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When I was young, I thought house painters painted houses. What did I know? I was a working guy. A business agent for Teamster Local 107 out of South Philly. One of a thousand working stiffs... until I wasn't no more. And then I started painting houses... myself.
~ Frank Sheeran obliquely talking about being a hitman.

Francis "Frank" Sheeran is the titular villainous main protagonist of the 2019 epic crime drama film, The Irishman, based on the 2004 book I Heard You Paint Houses. He is a fictionalized version of the late Mafia hitman who claimed to have murdered Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa.

He was portrayed by Robert De Niro, who also played Johnny Civello in Mean Streets, Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II, Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull, Rupert Pupkin in The King of Comedy, Louis Cyphre in Angel Heart, Al Capone in The Untouchables, Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas, Max Cady in Cape Fear, Frankenstein's Monster in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Neil McCauley in Heat, Dwight Hansen in This Boy's Life, Ace Rothstein in Casino, Louis Gara in Jackie Brown, Gil Renard in The Fan, Fearless Leader in The Adventures of Rocky and Buillwinkle, Don Lino in Shark Tale, David Callaway in Hide and Seek, Senator John McLaughlin in Machete and William Hale in Killers of the Flower Moon.

Biography[]

Meeting the Bufalinos[]

An Irish-American World War II veteran, Frank is first introduced as a truck driver for his local union, delivering meat in his native Philadelphia. He starts taking money from mobster Skinny Razor to steal meat from his employer and include it in his shipments at no cost, until he is finally caught. He refuses to tell police who he is stealing for, so impressing Teamsters lawyer Bill Bufalino with his loyalty that he gets the case thrown out and introduces him to his cousin Russell Bufalino, the head of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Mafia syndicate. Frank is soon working for Russell and his crime family as an enforcer and eventual contract killer, which they euphemistically refer to as "painting houses". While still just an enforcer he publicly viciously assaults a grocer named Joe for shoving his daughter Peggy when she accidentally knocked something over and says to Frank that she was "out of line".

Working for the mob[]

Russell introduces Frank to Jimmy Hoffa, the head of the Teamsters Union who is secretly in business with the Northeastern Pennsylvania crime family. Frank becomes Jimmy's bodyguard and close friend, while Jimmy becomes close to Frank's wife, Irene, and daughter, Peggy, becoming more of a father to the latter than Frank himself.

Jimmy eventually goes to prison for jury tampering, and Frank reluctantly works for his equally corrupt replacement, Frank Fitzsimmons, until President Richard Nixon commutes Jimmy's sentence. Jimmy immediately begins consolidating his power in the union and pushing the mob out, angering Russell, who tells Frank to rein him in. Frank tries to persuade Jimmy to back down, but Jimmy nonetheless tries to keep the Mafia out of the union. Finally, Russell tells Frank that Jimmy has been marked for execution, and that Frank has been chosen to perform the killing to keep him from warning Jimmy. Reluctantly, Frank agrees to go through with it.

Killing Jimmy Hoffa[]

Frank flies out to Detroit to meet Jimmy, with Jimmy's unsuspecting foster son Chuckie O'Brien and loan shark Sally Bugs in tow. They tell Jimmy that the meeting he is set to go to has been moved, and drive him to a secluded house where they claim his associates are waiting for him. Frank goes inside the house with Jimmy, and shoots him dead at point-blank range. He and two other gangsters dispose of the body.

Aftermath[]

Frank is brought before a grand jury on suspicion of murdering Jimmy, and while he manages to beat that charge, is convicted of several other crimes and imprisoned. He is released from prison after serving several years, and moves into a nursing home. He tries to reconcile with his daughter, but Peggy refuses to see him, having never forgiven him for killing Jimmy. In the film's final scene, Frank seeks absolution from a priest for his many sins, but only truly shows remorse when confessing to killing Jimmy. As the priest leaves, it is implied that Frank dies.

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