Valli Boy

Frankie Valli . . . movie star.

The high-pitched lead singer of the Four Seasons (1960s-70s hits such as “Walk Like a Man” and “Sherry”) has just completed his first movie role in Paul Entertainment’s “Eternity” with Jon Voight. He’ll follow next month opposite Robby Benson in “Modern Love,” which Benson wrote and directs.

“This isn’t some whim,” said Valli, 54, whose only previous acting was as a heavy last season on “Miami Vice.” “I’ve been studying since 1963 with acting coach Bill Hickey. But what I’ve been fighting are offers to play singers or terrible roles in ‘The Love Boat’ and ‘Fantasy Island.’ I decided to hold out for a part that would surprise people.”

In “Eternity,” a time-travel romance, Valli portrays a tax-troubled merchant in the picture’s medieval segment, then plays Voight’s boss, a television news editor, in the present. He’ll head a P.R. corporation in “Modern Love.”

“I feel as if I’m in a whole new place in my career,” Valli said. “And I don’t mean just the acting. It’s been nine years since I wanted to record and now I’m going to do two albums for MCA before the end of the year.

“The first will be a new Four Seasons record. Then I’ll do something I’ve always wanted to do--go back to my roots and do my first jazz album.”