Joe Pantoliano
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
With more than 100 film, television and stage credits to his name,
Joseph Peter Pantoliano is a prolific American character actor who has
played many diverse and memorable roles, from Guido in
Risky Business (1983) to Eddie
Moscone in Midnight Run (1988),
Cosmo Renfro in The Fugitive (1993),
Cypher in The Matrix (1999) and Teddy
in Memento (2000).
Pantoliano was born September 12,
1951 in Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of Mary (Centrella) and
Dominic Pantoliano, first-generation Italian Americans who split when Joe was
twelve years old (though they never officially divorced). His mother
was a seamstress and bookie, and his father was a hearse driver and
foreman at a factory. Despite suffering from severe dyslexia that made
studies difficult for him, Pantoliano displayed acting talent from an
early age and moved to Manhattan after high school to pursue an acting
career.
After four years in Manhattan that included auditions, acting classes,
waiting tables and a role as Billy Bibbit in the touring production of
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Joe Pantoliano moved to California
to pursue television and film acting. Joe was successful in landing a
number of television roles before getting his feature film debut in
The Idolmaker (1980), but his true
Hollywood breakthrough came with his turn opposite a 21-year-old
Tom Cruise as ruthless pimp Guido in 1983's
Risky Business (1983). A wide
array of TV and film roles followed that have led Joe to work with many
of Hollywood's brightest talents, both on-screen and off, including
Richard Donner,
Steven Spielberg,
Lilly Wachowski &
Lana Wachowski,
Harrison Ford,
Tommy Lee Jones,
Wesley Snipes,
Christopher Nolan and many
others.
Winner of a primetime Emmy for his work on
The Sopranos (1999), for which
he also received two SAG Award nominations, Joe Pantoliano is married
to former model Nancy Sheppard,
with whom he has two daughters, Daniella and Isabella. Pantoliano also
has a son, Marco, from a previous marriage, and a step-daughter,
Melody.
Joseph Peter Pantoliano is a prolific American character actor who has
played many diverse and memorable roles, from Guido in
Risky Business (1983) to Eddie
Moscone in Midnight Run (1988),
Cosmo Renfro in The Fugitive (1993),
Cypher in The Matrix (1999) and Teddy
in Memento (2000).
Pantoliano was born September 12,
1951 in Hoboken, New Jersey, the son of Mary (Centrella) and
Dominic Pantoliano, first-generation Italian Americans who split when Joe was
twelve years old (though they never officially divorced). His mother
was a seamstress and bookie, and his father was a hearse driver and
foreman at a factory. Despite suffering from severe dyslexia that made
studies difficult for him, Pantoliano displayed acting talent from an
early age and moved to Manhattan after high school to pursue an acting
career.
After four years in Manhattan that included auditions, acting classes,
waiting tables and a role as Billy Bibbit in the touring production of
"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Joe Pantoliano moved to California
to pursue television and film acting. Joe was successful in landing a
number of television roles before getting his feature film debut in
The Idolmaker (1980), but his true
Hollywood breakthrough came with his turn opposite a 21-year-old
Tom Cruise as ruthless pimp Guido in 1983's
Risky Business (1983). A wide
array of TV and film roles followed that have led Joe to work with many
of Hollywood's brightest talents, both on-screen and off, including
Richard Donner,
Steven Spielberg,
Lilly Wachowski &
Lana Wachowski,
Harrison Ford,
Tommy Lee Jones,
Wesley Snipes,
Christopher Nolan and many
others.
Winner of a primetime Emmy for his work on
The Sopranos (1999), for which
he also received two SAG Award nominations, Joe Pantoliano is married
to former model Nancy Sheppard,
with whom he has two daughters, Daniella and Isabella. Pantoliano also
has a son, Marco, from a previous marriage, and a step-daughter,
Melody.