Joe Mantegna Biography
Summary
"Joseph Anthony 'Joe? Mantegna, Jr." (born November 13, 1947) is an American Tony Award-winning actor, producer, writer and director. He is best known for his roles in box-office hits such as "Three Amigos" (1986), "The Godfather Part III" (1990), "Forget Paris" (1995), "Up Close & Personal" (1996), and "The Simpsons Movie" (2007).
Mantegna has gained Emmy Award nominations for his roles in three different miniseries, "The Last Don" (1997), "The Rat Pack" (1999) and "The Starter Wife" (2007). Mantegna served as executive producer for various movies and television movies, such as Corduroy (1984), Hoods (1998), and "Lakeboat" (2000), which he also directed.
On television, Mantegna starred in the short lived series "First Monday" (2002), "Joan of Arcadia" (2003-2005). Since the 1991 Simpsons episode 'Bart the Murderer' Mantegna has had a recurring role on the animated comedy series "The Simpsons" as Mob boss Fat Tony. In 2007 Mantegna replaced Mandy Patinkin as a main character of the hit drama series "Criminal Minds".
Biography
Personal life
Mantegna, an Italian American, was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Mary Ann (née Novelli), a shipping clerk, and Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Sr., who worked in insurance sales and died in 1969 of tuberculosis. Mantegna attended J. Sterling Morton High School East in Cicero, Illinois and received much inspiration for acting from this small town with lots of character. He graduated with a degree in acting from the Goodman School of Drama (the Theatre School at DePaul University) in 1969. While still a young man in Chicago, he played bass in a band called The Apocryphals. His band played with another local group The Missing Links which went on to form the band Chicago. Mantegna is still very close to the original members of Chicago and keeps in touch with his old band mates as well.
Mantegna has been married to the former Arlene Vrhel since December 3, 1975. Mantegna is a parent of a child with autism and he and Arlene have two daughters, Mia and Gina. Mantegna owns a Chicago-themed restaurant in Burbank, California named Taste Chicago. He has Bell's palsy.
Career
Mantegna made his acting debut in the 1969 stage production of "Hair". He debuted on Broadway in "Working" (1978). He also helped write "Bleacher Bums", an award-winning play, which was first performed at Chicago's Organic Theater Company, and was a member of its original cast.
Mantegna won a Tony award for his portrayal of Richard Roma in David Mamet's play "Glengarry Glen Ross". He has had a long and successful association with Mamet, appearing in a number of his works.
Mantegna made his feature film debut in "Medusa Challenger" (1977). He played womanizing dentist Bruce Fleckstein in "Compromising Positions" (1985). Other early movies include co-starring roles in "The Money Pit" (1986), "Weeds" (1987) and "Suspect" (1987).
He also starred in the critically acclaimed movies "House of Games" (1987) and "Things Change" (1988), both written by Mamet. He and "Things Change" co-star Don Ameche, both received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1991 he starred in another Mamet story, the highly praised police thriller "Homicide".
A highly versatile actor, Mantegna has played a wide range of roles, from the comic - as a fed up shock jock in "Airheads" and the hilariously inept kidnapper from "Baby's Day Out" - to the dramatic, in roles such as Joey Zasa, a treacherous mobster in "The Godfather Part III", and an Emmy-nominated performance as singer Dean Martin in HBO's 1998 film "The Rat Pack".
Mantegna has a recurring role in the animated series "The Simpsons" as the voice of mob boss Anthony 'Fat Tony' D'Amico. He insists on voicing the character every time he appears, no matter how little dialogue he has. To quote: 'If Fat Tony sneezes, I want to be there.' In one instance, however, Phil Hartman voiced Fat Tony in the episode 'A Fish Called Selma' (during the part where Troy McClure goes into the DMV and Fat Tony tries to explain to his goon, Louie, what he meant when he said that Troy McClure 'sleeps with the fishes').
Mantegna spoofed himself when he hosted Saturday Night Live for the 1990-1991 season (musical guest: Vanilla Ice) in which he calmly begins his monologue saying he did not wish to be typecast as gangster roles. When he sees a disappointed little boy and his father leave as they mistakenly believe the host was Joe Montana due to the similar names, Mantegna then begins speaking in a low, controlled voice to the little boy it is best he stay in the audience to respect his performance, and warned that if he made a call, then Montana would not play in his next game, implying Mantegna's true personality is like his gangster roles.
Mantegna received the Lifetime Achievement Award on April 26, 2004, at the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival. On August 11, 2007, Mantegna signed on to replace departing star Mandy Patinkin on the CBS crime drama "Criminal Minds".
Mantegna was the keynote commencement speaker at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in June 2008.
In May of 2009 he co-narrated the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C. with Gary Sinise
Filmography
Film
"Medusa Challenger" (1977) ... Joe
"Elvis" (1979) ... Joe Esposito
"Compromising Positions" (1985) ... Bruce Fleckstein
"The Money Pit" (1986) ... Art Shirk
"Off Beat" (1986) ... Pete Peterson
"¡Three Amigos!" (1986) ... Harry Flugleman
"Critical Condition" (1987) ... Arthur Chambers
"House of Games" (1987) ... Mike
"Weeds" (1987) ... Carmine
"Suspect" (1987) ... Charlie Stella
"Things Change" (1988) ... Jerry
"Wait until Spring, Bandini" (1989) ... Bandini
"Alice" (1990) ... Joe
"The Godfather Part III" (1990) ... Joey Zasa
"Queens Logic" (1991) ... Al
"Homicide" (1991) ... Detective Bobby Gold
"Bugsy" (1991) ... George Raft
"Body of Evidence" (1993) ... Robert Garrett
"Searching for Bobby Fischer" (1993) ... Fred Waitzkin
"Baby's Day Out" (1994) ... Eddie the kidnapper
"State Of Emergency" (1994) ... Dr. John Novelli
"Airheads" (1994) ... Ian
"For Better or Worse" (1995) ... Stone
"Forget Paris" (1995) ... Andy
"Above Suspicion" (1995) ... Alan Rhinehart
"Eye for an Eye" (1996) ... Det. Sgt. Denillo
"Up Close & Personal" (1996) ... Bucky Terranova
"Underworld" (1996) ... Frank Gavilan/Frank Cassady/Richard Essex
"Albino Alligator" (1996) ... A.T.F. Agent G.D. Browning
"Thinner" (1996) ... Richie Ginelli
"Persons Unknown" (1996) ... Jim Holland
"Airspeed" (1998) ... Raymond Stone
"The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit" (1998) ... Gomez
"Jerry and Tom" (1998) ... Tom
"Hoods" (1998) ... Angelo 'Ange' Martinelli
"Celebrity" (1998) ... Tony Gardella
"Boy Meets Girl" (1998) ... Il Magnifico
"Liberty Heights" (1999) ... Nate
"The Runner" (1999) ... Rocco
"More Dogs Than Bones" (2000) ... De Salvo
"The Trumpet of the Swan" (2001) (voice) ... Monty
"Uncle Nino" (2003) ... Robert Micelli
"This Old Cub" (2004) ... Narrator
"Stateside" (2004) ... Gil Deloach
"A Very Married Christmas" (2004) ... Frank Griffin
"Edmond" (2005) ... Man
"Nine Lives" (2005) ... Richard
"The Kid & I" (2005) ... Davis Roman
"Elvis and Anabelle" (2007) ... Charlie
"Naked Fear" (2007) ... Tom Benike
"Cougar Club" (2007) ... Mr. Stack
"The Simpsons Movie" (2007) (voice) ... Fat Tony
"Hank and Mike" (2008) ... Mr. Pan
"The Assistants" (2008) ... Gary Greene
"West of Brooklyn" (2008) ... Gaetano D'Amico
"Witless Protection" (2008) ... Dr. Rondog 'Doc' Savage
"Justice League: The New Frontier" (2008) (voice) ... Crooner
"The Last Hit Man" (2008) ... Harry Tremayne
"Redbelt" (2008) ... Jerry Weiss
"Childless" (2008) ... Richard
"My Suicide" (2008) ... Indian Psychiatrist
"The House That Jack Built" (2009) ... Jack Jr.
"Lonely Street" (2009) ... Jerry Finkelman
Television roles
"Soap (TV series)" (1980-1981) ... Juan One
"Saturday Night Live" (1991) ... Bill Swerski in the original Bill Swerski's Superfans sketch
"The Simpsons" (1991-present) ... Voice of Fat Tony
"The Water Engine" (1992) ... Lawrence Oberman
"The Comrades of Summer" (1992) ... Sparky Smith
"Frasier" (1993) ... Derek Mann in the episode 'I Hate Frasier Crane'
"The Last Don" (1997) ... Pippi De Lena
"The Rat Pack" (1998) ... Dean Martin
"First Monday" (2002) ... Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Joseph Novelli
"Joan of Arcadia" (2003-2005) ... Will Girardi
"The Starter Wife" (2007) ... Lou Manahan
"Criminal Minds" (2007-present) ... FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Joe Mantegna.
