Frank White (fictional character)
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Frank White is a fictional character, portrayed by Christopher Walken, in Abel Ferrara's 1990 film King of New York.
White is a drug lord who is released from Sing-Sing after serving a number of years for drug trafficking. He is reunited with his former gang, led by the ruthless Jimmy Jump, as well as his personal bodyguards Raye and Melanie, and his lover/legal analyst Jennifer.
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 Detective Roy Bishop.
White proclaims himself "reformed" and harbors ambitions to be elected Mayor of New York. He sets up a meeting with Mafia boss Arty Clay in order to secure influence with the many politicians who are beholden to the crime lord.
In Little Italy, White's lawyer, Joey 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 Hotel.
With the money gained from selling the Triad's cocaine, White sets up a fundraiser, hosted by singer Freddie Jackson, to raise even more money for the hospital. Outraged, Detectives Dennis Gilley and Tommy Flanigan, along with several like-minded officers, resolve to use extrajudicial means to get rid of White, despite Bishop's objections. Posing as drug dealers, they bribe 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.
Later, White shows up at Bishop's apartment, telling him that he has placed a $250,000 bounty on every detective involved in 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 leaving. 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, White closes his eyes and dies.
[edit] Trivia
- Rapper The Notorious B.I.G. used the nickname "The Black Frank White." Notably, his birth name is Christopher Wallace, similar to the name of the actor who played Frank White, Christopher Walken.
