Sex and the City

Background:

Stand-up comedian/actor Mario Cantone hosted the syndicated children's variety game show "Steampipe Alley" from 1988-1993. He received his big break portraying Anthony Marantino (2000-2004), Charlotte's (played by Kristin Davis) gay friend, on the popular HBO romantic comedy series "Sex and the City." He has appeared in the films "Quiz Show" (1994), "Mouse Hunt" (1997) and "Surf's Up" (2007; voice) and will next be seen in the films "Three Days to Vegas," "Bolt" (voice), and "Sex and the City: The Movie," in which he will reprise his role of Anthony.

Meanwhile, the funny man who loves to do impressions of older stage and screen actresses such as Liza Minnelli and often appears on the “Opie & Anthony” radio show, earned critical acclaim for his one man shows, “An Evening with Mario Cantone” (2002) and “Laugh Whore” (2004). He was also a favorite guest of such shows as “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” “Comedy Central’s Premium Blend” and the “HBO Comedy Showcase.” He has appeared as himself on the Comedy Central comedy classic "The Dave Chappelle Show."

Cantone also shows off his talent on stage. He has performed in such groundbreaking Broadway plays as “Love! Valour! Compassion!” (1995), “The Violet Hour” (2002) and “Assassins” (2004).

Boston Kid

Childhood and Family:

In Boston, Massachusetts, Mario Cantone was born on December 9, 1959. Son of an Italian restaurant owner in Boston, (restaurant is named “Cantone's”) young Cantone attended Stoneham High School where he discovered theatre. A star drama student, he enrolled at Emerson College in Boston in 1978, along with Denis Leary and Gina Gershon.

An Evening with Mario Cantone

Career:

A star drama student, Mario Cantone continued his stage work in college while flirting with the idea of stand-up comedy. In 1983, he turned to acting professionally and began performing stand-up in New York. The newcomer eventually landed his first big break through VH1's “Stand-Up Spotlight” showcase (1988-1991), hosted by Rosie O’Donnell, who later hired Cantone as her opening act during the late 1980s.

In 1988, Catone got his start on television as the host of the syndicated children's variety game show “Steampipe Alley.” He worked for the show until 1993.

After leaving “Steampipe Alley,” Catone was spotted as a guest in a May 1994 episode of ABC's Emmy winning cop drama series "NYPD Blue" and made his feature debut with a tiny role as a passerby in Robert Redford’s Oscar nominated true story-based film, “Quiz Show” (1994; starring John Turturro, Rob Morrow and Ralph Fiennes), which was adapted from Richard N. Goodwin's book "Remembering America." He followed it up with small roles in Frank Rainone's independent mafia film "Who Do I Gotta Kill" (1994; alongside Sandra Bullock) and Gore Verbinski’s comedy starring Nathan Lane and Lee Evans, “Mousehunt” (1997). In 1995, he made his Broadway debut in Terrence McNally’s award winning play “Love! Valour! Compassion!”

After headlining the 30-minute stand-up comedy “Comedy Central Presents” in July 1999, Cantone snagged the role of Anthony Marantino, Charlotte's (played by Kristin Davis) gay friend, on the popular HBO romantic comedy series "Sex and the City." He played the recurring character from 2000 until the series' finale in 2004.

During his four-year stint on the show, Mario received applause for his work in the stage play "The Crumple Zone" (2000) and was spotted as a guest in a May 2001 episode of NBC’s comedy starring Tom Cavanagh, “Ed.” He could also be seen in the films "Pandora" (2002), "Happy Hour" (2003; with Anthony LaPaglia and Eric Stoltz), and Harry O'Reilly's dark comedy "Crooked Lines" (2003; with Burt Young and Jim Breuer).

Cantone performed his first one-man show, “An Evening with Mario Cantone,” in 2002 and had a memorable bit on his friend's show on Comedy Central, the eponymous variety show “Chappelle’s Show,” in a 2003 segment titled “Ask a Gay Dude.” By this time, Cantone, who hosted "Reel Comedy: Just Married" (2003), had become a frequent guest on such talk shows as “The Rosie O’Donnell Show,” (NBC, 1996-2002) and game shows like “Pyramid,” (Syndicated, 2002-2004) and “Hollywood Squares” (Syndicated, 1998-2004). Returning to stage, Catone appeared on Broadway in Richard Greenberg's “The Violet Hour” (November 2002), as Gidger, the assistant of a young publisher named John Pace Seavering (played by Robert Sean Leonard). He was then cast as an unemployed former tire salesman and would-be Nixon assassin Samuel Byck in the Tony award winning Broadway revival of the musical “Assassins” (2004), directed by Joe Mantello. Also in 2004, Cantone was reunited with director Joe Mantello for his second one man show, “Laugh Whore.” The show, which he performed at Broadway's Cort Theatre, featured his explosive takes on his Italian-American childhood, and spot-on imitations of Jim Morrison, Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, and others. It was later recorded for Showtime that same year. Meanwhile, he also appeared in a TV commercial for TBS Network.

Following the end of "Sex and the City," Cantone contributed to the all-star comedian line-up in Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza’s “The Aristocrats” (2005) and had a supporting role as a casting director in Paul Borghese's comedy “Searching for Bobby D” (2005). Afterward, he provided his voice for the character Sidney in writer/director Bob Saget's “Farce of the Penguins” (2006), a direct-to-DVD parody film of the 2005 film "March of the Penguins," and co-starred with T.R. Knight in writer/director John DeBellis' comedy movie "The Last Request" (2006). He also appeared in two episodes of NBC’s romantic series starring Anne Heche, "Men in Trees," and did TV commercial voice-overs for Sunsilk.

In 2007, Cantone was cast with Adam Saunders in Aditya Chandora's comedy movie, "Staten Island," and lent his voice to talent scout Mikey Abromowitz in the computer animated “Surf’s Up,” a parody of such surfing documentaries as “The Endless Summer” and “Riding Giants.”

Cantone has completed his upcoming film with Rip Torn, Peter Falk, Billy Burke and George Segal, a romantic comedy by Charlie Picerni titled "Three Days to Vegas," and will soon wrap up Disney's upcoming computer animated film, "Bolt," alongside John Travolta, Thomas Haden Church, Woody Harrelson and Bernie Mac. He is now on set filming "Sex and the City: The Movie," in which he will reprise his role of Anthony Marantino.

Awards:
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