While Lawyers Unravel ‘29th Street’ Deals, Pesce Enjoys Happy Ending

Frank Pesce loves happy endings. In fact, he loves them so much he altered the truth about himself in the new film “29th Street.”

According to “29th Street,” which chronicles the rather charmed life of the New York-born Italian-American, Pesce won over $6 million 15 years ago in the first New York State Lottery. The truth of the matter is, Pesce didn’t win a dime.

“It’s the only part of the movie that isn’t true,” says Pesce, who also appears in “29th Street,” as his own brother, Vito. Anthony LaPaglia plays Pesce in the movie.

Pesce was offered $10,000 for his lottery ticket, but his father insisted he not sell it. “I held onto the ticket. I went to the drawing at Madison Square Garden and I won beans,” Pesce says. “I said to my father, ‘Are you happy now? I told you I should have sold the ticket.’ ”

So Pesce, a fan of Frank Capra movies, decided to write a happy ending to his story. “I hate those kind of endings where people sit there and say, ‘I know what’s going to happen. He’s going to lose the money.’ Do you think I would be making movies if I won all that money?”

Pesce began acting as an extra in “The Godfather II” and was a stand-in for the likes of Robert DeNiro in “Taxi Driver” and Frank Sinatra in “The First Deadly Sin.”

It was while he was doing bit parts on good pal Tony Danza’s sitcom “Who’s the Boss?” that Pesce came up with the idea for “29th Street.” Pesce says the movie wouldn’t have happened without his other good friend, the late James Franciscus.

“He gave me $3,000 out of his pocket and said, ‘When we sell the story you can give it (the money) back to me.’ He put his money and his heart where his mouth was. He knew the story was a killer. We did sell it.”

In fact, Pesce sold it to three studios simultaneously. “The litigation departments are still trying to unravel the insanity that I did. There’s a movie yet to be made about what I went through to make this movie.”