Tony Tarantino

American actor (1940–2023)

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Tony Tarantino

Tarantino in 2009

Born| (1940-07-04)July 4, 1940

New York City, U.S.

Died| December 8, 2023(2023-12-08) (aged 83)

Los Angeles, California, U.S.

Occupation| Actor
Children| Quentin Tarantino

Tony Tarantino (/ˌtærənˈtiːnoʊ/; July 4, 1940 – December 8, 2023) was an American actor. He was the father of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.[1][2]

## Life and career[edit]

Tarantino was born in New York City, the son of Elizabeth Jean (née Salvaggio) and Dominic James Tarantino, both of Italian ancestry.[3][4][5]

In a 2017 interview, Tony Tarantino spoke of an incident in 1960 when he was 20 years old and talent agent Henry Willson offered him acting opportunities and a lavish lifestyle in exchange for gay sex.[2] Shocked, Tarantino says he punched Willson in the face, knocking Willson to the ground. After Willson got up he told Tarantino he would never work in Hollywood or New York again as an actor. Tarantino stated he was thereafter quickly fired from his role on the western television series Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre.[2] Tarantino changed his name to Tony Maro and booked several acting jobs with Paramount as an extra, but says he was thrown off the lot within two hours once his true identity was discovered.[2]

Tarantino was the father of film director Quentin Tarantino. During a 2010 interview, the younger Tarantino said: "Well, I never knew my father [...] That's the thing. I never knew him [...] He wanted to be an actor [...] Now he's an actor only because he has my last name. But he was never part of my life. I didn't know him. I've never met him."[6]

Tarantino produced such films as Prism[7] and Underbelly Blues.[8]

## Death[edit]

Tony Tarantino died in Los Angeles on December 8, 2023, at the age of 83.[9]

## Position on police brutality[edit]

In October 2015, his son Quentin Tarantino received backlash from police unions after speaking at an anti-police brutality rally in New York, saying: "I have to call the murderers the murderers." The elder Tarantino responded, saying he had relatives in the police and that what Quentin had said was "dead wrong".[7]

## Filmography[edit]

### As producer[edit]

Year  | Title

|

2011 | Underbelly Blues
2012 | Mediterranean Blue

### As director[edit]

Year  | Title

|

2003 | Blood Money

### As actor[edit]

Year  | Title

|

1999 | It's the Rage
Family Tree
Holy Hollywood
2003 | Blood Money
2008 | Harvest Moon
2011 | Underbelly Blues
2012 | Mediterranean Blue

## References[edit]

1. ^ "Tony Tarantino". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2013. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013.
2. ^ a b c d Sblendorio, Peter (November 11, 2017). "Quentin Tarantino's dad Tony claims Hollywood agent tried to sign him in exchange for sex". New York Daily News.
3. ^ "Le origini meridionali di Quentin Tarantino, genio indiscusso del cinema contemporaneo". May 27, 2020.
4. ^ "Tarantino Productions". www.tarantinoproductions.com.
5. ^ "Quentin Tarantino e le sue origini italiane: Ecco di dov'è la sua famiglia".
6. ^ Secher, Benjamin (February 8, 2010). "Quentin Tarantino interview: 'All my movies are achingly personal'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
7. ^ a b Pulver, Andrew (January 27, 2016). "Tarantino's father to donate to police: 'Quentin's ignorance really upset me'". The Guardian.
8. ^ Lanier, Hunter (April 1, 2018). "Underbelly Blues". Film Threat.
9. ^ "Tony Tarantino". Legacy.com. Retrieved December 24, 2023.

## External links[edit]

* Tony Tarantino at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Quentin Tarantino

* Filmography
* Awards and nominations
* Unrealized projects

Films written
and directed|

* Reservoir Dogs (1992)
* Pulp Fiction (1994)
* accolades
* Jackie Brown (1997)
* Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
* Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
* Death Proof (2007)
* Inglourious Basterds (2009)
* accolades
* Django Unchained (2012)
* accolades
* The Hateful Eight (2015)
* accolades
* Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019)
* accolades

Written only|

* True Romance (1993)
* Natural Born Killers (1994; story)
* From Dusk till Dawn (1996)

Books|

* Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Novel (2021)
* Cinema Speculation (2022)

Other work|

* My Best Friend's Birthday (1987)
* "Motherhood" (1995)
* Four Rooms (1995)
* Sin City (2005)
* "Grave Danger" (2005)
* Grindhouse (2007)
* Planet Terror (2007)

Related|

* Tony Tarantino (father)
* Quentin Tarantino Film Festival
* New Beverly Cinema
* Vista Theatre
* Video Archives
* A Band Apart
* Rolling Thunder Pictures
* Big Kahuna Burger
* "Never Again" (1997)
* QT8: The First Eight (2019)

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