MOBBED UP: When Frank Dileo was managing...

MOBBED UP: When Frank Dileo was managing Michael Jackson, everyone would ask--when’s the Gloved One going to make a movie? Who would have guessed that Dileo, who was ousted as Jackson’s manager early last year, would beat Jackson to the punch? The rotund, cigar-smoking ex-industry power broker is getting good word-of-mouth reviews for his role as Tuddy, a mob hit man in Martin Scorsese’s “GoodFellas.” Dileo isn’t ashamed of his imposing physique and ever-present cigar--they probably helped him get the part.

“When Marty was directing Michael’s ‘Bad’ video, I’d come onto the set with my cigar, topcoat and sunglasses,” says Dileo. “And I’d always see Marty looking at me in a funny way. Finally he said, ‘I can really picture you in this movie I’m thinking about doing.’ Of course, I thought, ‘Yeh, sure. Martin Scorsese’s gonna put me in a movie--right!’

Nearly three years later--just days after Jackson fired Dileo--Scorsese offered him a part. Scorsese’s only counsel: play yourself. Still, Dileo admits he was “extremely nervous” on the first day of shooting. Dileo went to his pal, “GoodFellas” co-star Joe Pesci, for advice. “He told me there was one key thing for an actor to remember,” Dileo recalls. “ ‘Every minute you have free--lay down, ‘cause the nights are long.’ ”

Even though one of Dileo’s big scenes was cut (“It was too violent and they needed an R rating”), he’s delighted about his movie debut. “Yeh, I’ve talked to Bobby (De Niro) and Ray Liotta, who both told me I did a good job,” he says. “The only problem is looking at yourself on screen. The first time I saw myself, I said, ‘God, am I that fat? “

In semi-retirement for the past two years raising Tennessee walkers and growing oranges, Dileo says he’s received a stack of scripts in recent weeks, all with similar hoodlum parts for him. “Maybe I’ll turn out to be the Danny Aiello of mob movies,” he says with a laugh. “I don’t mind being typecast. What else am I going to play--a Jewish gynecologist?”

He admits he misses the record biz. “I’m getting a little itchy--I miss the action. I’m going to give acting and producing a shot, but if I got a great offer from a record company, I’d be interested. I think I’m good for the music industry--I bring some zest to it.”