Frank White (fictional character)

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For other persons named Frank White, see Frank White (disambiguation).

Frank White is a fictional character portrayed by Christopher Walken in Abel Ferrara's 1990 film King of New York.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In King of New York, drug lord Frank White (Christopher Walken) is released from Sing-Sing prison after serving a number of years for drug trafficking. He is reunited with his former gang, led by the ruthless Jimmy Jump (Laurence Fishburne), as well as his personal bodyguards, Raye (Theresa Randle) and Melanie (Carrie Nguyen), and his lover/legal analyst Jennifer (Janet Julien).

Appalled by the crime and poverty that have infected his old neighborhood, White makes a bid for redemption by eliminating his competitors and using their money to finance a new South Bronx hospital for the needy. He becomes a hero to the poor, as well as target for a group of overzealous cops, led by corrupt detective Roy Bishop (Victor Argo).

White proclaims himself "reformed," and harbors ambitions to be elected mayor. He sets up a meeting with Mafia boss Arty Clay (Frank Gio) in order to secure influence with the many politicians who are beholden to the crime lord.

In Little Italy, White's lawyer, Dalesio, attempts to set up a meeting with Clay, but the crime lord refuses to accept. Deriding White as a "nigger-lover" in front of Dalesio, Clay proceeds to urinate on the messenger. Upon hearing of this, White, Jump, and several other members of the gang arrive at Clay's social club and demand a percentage of all Clay's profits. When Clay refuses and insults him to his face, White draws his gun and empties it into the mafioso. As he makes his way out, White announces to Clay's henchmen that they can all find employment at the Plaza.

With the money gained from selling the Triad's cocaine, he sets up a fundraiser, hosted by singer Freddie Jackson, to raise even more money for the hospital. Outraged, officers Gilley (David Caruso) and Flanigan (Wesley Snipes) and several like-minded officers resolve to use extrajudicial means to get rid of White, despite Bishop's objections. Posing as drug dealers, they bribe Joey Dalesio into leading them to the nightclub where White and most of his men are partying. Catching the criminals unaware, the hit squad bursts in with guns blazing, succeeding in slaying all of White's girlfriends and most of his gang. White retaliates and kills the cops responsible, but he knows he is a marked man.

That night, White shows up at Roy Bishop's apartment, telling him that he has placed a $250,000 bounty on every detective involved on the case, including Bishop. Still holding Bishop at gunpoint, White explains that he killed his competitors simply because he disapproved of their business practices, which included the exploitation of immigrants and child prostitution. He rationalizes the blood on his hands in one of the film's most quoted lines of dialogue: "I never killed a man who didn't deserve it."

White forces Bishop to handcuff himself to a chair before taking his leave. As White escapes down to the subway, Bishop uses a gun from a nearby drawer to free himself and gives chase. When Bishop corners him, White takes a woman hostage. During the ensuing standoff, White fires on Bishop, killing him, but not before the policeman is able to fire off one last shot himself. Escaping from the train and into a nearby taxi in Times Square, he looks down to see that he has been mortally wounded. As police officers surround the car, he closes his eyes and dies.