A Bronx Tale

Bronx-born and raised Chazz Palminteri wrote A Bronx Tale in 1988. The powerful one-man stage play depicted his bruising childhood which included witnessing a gangland killing when he was nine years old. Palminteri played 18 characters and brought them all to life in his autobiographical play. His friends, enemies, and family came alive onstage. Hollywood Studios went crazy after seeing it and offered him millions of dollars to turn it into a major movie. There was one catch ... they wanted to put a star in the role of Sonny and someone else to write the screenplay. With $200 in the bank ... Palminteri said No ... he would hold out and wait. He wanted to play Sonny and write the screenplay. Then one night Palminteri walked into his dressing room and sitting there was Robert De Niro who just saw the show. Robert DeNiro gave Palminteri the chance he was waiting for ... and as they say in Hollywood the rest is history.