Goodfellas actor suing The Simpsons creators over gangster character

An actor who featured in the film Goodfellas is suing the creators of The Simpsons, claiming one of the cartoon's resident mobsters Louie is based on his character in the film.

Frank Sivero, 62, claims the mannerisms and appearance of gangster Louie closely resemble his character Frankie Carbone, according to Deadline.

In the lawsuit, Mr Sivero claims that he lived next door to some Simpsons writers when he was preparing for his role in Goodfellas, which came out in 1990.

A year later, The Simpsons debuted the character of Louie.

The Goodfellas star wants what he says is a fair share of The Simpsons' profits because of a loss of "prospective economic advantage" and "type-casting".

Mr Sivero is asking for $284 million in damages.

Fox, the network behind the hit series, is yet to respond to the lawsuit.