You probably know his face, even if the name takes a second to register. He’s the guy in the checked shirt leaning against a Cadillac in Taxi Driver, trying to sell Robert De Niro a .44 Magnum like it's a used vacuum cleaner. He’s "Easy Andy."
But the real story of what happened to Steven Prince is way weirder than a three-minute cameo in a 70s masterpiece. He wasn’t even really an actor, at least not by trade. He was Martin Scorsese's friend, his road manager, his personal assistant, and, for a brief, flickering moment in 1978, the most interesting man in an LA living room.
The Raconteur in the Red Leather Jacket
By 1978, Scorsese was at a bit of a crossroads. He was exhausted, riding the highs of Taxi Driver and the messy, creative sprawl of New York, New York. Amidst the chaos, he decided to point a camera at his buddy Steven and just let him talk.
The result was American Boy: A Profile of Steven Prince. It’s a raw, smoke-filled documentary where Prince recounts a life that sounds like five different movies mashed into one. He talked about his time as a road manager for Neil Diamond. He talked about his crippling heroin addiction. Honestly, the guy looked like a ghost—skeletal face, sunken eyes, teeth that had seen better days. He was only about 30 years old, but he looked like he'd lived through a century of bad decisions.
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One story he told changed cinema forever. He described helping a woman who had overdosed by stabbing a needle full of adrenaline directly into her heart. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Quentin Tarantino basically lifted the scene whole-cloth for Pulp Fiction.
The Murder and the Aftermath
Then there was the gas station. Prince told a story about working at a station and catching a guy stealing tires. The thief pulled a knife; Prince pulled a gun and shot him dead. He told the story with a mix of detachment and theatricality that makes your skin crawl.
After American Boy, Steven Prince sort of vanished from the public eye. People assumed the worst. Given the state of his health and his "habits" in the late 70s, the common theory was that he didn’t make it out of the decade.
But he did.
Where Did He Go?
The mystery of what happened to Steven Prince was partially solved in 2009. Director Tommy Pallotta tracked him down for a follow-up documentary titled American Prince.
He was alive. He was clean.
He had swapped the heroin and the chaos for a much more low-key existence. He looked vastly different—older, obviously, but also more substantial. He had survived the grimy, dangerous New York of the 70s and the burnout of the Hollywood scene. He spent years working in various production roles, occasionally popping up in small parts, but mostly staying behind the scenes or just living his life away from the flashbulbs.
Why the Confusion Matters
It’s easy to get him mixed up with other "Stephen Princes." If you search for him today, you’ll find obituaries for a beloved Virginia Tech cinema professor named Stephen Prince who passed away in 2020. That was a different man—a brilliant scholar of Kurosawa and digital film, but not the guy who sold Travis Bickle his artillery.
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The actual Steven Prince (the actor/raconteur) has mostly remained a private figure since his brief brush with cult fame. He represents a specific type of Hollywood figure: the "hangaround" who was actually more compelling than the stars he served.
The Legacy of a "Professional Friend"
What happened to Steven Prince is ultimately a story of survival. Most people with his 1978 trajectory ended up as a cautionary tale or a footnote in a Scorsese biography. Instead, Prince became a living legend for a very specific type of film nerd.
He didn't need a long IMDb page to leave a mark. Between the adrenaline-shot-to-the-heart story and the "Easy Andy" monologue, he’s influenced more directors than most A-listers. He proved that sometimes, the most interesting thing on a movie set isn't the script—it's the guy holding the director's coffee.
How to experience the Steven Prince story today:
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- Watch American Boy: It is currently available on the Criterion Channel. It’s a masterclass in how to tell a story.
- Compare the Monologues: Watch Prince’s "Easy Andy" scene in Taxi Driver back-to-back with his interview in American Boy. You’ll see that the line between the character and the man was basically non-existent.
- Track Down American Prince: The 2009 follow-up is harder to find but essential if you want to see the "after" picture of a man who looked like he’d never see 40.
The real takeaway? Don't believe every "death by overdose" rumor you hear about 70s icons. Sometimes they just move to the suburbs and stop answering the phone.