Joe Mantegna

Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Jr. (born November 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor.

Biography

Born into an Italian-American family, he made his acting debut in the 1969 stage production of Hair. Joe attended Morton East High School in Cicero, Illinois (home of Al Capone and Ernest Hemingway) 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 in 1969.

Mantegna has been married to the former Arlene Vrhel since December 3, 1975. They have two children of whom one - their daughter Mia - is autistic; the other, Gina, has just finished an upcoming movie alongside her father.

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. He won a Tony award for his portrayal of Richard Roma in David Mamet's play Glengarry Glen Ross.

He 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), for which he and co-star, the late Don Ameche, both received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1991 he starred in 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 Daysor Joey Zasa, a treacherous mobster in The Godfather Part III.

Mantegna also 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".

He received the Lifetime Achievement Award on April 26, 2004, at the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival.

Trivia

While still a young man in Chicago, he played bass in a band called "The Apocryphals". His band played with another local group called "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.

Played Bill Swerski on the original Chicago Bears Superfans skit on Saturday Night Live.

Mantegna was referenced in The Waterboy. A fan says that one of the players plays like Joe Montana. Upon being reminded that Montana, as a quarterback, did not play defense, the fan replies by claiming that "I said Joe Mantegna!"

Selected filmography

• The Money Pit (1986)
• Three Amigos (1986) Harry Flugleman
• House of Games (1987) Mike
• Suspect (1987)
• Alice (1990)
• The Godfather Part III (1990) ... Joey Zasa
• Homicide (1991) ... Detective Bobby Gold
• Bugsy (1991) ... George Raft
• Body of Evidence (1993)
• Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) Fred Waitzkin
• Baby's Day Out (1994) ... Eddie the kidnapper
• Airheads (1994)
• Thinner (1996) Richie Ginelli
• The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) Gomez
• Liberty Heights (1999) Nate
• More Dogs Than Bones (2000) De Salvo
• This Old Cub (2004) Narrator
• Edmond (2005) Man
• Nine Lives (2005) Richard
• The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Selected TV roles

• The Rat Pack (1998) made-for-TV movie ... Dean Martin
• The Simpsons animated series since 1989 ... voice Fat Tony, Springfield's mob boss
• Joan of Arcadia series ... Will Girardi, Arcadia's police chief and Joan's father
• Saturday Night Live (1991) the original Bill Swerski's Superfans sketch....Playing the part of Bill Swerski
• Frasier (1993) series ... Derek Mann in the episode "I hate Frasier Crane"

Wikipedia information about Joe Mantegna This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Joe Mantegna". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.