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Alfredo James "Al" 'Pacino established himself as a film actor during one of cinema's most vibrant decades, the 1970s, and has become an enduring and iconic figure in the world of American movies.
He was born April 25, 1940 in Manhattan, New York City, to Italian-American parents, Rose (nee Gerardi) and Sal Pacino. They divorced when he was young. His mother moved them into his grandparents' home in the South Bronx. Pacino found himself often repeating the plots and voices of characters he had seen in the movies. Bored and unmotivated in school, he found a haven in school plays, and his interest soon blossomed into a full-time career. Starting onstage, he went through a period of depression and poverty, sometimes having to borrow bus fare to succeed to auditions. He made it into the prestigious Actors Studio in 1966, studying under Lee Strasberg, creator of the Method Approach that would become the trademark of many 1970s-era actors.
After appearing in a string of plays in supporting roles, Pacino finally attained success off-Broadway with Israel Horovitz's "The Indian Wants the Bronx", winning an Obie Award for the 1966-67 season. That was followed by a Tony Award for "Does the Tiger Wear a Necktie?" His first feature films made little departure from the gritty realistic stage performances that earned him respect: he played a drug addict in The Panic in Needle Park (1971) after his film debut in Me, Natalie (1969). The role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972) was one of the most sought-after of the time: Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson, Ryan O'Neal, Robert De Niro and a host of other actors either wanted it or were mentioned, but director Francis Ford Coppola wanted Pacino for the role.
Coppola was successful but Pacino was reportedly in constant fear of being fired during the very difficult shoot. The film was a monster hit that earned Pacino his first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. However, instead of taking on easier projects for the big money he could now command, Pacino threw his support behind what he considered tough but important films, such as the true-life crime drama Serpico (1973) and the tragic real-life bank robbery film Dog Day Afternoon (1975). He was nominated three consecutive years for the "Best Actor" Academy Award. He faltered slightly with Bobby Deerfield (1977), but regained his stride with And Justice for All (1979), for which he received another Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. Unfortunately, this would signal the beginning of a decline in his career, which produced flops like Cruising (1980) and Author! Author! (1982).
Pacino took on another vicious gangster role and cemented his legendary status in the ultra-violent cult film Scarface (1983), but a monumental mistake was about to follow. Revolution (1985) endured an endless and seemingly cursed shoot in which equipment was destroyed, weather was terrible, and Pacino fell ill with pneumonia. Constant changes in the script further derailed the project. The Revolutionary War-themed film, considered among the worst films ever made, resulted in awful reviews and kept him off the screen for the next four years. Returning to the stage, Pacino did much to give back and contribute to the theatre, which he considers his first love. He directed a film, The Local Stigmatic (1990), but it remains unreleased. He lifted his self-imposed exile with the striking Sea of Love (1989) as a hard-drinking policeman. This marked the second phase of Pacino's career, being the first to feature his now famous dark, owl eyes and hoarse, gravelly voice.
Returning to the Corleones, Pacino made The Godfather Part III (1990) and earned raves for his first comedic role in the colorful adaptation Dick Tracy (1990). This earned him another Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and two years later he was nominated for Glengarry Glen Ross (1992). He went into romantic mode for Frankie and Johnny (1991). In 1992, he finally won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his amazing performance in Scent of a Woman (1992). A mixture of technical perfection (he plays a blind man) and charisma, the role was tailor-made for him, and remains a classic.
The next few years would see Pacino becoming more comfortable with acting and movies as a business, turning out great roles in great films with more frequency and less of the demanding personal involvement of his wilder days. Carlito's Way (1993) proved another gangster classic, as did the epic crime drama Heat (1995) directed by Michael Mann and co-starring Robert De Niro. He directed the film adaptation of Shakespeare's Looking for Richard (1996). During this period, City Hall (1996), Donnie Brasco (1997) and The Devil's Advocate (1997) all came out. Reteaming with Mann and then Oliver Stone, he gave commanding performances in The Insider (1999) and Any Given Sunday (1999).
In the 2000s, Pacino starred in a number of theatrical blockbusters, including Ocean's Thirteen (2007), but his choice in television roles (the vicious, closeted Roy Cohn in the HBO miniseries Angels in America (2003) and his sensitive portrayal of Jack Kevorkian, in the television movie You Don't Know Jack (2010)) are reminiscent of the bolder choices of his early career. Each television project garnered him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.
Never wed, Pacino has a daughter, Julie Marie, with acting teacher Jan Tarrant, and a set of twins with former longtime girlfriend Beverly D'Angelo. His romantic history includes Jill Clayburgh, Veruschka von Lehndorff, Carole Mallory, Debra Winger, Tuesday Weld, Marthe Keller, Carmen Cervera, Kathleen Quinlan, Lyndall Hobbs, Penelope Ann Miller, and a two-decade intermittent relationship with "Godfather" co-star Diane Keaton. He currently lives with Argentinian actress Lucila Solá, who is 36 years his junior.
As of 2022, Pacino is 82-years-old. He has never retired from acting, and continues to appear regularly in film.scarface- Actor
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Veteran actor and director Robert Selden Duvall was born on January 5, 1931, in San Diego, CA, to Mildred Virginia (Hart), an amateur actress, and William Howard Duvall, a career military officer who later became an admiral. Duvall majored in drama at Principia College (Elsah, IL), then served a two-year hitch in the army after graduating in 1953. He began attending The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre In New York City on the G.I. Bill in 1955, studying under Sanford Meisner along with Dustin Hoffman, with whom Duvall shared an apartment. Both were close to another struggling young actor named Gene Hackman. Meisner cast Duvall in the play "The Midnight Caller" by Horton Foote, a link that would prove critical to his career, as it was Foote who recommended Duvall to play the mentally disabled "Boo Radley" in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962). This was his first "major" role since his 1956 motion picture debut as an MP in Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956), starring Paul Newman.
Duvall began making a name for himself as a stage actor in New York, winning an Obie Award in 1965 playing incest-minded longshoreman "Eddie Carbone" in the off-Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge", a production for which his old roommate Hoffman was assistant director. He found steady work in episodic TV and appeared as a modestly billed character actor in films, such as Arthur Penn's The Chase (1966) with Marlon Brando and in Robert Altman's Countdown (1967) and Francis Ford Coppola's The Rain People (1969), in both of which he co-starred with James Caan.
He was also memorable as the heavy who is shot by John Wayne at the climax of True Grit (1969) and was the first "Maj. Frank Burns", creating the character in Altman's Korean War comedy M*A*S*H (1970). He also appeared as the eponymous lead in George Lucas' directorial debut, THX 1138 (1971). It was Francis Ford Coppola, casting The Godfather (1972), who reunited Duvall with Brando and Caan and provided him with his career breakthrough as mob lawyer "Tom Hagen". He received the first of his six Academy Award nominations for the role.
Thereafter, Duvall had steady work in featured roles in such films as The Godfather Part II (1974), The Killer Elite (1975), Network (1976), The Seven-Per-Cent Solution (1976) and The Eagle Has Landed (1976). Occasionally this actor's actor got the chance to assay a lead role, most notably in Tomorrow (1972), in which he was brilliant as William Faulkner's inarticulate backwoods farmer. He was less impressive as the lead in Badge 373 (1973), in which he played a character based on real-life NYPD detective Eddie Egan, the same man his old friend Gene Hackman had won an Oscar for playing, in fictionalized form as "Popeye Doyle" in The French Connection (1971).
It was his appearance as "Lt. Col. Kilgore" in another Coppola picture, Apocalypse Now (1979), that solidified Duvall's reputation as a great actor. He got his second Academy Award nomination for the role, and was named by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most versatile actor in the world. Duvall created one of the most memorable characters ever assayed on film, and gave the world the memorable phrase, "I love the smell of napalm in the morning!"
Subsequently, Duvall proved one of the few established character actors to move from supporting to leading roles, with his Oscar-nominated turns in The Great Santini (1979) and Tender Mercies (1983), the latter of which won him the Academy Award for Best Actor. Now at the summit of his career, Duvall seemed to be afflicted with the fabled "Oscar curse" that had overwhelmed the careers of fellow Academy Award winners Luise Rainer, Rod Steiger and Cliff Robertson. He could not find work equal to his talents, either due to his post-Oscar salary demands or a lack of perception in the industry that he truly was leading man material. He did not appear in The Godfather Part III (1990), as the studio would not give in to his demands for a salary commensurate with that of Al Pacino, who was receiving $5 million to reprise Michael Corleone.
His greatest achievement in his immediate post-Oscar period was his triumphant characterization of grizzled Texas Ranger Gus McCrae in the TV mini-series Lonesome Dove (1989), for which he received an Emmy nomination. He received a second Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin in Stalin (1992), and a third Emmy nomination playing Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in The Man Who Captured Eichmann (1996).
The shakeout of his career doldrums was that Duvall eventually settled back into his status as one of the premier character actors in the industry, rivaled only by his old friend Gene Hackman. Duvall, unlike Hackman, also has directed pictures, including the documentary We're Not the Jet Set (1974), Angelo My Love (1983) and Assassination Tango (2002). As a writer-director, Duvall gave himself one of his most memorable roles, that of the preacher on the run from the law in The Apostle (1997), a brilliant performance for which he received his third Best Actor nomination and fifth Oscar nomination overall. The film brought Duvall back to the front ranks of great actors, and was followed by a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nod for A Civil Action (1998).
Robert Duvall will long be remembered as one of the great naturalistic American screen actors in the mode of Spencer Tracy and his frequent co-star Marlon Brando. His performances as "Boo Radley" in To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), "Jackson Fentry" in Tomorrow (1972), "Tom Hagen" in the first two "Godfather" movies, "Frank Hackett" in Network (1976), "Lt. Col. Kilgore" in Apocalypse Now (1979), "Bull Meechum" in The Great Santini (1979), "Mac Sledge" in Tender Mercies (1983), "Gus McCrae" in Lonesome Dove (1989) and "Sonny Dewey" in The Apostle (1997) rank as some of the finest acting ever put on film. It's a body of work that few actors can equal, let alone surpass.the goodfather- Actor
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One of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro was born on August 17, 1943 in Manhattan, New York City, to artists Virginia (Admiral) and Robert De Niro Sr. His paternal grandfather was of Italian descent, and his other ancestry is Irish, English, Dutch, German, and French. He was trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the American Workshop. De Niro first gained fame for his role in Bang the Drum Slowly (1973), but he gained his reputation as a volatile actor in Mean Streets (1973), which was his first film with director Martin Scorsese. He received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Godfather Part II (1974) and received Academy Award nominations for best actor in Taxi Driver (1976), The Deer Hunter (1978) and Cape Fear (1991). He received the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role as Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull (1980).
De Niro has earned four Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, for his work in New York, New York (1977), opposite Liza Minnelli, Midnight Run (1988), Analyze This (1999) and Meet the Parents (2000). Other notable performances include Brazil (1985), The Untouchables (1987), Backdraft (1991), Frankenstein (1994), Heat (1995), Casino (1995) and Jackie Brown (1997). At the same time, he also directed and starred in such films as A Bronx Tale (1993) and The Good Shepherd (2006). De Niro has also received the AFI Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003 and the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010.
As of 2022, De Niro is 79-years-old. He has never retired from acting, and continues to work regularly in mostly film.the goodfather 2.....goodfellas- Actor
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Intense was the word for Ray Liotta. He specialized in psychopathic characters who hide behind a cultivated charm. Even in his nice-guy roles in Field of Dreams (1989) and Operation Dumbo Drop (1995), you get the impression that something is smoldering inside of him. He was born in Newark, New Jersey, and was adopted by Mary (Edgar), a township clerk, and Alfred Liotta, an auto parts store owner. He studied acting at the University of Miami, where he became friends with Steven Bauer (Scarface (1983), Thief of Hearts (1984)). He spent his first years acting in TV: Another World (1964), a TV movie and several short-lived series. He broke into movies with the black comedy Something Wild (1986), which garnered him rave reviews. Originally unable to get a reading, he was recommended for the part by Melanie Griffith (then married to Bauer).
Following the success Something Wild (1986), he received more offers in the "psycho" vein, but refused them to avoid being typecast. Instead, he made "little movies" like Dominick and Eugene (1988), which earned him standing as an actor's actor, and Field of Dreams (1989), whose success always surprised him. When he heard Martin Scorsese was casting Goodfellas (1990), he lobbied hard for the part of Henry Hill. The film's huge success brought him wide popularity and garnered him star billing in future films such as Article 99 (1992), Unlawful Entry (1992), and Unforgettable (1996).
Liotta died on May 26, 2022, aged 67, in his sleep while filming on location in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.goodfellas- Actor
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James Paul Marsden, or better known as just James Marsden, was born on September 18, 1973, in Stillwater, Oklahoma, to Kathleen (Scholz) and James Luther Marsden. His father, a distinguished Professor of Animal Sciences & Industry at Kansas State University, and his mother, a nutritionist, divorced when he was nine years old. James grew up with his four other siblings, sisters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, and brothers, Jeff and Robert. He has English, German, and Scottish ancestry. During his teen years, he attended Putnam City North High School which was located in Oklahoma City. After graduating in 1991, he attended Oklahoma State University and studied Broadcast Journalism. While in university, he became a member of the Delta Tau Delta fraternity.
While vacationing with his family in Hawaii, he met actor Kirk Cameron, and his actress sister, Candace Cameron Bure. They eventually invited James to visit them in Los Angeles. After studying in Oklahoma State for over a year and appearing in his college production, "Bye Bye Birdie", he left school and moved to Los Angeles to pursue his interest in acting. James got his first job on the pilot episode of The Nanny (1993) as Eddie, who was Margaret Sheffield's boyfriend. He then became part of the Canadian television series, Boogies Diner (1994), which aired for one season. After that series ended, he got a brief role as the original Griffin on Fox's Party of Five (1994). His first big break came when he became the lead on the short-lived ABC series, Second Noah (1996). Although the show didn't last long, the young actor received enough exposure from the public and even managed to win the hearts of fellow teenage girls. In 1996, he attended an audition for a movie titled Primal Fear (1996) but unfortunately lost that role to Edward Norton. Two years later, he was offered a lead role in 54 (1998), which he turned down. The role later went to another actor, Ryan Phillippe.
James' star power increased when he starred in David Nutter's Disturbing Behavior (1998), alongside Katie Holmes and Nick Stahl, which had mixed reviews, but mostly positive ones. His role in the television series as Glenn Foy in Ally McBeal (1997), is probably one of his biggest achievement to date. He became one of the main cast members during the first half of season 5, where he showcased his singing abilities. It was in that show where he was able to grab the attention of audiences from different backgrounds. The 5' 10" star later played Lon Hammon Jr. in the romantic movie, The Notebook (2004), which was based on a novel by Nicholas Sparks of the same name. His movies, Lies and Alibis (2006) and 10th & Wolf (2006) was also released around the world to audiences in the year 2006. One of his most memorable roles to fans is his role as Cyclops in the X-Men (2000) movie franchise. The movie was well accepted by audiences and critics, which eventually made James one of the hottest stars since it was released. He was among the actors who starred in all three of the X-Men movies. James had the honor of working alongside Patrick Stewart, Famke Janssen and Hugh Jackman in the film. However, not many people know that he actually had to wear lifts for most of his scenes in the X-men movies, because his character Cyclops is supposed to be 6" 3" compared to a 5' 3" Wolverine. In reality, he is actually under 6' 0", shorter than Famke Janssen who plays his love interest, Jean Grey, and even shorter than Hugh Jackman who played Wolverine.
In the year 2006, he played Richard White in the highly anticipated movie, Superman Returns (2006), which coincidentally was directed by Bryan Singer, who also directed previous X-Men installments. Although he appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), the third installment of the X-Men franchise, many would notice that he in fact had more screen time in 'Superman Returns', as Lois Lane's long awaiting fiancé who had to accept the fact that his fiancée is in love with the man of steel. James earned great reviews from that movie, which led to him getting more movie roles. In 2007, James played Corny Collins in the film Hairspray (2007), an adaption of the Broadway musical based on John Waters movie, Hairspray (1988). He joined a star-studded cast, starring alongside top names such as John Travolta, Queen Latifah and Michelle Pfeiffer. James not only acted in that movie, but also sang two of the film's songs, "The Nicest Kids In Town", and "Hairspray". Being part of Hairspray catapulted James to a different level of stardom as audiences got to see another side of him. His next role was in the Disney movie, Enchanted (2007), playing Prince Edward, where he acted alongside Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon and Patrick Dempsey. Once again, James had the opportunity to sing in two songs from the movie, "True Love's Kiss" and "That's Amore". Enchanted (2007) appealed to not only older audiences but also to those who were fans of Disney's network productions. Following his huge success in the years 2006 and 2007, James played the male lead role in the romantic comedy, 27 Dresses (2008), opposite actress Katherine Heigl in 2008. The movie did well at the box office, earning a gross revenue of over $159 million, which exceeded the expectations of crew members especially since it was under a $30 million budget.
Marsden played the male lead in the horror film, The Box (2009), based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by author Richard Matheson. He starred opposite Cameron Diaz in the movie.
He co-starred in Accidental Love (2015) (previously Accidental Love (2015), a politically-themed romantic comedy, directed by David O. Russell and filmed in Columbia, South Carolina. Marsden's recent film roles include the sequel comedy Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013), the romantic drama The Best of Me (2014), and the comedy Unfinished Business (2015).
James was married to Lisa Linde, an actress known from her role in Days of Our Lives (1965). Lisa is the daughter of legendary country music songwriter Dennis Linde. The couple wed on July 22, 2000 and have a son, Jack Holden Marsden who was born on February 1, 2001, and a daughter, Mary James, who was born on August 10, 2005. They divorced in 2011. James has another son, born in 2012, with model Rose Costa.
Many would assume that with all this success achieved by James at this age, he would be somewhat high-headed but James mentioned that despite all the attention he's getting from the public eye, he tries to keep himself as grounded as possible. He even admits that he flies coach instead of first class while traveling with his family. In an interview he mentioned that he believes he has a certain responsibility to let his children know that he isn't special because of what he does, but who he is as a person. With a great humble attitude and a bright future ahead of him, there's definitely more to expect from this Oklahoma native.bella mafia- Actor
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Steven Bauer (born Esteban Ernesto Echevarría Samson) is a Cuban-born American actor. Bauer began his career on PBS, portraying Joe Peña, the son of Cuban immigrants on Qué Pasa, USA (1977-1980) and is perhaps most famous for his role as the Cuban drug lord Manny Rivera in the 1983 crime drama Scarface, in which he starred alongside Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer. He also played the drug cartel leader Eladio Vuente in Breaking Bad and in Better Call Saul and as the retired Mossad agent Avi Rudin in Ray Donovan (2013-2020).scarface- Actor
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Dennis Farina was one of Hollywood's busiest actors and a familiar face to moviegoers and television viewers alike. Recently, he appeared in the feature films, "The Grand," a comedy about a Vegas poker tournament with Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines and Ray Romano; "Bottle Shock," also starring Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman and Bradley Whitford; and Fox's "What Happens in Vegas," in which Dennis starred as Cameron Diaz's boss. Farina also appeared on the NBC series "Law and Order" and in the HBO miniseries, "Empire Falls," for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Mini-Series.
Farina is well remembered for his role in memorable features such as Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight," in which he played the retired lawman father of Jennifer Lopez's character. This was Farina's second outing in an Elmore Leonard best seller, the previous one being "Get Shorty," directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and co-starring John Travolta, Rene Russo and Gene Hackman. Farina received an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male for his performance as "Ray 'Bones' Barboni."
In 1998's "Saving Private Ryan," directed by Steven Spielberg, Farina played "Col. Anderson," a pivotal role in the film. It is this character who convinces Tom Hanks character to lead a squad deep into Nazi territory to rescue "Pvt. Ryan." He also co-starred with Brad Pitt and Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro in the darkly comedic crime drama "Snatch," directed by Guy Ritchie.
Farina's numerous other screen credits include John Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games," "Paparazzi," Martin Brest's "Midnight Run," the Michael Mann film "Manhunter", among many other feature films. Farina is also recognized for his role in the critically acclaimed television series, NBC's "Crime Story". A veteran of the Chicago theater, Farina has appeared in Joseph Mantegna's "Bleacher Bums," and "A Prayer For My Daughter," directed by John Malkovich, and many others. He died on July 22, 2013 in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 69.bella mafia- Actor
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Compact Italian-American actor Joe Pesci was born February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey, to Mary (Mesce), a part-time barber, and Angelo Pesci, a bartender and forklift driver. Pesci first broke into entertainment as a child actor, and by the mid-1950s, was starring on the series "Star Time Kids". In the mid-1960s, he released a record under the stage name Joe Ritchie titled "Little Joe Sure Can Sing", and was also playing guitar with several bands, including Joey Dee and The Starliters. He even joined with his friend Frank Vincent to start a vaudeville-style comedy act, but met with limited success (interestingly, Pesci and Vincent would later go on to co-star in several gangster films together, including Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995).
Pesci's first film role was as an uncredited dancer in Hey, Let's Twist! (1961) and then he had to wait another 15 years for a minor role in The Death Collector (1976). His work in the second film was seen by Robert De Niro, who convinced director Martin Scorsese to cast him as Joey LaMotta in the epic boxing film Raging Bull (1980), which really got him noticed in Hollywood. He played opposite Rodney Dangerfield in Easy Money (1983), was with buddy DeNiro again in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), nearly stole the show as con man Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing the psychotic Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas (1990).
His comedic talents shone again in the mega-popular Home Alone (1990), and he put in a terrific performance as co-conspirator David Ferrie in JFK (1991). Pesci was back again as Leo Getz for Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and was still a bumbling crook in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and had a minor role in the Robert De Niro-directed A Bronx Tale (1993). He was lured back by Scorsese to play another deranged gangster named Nicky (based on real-life hood Tony Spilotro [aka "The Ant"]) in the violent Casino (1995), and starred in the comedies 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997) and Gone Fishin' (1997), although both failed to fire at the box office.
Pesci returned again as fast-talking con man Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). In 1999, he announced his retirement from acting and since then, he appeared only occasionally in films, including a cameo appearance in The Good Shepherd (2006). He also appeared in the music documentary I Go Back Home: Jimmy Scott (2016).once upon time in america- Actor
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Bronx-born and raised Chazz Palminteri was a natural choice to continue the Italianate torch in film. In the tradition set forth in the 1970s by such icons as director Martin Scorsese and actors Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, John Cazale and Joe Pesci, Palminteri has brought grit, muscle and an evocative realism to the sidewalks of his New York neighborhood, violent as they are and were.
Chazz was born Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri in 1952 in the Bronx, New York, the son of Rose, a homemaker, and Lorenzo Palminteri, a bus driver. He grew up in a tough area of the Bronx, giving him the life lessons that would later prove very useful to his career. He graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and started out pursuing his craft in 1973 studying at the Actor's Studio. He appeared off-Broadway in the early 1980s while paying his dues as a bouncer and doorman in nightclubs, among other jobs.
In 1986 he headed west and found that his ethnic qualifications was well-suited for getting tough-talker parts. Slick attorneys, unflinching hoods and hard-nosed cops were all part of his ethnic streetwise persona in such TV shows as Wiseguy (1987), Matlock (1986) and Hill Street Blues (1981). In films he started off playing a 1930s-style gangster in Sylvester Stallone's Oscar (1991). Although his roles were sharp, well-acted and with a distinct edge to them, there was nothing in them to show that he was capable of stronger leading parts.
In 1988 he wrote for himself a play entitled "A Bronx Tale," a powerful one-man stage commentary in which he depicted his bruising childhood in great detail, which included witnessing gangland slayings. Palminteri brought each and every character to life (18 in all) in this autobiographical piece -- his friends, enemies, even his own family. He showcased for years in both Los Angeles and New York, finally sparking the interest of his film idol, Robert De Niro. DeNiro, wanting to direct for the first time, saw the potential of this project and brought both it and the actor/writer to the screen. Palminteri played one of the flashier roles, Sonny, a gangster, in the movie version. An unknown film commodity at the time, Chazz had stubbornly refused to sell his stage property (the offers went into the seven figures) unless he was part of the package as both actor and screenwriter. DeNiro, who became his mentor, backed him up all the way, and the rest is history. A Bronx Tale (1993), which featured his actress/producer/wife Gianna Palminteri, earned strong reviews.
At age 41 Palminteri had become an "overnight" star. Other important projects quickly fell his way. He received a well-deserved Oscar nomination the following year for his portrayal of a Runyonesque hit man in Woody Allen's hilarious jazz-era comedy Bullets Over Broadway (1994). He was on the right side of the law in both The Perez Family (1995), his first romantic lead, and then the classic crimer The Usual Suspects (1995). He played the ill-fated brute in Diabolique (1996) and wrote a second screenplay, Faithful (1996), in which he again plays a hit man, terrorizing both Cher and Ryan O'Neal.
Though Palminteri was invariably drawn into a rather tight-fitting, often violent typecast, it has been a secure and flashy one that continues to run strong into the millennium. Surprisingly, the one obvious show he missed out on was HBO's The Sopranos (1999). True to form his trademark flesh-lipped snarl was spotted in gritty urban settings playing a "Hell's Kitchen" cop in One Eyed King (2001) starring actor/producer Armand Assante; a pool hustler and mentor in Poolhall Junkies (2002); a mob boss in In the Fix (2005); a dirty cop in Running Scared (2006); the titular scam artist as Yonkers Joe (2008); a karaoke-loving Italian psychiatrist in Once More with Feeling (2009); and an abusive husband and father in Mighty Fine (2012).
Other millennium filming includes starring presences in Body Armour (2007), The Dukes (2007), the title conman as Yonkers Joe (2008), Once More with Feeling (2009) and Mighty Fine (2012), as well as prime supports in Running Scared (2006), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), Push (2006), Jolene (2008), Once Upon a Time in Queens (2013), Legend (2015), Vault (2019), Clover (2020). TV crime continues to occupy his time as well, clocking in such series' credits as Kojak (2005), Rizzoli & Isles (2010) and Godfather of Harlem (2019). Occasionally he will lighten up -- as in his recurring role as Shorty on the popular sitcom Modern Family (2009).boss of bosses- Producer
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Few actors in the world have had a career quite as diverse as Leonardo DiCaprio's. DiCaprio has gone from relatively humble beginnings, as a supporting cast member of the sitcom Growing Pains (1985) and low budget horror movies, such as Critters 3 (1991), to a major teenage heartthrob in the 1990s, as the hunky lead actor in movies such as Romeo + Juliet (1996) and Titanic (1997), to then become a leading man in Hollywood blockbusters, made by internationally renowned directors such as Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan.
Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio was born in Los Angeles, California, the only child of Irmelin DiCaprio (née Indenbirken) and former comic book artist George DiCaprio. His father is of Italian and German descent, and his mother, who is German-born, is of German, Ukrainian and Russian ancestry. His middle name, "Wilhelm", was his maternal grandfather's first name. Leonardo's father had achieved minor status as an artist and distributor of cult comic book titles, and was even depicted in several issues of American Splendor, the cult semi-autobiographical comic book series by the late 'Harvey Pekar', a friend of George's. Leonardo's performance skills became obvious to his parents early on, and after signing him up with a talent agent who wanted Leonardo to perform under the stage name "Lenny Williams", DiCaprio began appearing on a number of television commercials and educational programs.
DiCaprio began attracting the attention of producers, who cast him in small roles in a number of television series, such as Roseanne (1988) and The New Lassie (1989), but it wasn't until 1991 that DiCaprio made his film debut in Critters 3 (1991), a low-budget horror movie. While Critters 3 (1991) did little to help showcase DiCaprio's acting abilities, it did help him develop his show-reel, and attract the attention of the people behind the hit sitcom Growing Pains (1985), in which Leonardo was cast in the "Cousin Oliver" role of a young homeless boy who moves in with the Seavers. While DiCaprio's stint on Growing Pains (1985) was very short, as the sitcom was axed the year after he joined, it helped bring DiCaprio into the public's attention and, after the sitcom ended, DiCaprio began auditioning for roles in which he would get the chance to prove his acting chops.
Leonardo took up a diverse range of roles in the early 1990s, including a mentally challenged youth in What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), a young gunslinger in The Quick and the Dead (1995) and a drug addict in one of his most challenging roles to date, Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries (1995), a role which the late River Phoenix originally expressed interest in. While these diverse roles helped establish Leonardo's reputation as an actor, it wasn't until his role as Romeo Montague in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (1996) that Leonardo became a household name, a true movie star. The following year, DiCaprio starred in another movie about doomed lovers, Titanic (1997), which went on to beat all box office records held before then, as, at the time, Titanic (1997) became the highest grossing movie of all time, and cemented DiCaprio's reputation as a teen heartthrob. Following his work on Titanic (1997), DiCaprio kept a low profile for a number of years, with roles in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998) and the low-budget The Beach (2000) being some of his few notable roles during this period.
In 2002, he burst back into screens throughout the world with leading roles in Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Gangs of New York (2002), his first of many collaborations with director Martin Scorsese. With a current salary of $20 million a movie, DiCaprio is now one of the biggest movie stars in the world. However, he has not limited his professional career to just acting in movies, as DiCaprio is a committed environmentalist, who is actively involved in many environmental causes, and his commitment to this issue led to his involvement in The 11th Hour, a documentary movie about the state of the natural environment. As someone who has gone from small roles in television commercials to one of the most respected actors in the world, DiCaprio has had one of the most diverse careers in cinema. DiCaprio continued to defy conventions about the types of roles he would accept, and with his career now seeing him leading all-star casts in action thrillers such as The Departed (2006), Shutter Island (2010) and Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010), DiCaprio continues to wow audiences by refusing to conform to any cliché about actors.
In 2012, he played a mustache twirling villain in Django Unchained (2012), and then tragic literary character Jay Gatsby in The Great Gatsby (2013) and Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street (2013).
DiCaprio is passionate about environmental and humanitarian causes, having donated $1,000,000 to earthquake relief efforts in 2010, the same year he contributed $1,000,000 to the Wildlife Conservation Society.gangs of new york