The Brain Surgeon's Take

Rico Simonini is an Italian-American actor and cardiologist. Rico Simonini graduated New York University with a bachelor’s degree and the John Parkes History Award. As an actor he has enjoyed the opportunity to play leading roles in dozens of plays on stages in New York, Los Angeles and a few places in between. However, Rico’s journey in the dramatic arts has shadowed his primary vocational pursuit which propelled him from tree-lined Brooklyn roots, to New York’s Bellevue Hospital, then to San Francisco, Boston, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Chicago and eventually Los Angeles; cardiovascular medicine.

Eventually after being recruited by one of Los Angeles’ most prestigious medical centers, it was an inevitability that his artistic pursuits would blossom as often times his clients would recruit him and indulge his fancy for film and theater. In 2014, playwright Willard Manus chose Rico to originate the role of Frank Sinatra in “Frank and Ava” a two-hander developed at the Actors’ Studio, that portrayed the iconic romance between “extraordinary individuals” facing obstacles relatable to all: impossible love and lofty dreams, the yearnings for which push us to the brink. This story, based on true events, of Sinatra’s redemption and resurrection despite improbable odds in an unfriendly world (the scrutiny of the 1950’s) inspired Rico to undertake a screenplay adaptation and his first feature film production premiere in 2018, with global release in early 2019. The film, “Frank and Ava” is now available on major streaming platforms.