TV star comes to I. P.

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He was known as Vito Spatafore, Sr. on the TV show “The Sopranos”, but locally he is Joe Gannascoli, from East Rockaway. In addition to being a movie and TV star, he is the spokesman for Remark®, The “Quick Draw” Marker, and came to the Ace Hardware store in Island Park to promote the new line. Gannascoli, who worked in the food industry before the Sopranos also has a line of foods called “Sauce Boss”, a line of cigars called Cugine, and “Bottle Skinz” which are cozy type covers for everything from a water bottle to a propane tank featuring the logo of favorite sports teams. In addition he is the author of A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime.

Gannascoli is a supporter of police, going as far as refusing to work on a movie with Lillo Brancato, his former cast mate, because Brancato was involved in a crime that cost New York Police Department Officer Daniel Enchautegui his life. “Even though he didn’t shoot the cop he was with the guy who did.” Brancato served eight years for the 2005 crime was a model prisoner, is off drugs and now works with children. But Gannascoli was firm, “You don’t kill a cop,” he said.