Animated comedy accused of Goodfellas rip-off

Goodfellas actor Frank Sivero is suing The Simpsons for a staggering $250million – claiming they ripped off his wiseguy character for one of Fat Tony's henchmen.

Sivero, who played Frankie Carbone in the 1990 gangster film, claims the show is using his 'image and likeness for commercial purposes' without compensation.

In his lawsuit, Sivero says the Springfield Mafia’s Louie is based on him – and says the show's writers used to live in the same apartment block as him.

Court papers allege 'Louie's appearance and mannerisms are strongly evocative of actor Frank Sivero'.

The Louie character first appeared on The Simpsons in October 1991 and has appeared in 16 episodes, the movie and video games

Neither Fox nor any of the Simpsons producers has yet commented on the case.

Published: 22 Oct 2014