Chazz Palminteri
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
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).
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).