Sopranos' Ralph

Background:

“A character actor to me was someone who played a bunch of different roles versus a leading man or supporting actor, I wanted to be a character actor and do good parts. The guys that inspired me were Spencer Tracy, Robert Duvall, Albert Finney and Michael Caine, you know, urban guys that came from the street. I just thought if they could do it, then so could I. They were the kinda guys who started out being the fourth guy through the door and then, at last, they get a line of dialog.” Joe Pantoliano

An Italian-American character actor of film, TV and stage, Joe Pantoliano started his career in the late 1960s and has created a reputation for playing lackeys and sidekicks in dramatic movies, low-level criminals, hustlers and other untrustworthy types in comedy features, as well as a wider range of ethnic types on television. Following stints in short-lived series, in 2003 the prolific actor gained attention by taking home an Emmy Award for his standout supporting role as mob hothead Ralph Cifaretto on the HBO hit series “The Sopranos,” a role he played from 2001 to 2002. Years before, he earned notice for portraying Angelo Maggio on the 1979 miniseries “From Here to Eternity,” adapted from a 1953 film of the same name, and anti-Communist attorney Roy Cohn on the 1985 miniseries biopic “Robert Kennedy and His Times.” Pantoliano has also guest starred in numerous TV series, including “M*A*S*H,” “Hill Street Blues,” “Roswell” and “NWPD Blue.”

On the big screen, Pantoliano first attracted attention with his scene stealing role as Guido “The Killer Pimp” on the storm hit “Risky Business” (1983). He went on to have strong supporting roles in such vehicles as “Eddie and the Cruisers” (1983), The Goonies” (1985), “Running Scared” (1986), “La Bamba” (1987), “Empire of the Sun” (1987), “Midnight Run” (1988), “The Fugitive” (1993), “The Matrix” (1999), “Memento” (2000), “DareDevil” (2003) and “The Moguls” (2005). He was nominated for a Saturn award for his work in “Bound” (1996) and won a Jury Award at the 2006 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival for his starring turn in the Joseph Greco-directed “Canvas” (2006). Recently acting in films like “Unknown” (2006) and “The Pleasure of Your Company” (also 2006), he is set to play roles in the upcoming features “To Live and Die” (2008) and “The Golden Door” (2008). Pantoliano will also voice Chucksta for the animated film “The Legend of Secret Pass” (2008). Previously, he did voice-over work for “Cats and Dogs” (2001), “The Easter Egg Adventure” (2004) and “Racing Stripes” (2005). About his voice-over work, Pantoliano said, “I’ve been very successful in doing these voices in movies, I enjoy doing them. I did ‘Olive, the Other Reindeer’ with Drew Barrymore and I did ‘Cats and Dogs.’ For me, this is a family affair. My children came to some of the sessions because we live in the east. I did some sessions with (director Frederik Du Chau in LA) and then some sessions on a soundstage in Queens. My children came and watched.”

Off camera, Pantoliano has been married twice. He has one son, Marco, with first wife Morgan Kester (together from 1979 to 1985) and two young daughters, Daniella and Isabella, as well as a step-daughter named Melody, with his wife Nancy Sheppard, whom he married in 1994. Pantoliano is a fan of wine and was formerly the co-owner of the Beverly Hills' Grand Havana Room.

Joey Pants

Childhood and Family:

Joseph Peter Pantoliano, professionally known as Joe Pantoliano, was born on September 12, 1951, in Hoboken, New Jersey, to first-generation Italian-American parents whom he has described as “Bohemian.” His father, Dominic Pantoliano, was a factory foreman and hearse driver with gang ties, while his mother, Mary Isabella, was a bookie and dressmaker. Joe’s parents divorced when he was 12 years old. Due to the family’s dependency on welfare, Joe and his younger sister Mary Ann were raised in a public housing project in Hoboken, New Jersey. Joe's stepfather, Florio Isabella, had connections to the underworld. Before marrying Joe's mother, he served 15 years for drug trafficking. Dyslexic, Joe was still reading at the third-grade level when he was 17 years old. He later studied acting at the HBO studio in New York.

On March 31, 1979, Joe Pantoliano, whose nickname is Joey Pants, was married to Morgan Kester. He became a father in 1981 with the birth of his first child, son Marco Pantoliano. Joe and Morgan divorced in 1985. Joe married present wife Nancy Sheppard on February 18, 1994. Together, they have two daughters, Daniella Pantoliano (born on March 8, 1992) and Isabella Grace Pantoliano (born on August 27, 1998). Joe is also the stepfather of Melody (born 1985), Nancy's daughter from a previous marriage.

Canvas

Career:

Young Joe Pantoliano saw acting as a way of getting out of an environment that often led to a life of criminal behavior. Following a performance in his senior play, “Up the Down Staircase,” his stepfather encouraged the future Emmy-winning star to pursue acting professionally. Subsequently, he moved from his hometown of Hoboken, NJ, to Manhattan where he waited tables while juggling acting classes and auditions. In 1972, Pantoliano landed the desirable role of stuttering Billy Bibbit in the touring production of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.” He headed to Los Angeles four years later where he found work in a television sitcom.

Pantoliano made his TV acting debut in a busted pilot, “McNamara's Band” (1977), which was followed by a recurring role in the summer replacement series “Free Country” (1978), a period sitcom co-produced, co-written and starring in by Rob Reiner. He rejoined Reiner later that same year for the made-for-TV film “More Than Friends,” by James Burrows, but it was his performance in the NBC miniseries adaptation of “From Here to Eternity” (1979) that won Pantoliano attention for his interpretation of Angelo Maggio. Pantoliano was seen on the big screen in 1980 when director Taylor Hackford cast him in the major part of Gino Pilato in the biographical movie “The Idolmaker.” He then made guest starring performances in series like “M*A*S*H,” “Hart to Hart” (both 1981), “Hardcastle and McCormick” (1983) and “Hill Street Blues” (1984), and was spotted on stage in “Brothers” (1981) and “Orphan” (1983). His breakthrough screen role arrived in 1983 when director Paul Brickman cast him in the supporting role of Guido “The Killer Pimp” in the surprise hit “Risky Business,” opposite Tom Cruise and Rebecca De Mornay.

Pantoliano went on to portray roles in the drama film “Eddie and the Cruisers” (1983) and the off-Broadway production of “Visions of Kerouac,” before impressing viewers again in “The Goonies” (1985), an adventure film produced by Steven Spielberg. He was next seen in movies like “Running Scared” (1986, with Billy Crystal and Gregory Hines), “La Bamba” (1987, as the music producer of Lou Diamond Phillips), the Spielberg-helmed “Empire of the Sun” (1987, as John Malkovich's sidekick) and “Midnight Run” (1988, opposite Robert De Niro), as well as in the TV miniseries biopic “Robert Kennedy and His Times” (1985), where he was cast as the merciless anti-Communist attorney Roy Cohn.

1990 saw Pantoliano land a regular role on the short-lived sitcom “The Fanelly Boys,” playing Dominic Fanelly until 1991. He then performed in several TV guest spots before acting with Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford in the critical and commercial hit film “The Fugitive” (1993), as Cosmo Renfro. He lent his voice for the CBS cartoon version of the children's film “Beethoven” (1994), played a bungling felon named Norby in “Baby's Day Out” (1994), created the role of Captain C. Howard for Will Smith/Martin Lawrence's “Bad Boys” (1995), and took on the recurring role of stoolie Vinnie Greco on the popular TV series “NWPD Blue” (1995).

In 1996, Pantoliano returned to TV as a regular on the CBS crime-drama “EZ Streets,” where he played the supporting role of Jimmy Murtha. The show, however, only had a short life. The same year, he starred as a money launderer in directors Andy and Larry Wachowski’s debut movie “Bound.” The role brought him a Saturn nomination for Best Supporting Actor. After contributing to the TV animated series “The Lionhearts” (1998), Pantoliano recreated his role of Deputy Marshal Cosmo Renfro for 1998's sequel “ U.S. Marshals,” appeared in writer-director James Toback's “Black and White” (1999) and rejoined the Wachowski brothers in the hugely successful film “The Matrix” (1999), playing a character exclusively create for him, Cypher.

In 2001, Pantoliano joined the cast of the popular HBO series “The Sopranos.” Giving a clever performance as the quick-tempered, loud-mouthed Ralph Cifaretto, he won a 2003 Emmy in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. While working with the landmark show, the busy actor released “Who's Sorry Now: The True Story of a Stand-Up Guy,” a sad memoir about his New Jersey childhood, and also acted in two episodes of the WB's teen sci-fi series “Roswell” (2001) and the Eddy Murphy dud “The Adventures of Pluto Nash” (2002). He was also heard as the voice of Peek in the comedy “Cats and Dogs” (2001) and made his movie directorial debut with 2002's “Just Like Mona” (released 2003).

After his “Sopranos” stint came to an end in 2002, Pantoliano played Ben Uric in the Ben Affleck unsuccessful vehicle “DareDevil” (2003), adapted by director/writer Mark Steven Johnson from a Marvel comic, rejoined Martin Lawrence and Will Smith for 2003's “Bad Boys II” and received a starring role as a FBI Agent, Joe Renato, on the CBS drama series “The Handler” from 2003 to 2004. Also in 2003, he acted in the play “Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune” on Broadway. Next, Pantoliano had a 2004/2005 recurring role as Tommy Danko on the NBC soon-canceled drama “Dr. Vegas,” provided his voice to “The Easter Egg Adventure” (2004, with Brook Shields and James Woods) and “Racing Stripes” (2005), supported Tim Blake Nielson and Jeff Bridges for the comedy film “The Moguls” (2005), appeared in the comedy “Larry the Cable Guy: Health Inspector” and the drama/romance “The Pleasure of Your Company” (both 2006), starred as John Marino in Joseph Greco's “Canvas” (2006), from which he was handed The Jury Award Best Dramatic Performance award at the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival, and teamed up with James Caviezel, Greg Kinnear and Bridget Moynahan for the mystery/thriller “Unknown” (also 2006). Still in 2006, he assumed the role of James 'Jimmy' Centrella in the TV drama series “Waterfront,” but it was canceled before any episodes aired.

No stranger to animated projects, Pantoliano will play the voice role of Chucksta on the upcoming cartoon film “The Legend of Secret Pass” (2008). He will also have supporting roles in the films “To Live and Die” (2008), opposite Sean Patrick Flanery, and “The Golden Door” (2008), directed by David M. Rosenthal.

Awards:

• Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival: Jury Award, Best Dramatic Performance, “Canvas,” 2006

• Garden State Film Festival: Lifetime Achievement-Acting, 2004

• Emmy: Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, “The Sopranos,” 2003