFs5xqYC&ots=65xU_97XZ3&output=html. Retrieved 2010-08-09.
- ^ http://www.chuckzito.com/articles/images/article_fall_angel.gif
- ^ "A Stuntman Is Ready For a Leap to Stardom". New York Times. August 23, 1998. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0DE4DE1F3DF930A1575BC0A96E958260. Retrieved 2007-11-01.
- ^ "Ex-Hells Angel: 'Sons of Anarchy' Was MY Idea!". TMZ.com. 2010-06-15. http://www.tmz.com/2010/06/15/sons-of-anarchy-chuck-zito-hells-angels-fx-lawsuit-motorcycles/. Retrieved 2011-10-06.
[edit] Further reading
- Zito, Chuck; Joe Layden (2003). Street Justice. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0312320218.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Chuck Zito at the Internet Movie Database
- Street Justice: Autobiography
- Eddie Goldman interviews Chuck Zito
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