NYPD Blue

Background:

Emmy nominated Italian American actor Nick Turturro, also known as Nicholas Turturro, is popular for playing Detective James Martinez on the ABC series “NYPD Blue,” a role he had from 1993 to 2000. In addition to launching him as a favorite among younger audiences, the role brought him a Screen Actors Guild Award and Emmy nominations. Starting out as an extra in the Spike Lee movie “Do the Right Thing” (1989), the university dropout went on to appear in Lee's films “Mo' Better Blues” (1990), “Jungle Fever” (1991) and “Malcolm X” (1992), which also paired him with his older brother John Turturro. Turturro also acted with his brother in “Men of Respect” (1990), John's directorial debut, “Mac” (1992), “The Search for One-eye Jimmy” (1994) and “Monday Night Mayhem” (2002, TV). Turturro was handed an Independent Spirit nomination for his supporting role of Ralph in “Federal Hill” (1994). After leaving “NYPD Blue,” he had recurring roles in “Tremors” (2 episodes, 2003), “Third Watch” (4 episodes, 2003-2004) and “Days of Our Lives” (2 episodes, 2008) as well as guest roles in various TV shows, including “The Twilight Zone,” “Touched by an Angel” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” His more recent and upcoming film credits include “The Hillside Strangler” (2004), “The Longest Yard” (2005), “World Trade Center” (2006), “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” (2007), “First Sunday” (2008), “Street Boss” (2009), “The Deported” (2009), “Shoot the Hero” (2010), “Fancypants” (2010), “City of Shoulders and Noses” (2010) and “The Sandy Creek Girls” (2010).

Turturro has been married twice. He has two daughters, Erica (mothered by first wife Jami Biunno) and Jami Biunno (mothered by current wife Lissa Turturro).

New York

Childhood and Family:

Nicholas Turturro, Jr. was born on January 29, 1962, in Queens, New York. His father, Nicholas Turturro, Sr., a carpenter and shoemaker, immigrated from Giovinazzo, Italy, at age 6. His mother, Katherine Turturro, was an amateur jazz singer who worked in a Navy yard during WWII. Nick has two older brothers, John Turturro (born on February 28, 1957), an actor, and Ralph Turturro, a musician. He is cousins with actress Aida Turturro of “The Sopranos” fame.

Nick was educated at various Catholic schools before taking theater classes at New York's Adelphi University. He, however, quit after two years to marry Jami Biunno in 1984. They welcomed a daughter they named Erica in 1985, but divorced in 1995. Nick then married stewardess Lissa Espinosa in 1996. The couple has a daughter named Appolonia Turturro. Nick is currently separated from his wife.

Nick is a long time fan of the New York Yankees.

Federal Hill

Career:

Nick Turturro was working as a hotel doorman in New York City in the late 1989s when he was introduced to director Spike Lee by his brother John. At the time, Lee was shooting “Do the Right Thing” (1989), where John starred as Pino and the younger Turturro landed work as an extra. After the meeting, Lee gave him a part in the 1990 drama film “Mo' Better Blues,” which starred Lee, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes and Samuel L Jackson. After his feature acting debut, Nick supported his brother in William Reilly's “Men of Respect,” an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play “MacBeth.” The drama, which starred Rod Steiger, Stanley Tucci, Dennis Farina and Peter Boyle, premiered for the Cannes Film Market in May 1990 before being released theatrically in the U.S. on January 18, 1991. The Turturro brothers were reunited with Spike Lee in the 1991 drama “Jungle Fever.”

After making his television film debut playing Danny D'Arcangelo in the mafia themed “Dead and Alive: The Race for Gus Farace” (also 1991), Turturro received the main role of Tony Gloves in his brother's feature film directorial debut “Mac” (1992), which won a Golden Camera at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for Independent Spirit awards in the categories of Best First Picture and Best Director. He was then featured as a Boston cop in the Spike Lee biographical movie “Malcolm X” (1992), based on the life of African-American activist and nationalist Malcolm X (played by Denzel Washington). The same year, he appeared as Poletti in an episode of “Law & Order” called “Blood is Thicker.”

Turturro went on to land guest spots in “The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles” and “L.A. Law” (both 1993), but did not get his big breakthrough until he was cast as Detective James Martinez on the Steven Bochco police drama “NYPD Blue.” He was on the show from the first episode until midway through the seventh season in 2000. Turturro was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards in 1994 and 1997 and shared six Screen Actors Guild nominations in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (won one in 1995) for his performance in the show. He also earned a 1996 NCLR Bravo nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.

While on the show, Turturro worked with his brother and their cousin, Aida Turturro, in the Sam Henry Kass comedy film “The Search for One-eye Jimmy” (1994) and again with Aida in “Men Lie” (1994), a comedy written and directed by John A. Gallagher. He also appeared in Michael Corrente's film “Federal Hill” (1994), from which he received a 1995 Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his portrayal of Ralph, supported Charlie Sheen, Donald Sutherland and Linda Hamilton in George P. Cosmatos' thriller “Shadow Conspiracy” (1997) and portrayed Stick in Marco Brambilla's “Excess Baggage” (1997), opposite Alicia Silverstone, Benicio Del Toro and Christopher Walken. On the small screen, Turturro reprised his role of James Martinez from “NYPD Blue” in an episode of “The Drew Carey Show” (1997) and starred as Sammy Gravano on the NBC film “Witness to the Mob” (1998). He also acted in the television movies “Falling from the Sky: Flight 174” (1975, starred William Devane and Scott Hylands), “In the Line of Duty: Hunt for Justice” (1995, with Adam Arkin) and “Mercenary II: Thick & Thin” (1999, as Major Ray Domino). He also played Father Carlos in the segment “The First Commandment” of the TV film “Cosmic Slop” (1974).

After leaving “NYPD Blue,” Turturro costarred as Detective Tony Nenonen on the direct to video “Hellraiser: Inferno” (2000), teamed up with Michael Rapaport in the TV comedy “Mr. Life” (2001), provided the voice of a cop on the animated film “Recess: School's Out” (2001), which was adapted from the Disney TV series “Recess,” costarred with Matthew Modine and Elisabeth Berkley in the independent comedy “The Shipment” (2001) and played Officer Robert Turner in a 2001 episode of “The District” called “Thursday.” The next year, he played Chet Forte in the TNT film “Monday Night Mayhem,” which starred his brother John as Howard Cosell, Anthony in the film “The Biz,” Johnny Ramos in the Harris Done thriller “Purgatory Flats” (opposite Vincent Ventresca, Brian Austin Green and Jason Brooks) and Joe Jr. in the FX network film “Big Shot: Confessions of a Campus Bookie” (starred David Krumholtz and Tory Kittles).

Following guest spots in “Touched by an Angel” and “The Twilight Zone” (both 2002), Turturro appeared as Frank in two episodes of the Sci Fi Channel series “Tremors” (2003), a spin off from the 1990 dark comedy monster film “Tremors,” and as Aloysius Nardo, the son of a gang boss, in four episodes of the NBC series “Third Watch” (2003-2004). He returned to film when he starred as Angelo Buono, opposite C. Thomas Howell as Kenneth Bianchi, in the Chuck Parello directed “The Hillside Strangler”(2004) and played Sheriff Duncan in the direct to video teen horror movie “The Hollow” (2004), starring Kevin Zegers, Kaley Cuoco, Nick Carter and Stacy Keach. In 2005, he delivered a memorable performance in the popular remake of “The Longest Yard,” which starred Adam Sandler, Chris Rock and Burt Reynolds and was directed by Peter Segal. He also worked with Eddie McClintock, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, Judd Nelson, Roddy Piper, Tom Arnold and Katey Sagal in the Christmas television movie “Three Wise Guys” (2005).

Turturro started off 2006 as Alexandra Paul in the thriller “Trapped,” portrayed Officer Colovito in the Oliver Stone disaster film “World Trade Center,” which was based on the September 11 attacks, was reunited with Adam Sandler in the Dennis Dugan romantic comedy “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” (2007), and played an officer named Pierce in “McBride: Semper Fi” (2007), a TV mystery directed by and starring John Larroquette. Also in 2007, he guest starred as Vince Dinelli in the series “The King of Queens.”

Turturro next teamed up with Ice Cube, Katt Williams, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Michael Beach, Keith David, Regina Hall, Malinda Williams, Chi McBride and Clifton Powell for the comedy film “First Sunday” (2008), the feature film directorial debut of David E. Talbert who wrote and produced the film. The same year, he also played Phil Winters in the comedy “Remembering Phil” (directed by Brian J. Smith), Ceasar Novak in Robert Townsend's “Phantom Punch” (opposite Ving Rhames, Stacey Dash, Alan van Sprang, David Proval and Bridgette Wilson), Big G in an episode of “Just Jordan” called “Boogie Toasties,” and Officer Darrell in two episodes of the NBC daytime soap “Days of Our Lives.” He also played Goya in the episode “Let It Bleed” of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” 2009 saw him support Robert Gallo in the crime movie “Street Boss,” based on a true story, star as Gianni DiCarlo in the comedy “The Deported” and guest star in the USA Network series “Burn Notice.”

Recently working with Jason Mewes, Samantha Lockwood, Danny Trejo, Nic Nac and Mike Hatton in “Shoot the Hero” (2010) for director/writer Christian Sesma, Turturro will appear with Patrick Gleason, Roddy Piper and Robert Carradine in “Fancypants” (2010), play Detective Pellegrino in Ralph Hemecker's drama “City of Shoulders and Noses” (2010), and costar with Brian Austin Green and Dean Cain in the upcoming drama “The Sandy Creek Girls” (2010).

Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, “NYPD Blue,” 1995