- Holds honorable title of Marine Super Squad member.
- He was an active duty United States Marine from 1972-1976. In 1975 he was a member of and the Point Man for the Marine Corps Super Squad.
- Although he is half Irish and half Italian, he was raised as an Italian (with the Italian side of his family) in a predominantly Italian section of East Boston. His father (The Irishman) was a career military man (USCG) and his mother (The Italian) was a professional singer. On the Irish side, his great grandparents are from County Roscommom and County Cork, while on his Italian side, his grandparents are from Naples and Palermo (Sicily).
- On February 13th 1999, his son Joshua died at the age of nineteen.
- Stefano's godfather (Federico D'Amore) fought against Nazi Germany in North Africa and Italy during WWII. Upon returning, he brought a number of items that he had collected during his four years of fighting. One of them was a Nazi parachute. Stefano's grandmother, aunts, and mother took the parachute, cut it up, and sewed it together to make a Bapismal Gown. Stefano, his siblings, and all of his cousins were (subsequently) baptized in what was once a Nazi parachute.
- In the Summer of 1976, he almost lost his life in a Skydiving accident on the Island of Oahu, Hawaii.
- Spent a number of years working in the Ministry, first as a worker, then as a Licensed Minister, and finally as an Ordained Minister. He was ordained by the Churches of God in North America. He served time as the Associate/Assistant Pastor of a church in California, as well as working in Outreach Ministries. As much as he loved the Ministry, he stepped away from the pulpit and gave up his ordination when he decided to (re)pursue his lifelong dream of acting.
- Aside from the Military, he has worked in both Law Enforcement, as well as the field of Geotechnical Engineering.
- In 1974, while Stefano was home on leave in Boston, he wrestled 'Victor The Bear'. Victor was an Alaskan Brown Bear, who gained fame for being unbeatable in the ring. By 1974 some say that Victor was 6'6", 600 lbs., while others put him at 8', 800 lbs. Just before the match began, Stefano made the cocky, off-handed remark to the Master of Ceremonies (Rex Trailer) that Marines are tougher than bears. Needless to say, Victor was (once again) victorious.
- While on The Marine Super Squad, Stefano's closest friend was his Fire Team Leader, John Knight. In Stefano's own words: "Knight was, hands down, the toughest guy I knew. A true Marine." Stefano and John have remained close friends since 1973.
- Stefano is always in search of (his closest) buddies from the Marine Corps. A while back he was able to locate Dave Clark, who he served with in the 5th Marine Regiment (L 3/5) from '72-'74. Clark hails from (and lives) in Colorado. And more recently he was able to locate Danny Biordi, who he served with in the 1st Marine Brigade (KMCAS B 1/3) from '74-'76. Danny hails from New York and lives in Florida. These were two of his closest friends (aside from John Knight). Still to be found are Robert C. (Bob) Malaney, who was a Canadian Citizen from Niagara Falls, New York; and Steven Walls, who hailed from Wisconsin.
- In the springtime of 2014 Stefano walked the Camino de Santiago as a tribute to his deceased son, Joshua Robert Highlander Cooney. Starting from St. Jean Pied de Port (France), he hiked to Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and then on to Cape Finisterre (Galicia, Spain). It was a spiritual journey that took him across two mountain ranges and a small desert, for a total of approximately 550 miles. He carried a pack that weighed over fifty pounds, celebrated his 59th birthday while hiking through Spain, and experienced many miracles along the way.
- Stefano has a published book, which was written under his birth name of Stephen Cooney. The name of the book is Joshua's Box, and is a fictional story of him and his best (teenage) friend Jim traveling in time. It was originally going to be titled 'The Box', but after the untimely death of his son Joshua (who was his biggest fan of his time travel story), he decided to name the book after him. It is available through Amazon, but at the time of this writing has been pulled from production while he completes the second edition.
- On stage, he has played in 'Girl Crazy' as a member of the Male Chorus; 'Kismet' as the Chief of Police; 'What The Butler Saw' as Nick Bartlett; 'Death of a Salesman' as Willy Loman; 'The Lion In Winter' as King Henry II; 'The Civil War' as Virgil; 'The Cotton Patch Gospel' (2004 & 2005) as Pilate, Jud, The Senator, and many other roles; 'Kaleidoscope' (Best of Broadway, 2004) as a member of the Male Chorus; and 'The Office Party' as a Gigolo.
- His own personal quote is: "Acting is my drug of choice, and writing is his twin sister.".
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content