Steve Buscemi

Steven Vincent Buscemi (born December 13, 1957) is an American actor and film director.

Biography

Early life

Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York to John Buscemi, an Italian American sanitation worker and Korean War veteran, and an Irish American mother who worked as a hostess at Howard Johnson's.^[1] He has a brother, Michael, and graduated from Valley Stream Central High School, where he wrestled in the varsity squad at 125 lbs, in 1975. Buscemi then attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to attend the Lee Strasberg Institute. He was a New York City firefighter at Engine Company #55 in Little Italy from 1980 to 1984.

Acting career

Buscemi is an associate member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. Buscemi's memorable roles include Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, Garland Greene in Con Air, Rockhound in Armageddon, Donny in The Big Lebowski and Carl Showalter in Fargo. Although usually a supporting actor, he has had critical success as a lead actor, particularly his role as Seymour in Ghost World.

Buscemi often plays characters that are neurotic and paranoid. He often appears in films by the Coen Brothers, wherein he often dies in a grisly, prolonged or unexpected manner. He frequently works with Adam Sandler as a comic relief character in his films. Among the more notable roles he's had in Sandler's films are Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer and Mr. Deeds. He will play a nemesis to Sandler and Kevin James in the upcoming marital comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He also has worked with Quentin Tarantino, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Jim Jarmusch and Robert Rodriguez on various occasions.

In 2003, Buscemi made a brief celebrity guest appearance as himself on the long-running FOX animated television show The Simpsons in the episode Brake My Wife, Please. In 2004, Buscemi joined the cast of The Sopranos as Tony Soprano's cousin and childhood friend, Tony Blundetto. Buscemi had previously been involved with the show, directing the third season episode "Pine Barrens", which is a fan favorite. He recently appeared in the third episode of Season 6, as a doorman at heaven (portrayed as a country club) in a dream of Tony Soprano's. He also returned as a director to the show, directing the fifth episode of Season 6. Buscemi also had a role as Phil Hickle, Ellen's father and older Pete's guidance conselor in The Adventures of Pete and Pete.

Buscemi was rumored to be considered for the role of The Scarecrow in Joel Schumacher's fifth and final installment of the Batman franchise, Batman Triumphant, before Warner Bros. Pictures cancelled the project.^[2]

Directing

In addition to acting, Buscemi also has a career as a director. He currently is directing the feature film, Interview, in which he also stars. Previous to this, he has directed Trees Lounge in (1996), Animal Factory (2000), Lonesome Jim (2005). In addition to directing feature films, he has also directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and The Sopranos. Also, he directed two episodes of the HBO prison-drama series Oz, "U.S. Male," and "Cuts Like A Knife."

Personal life

The day after the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, Buscemi showed up at his old firehouse and volunteered to work at Ground Zero. For the next week he worked 12 hour shifts digging through the rubble in an effort to recover bodies, all the while refusing to do interviews or have his picture taken.^[3]

In April 2001, while shooting the film Domestic Disturbance in Wilmington, North Carolina, Buscemi was cut and badly scarred on his face while intervening into a bar fight between his friend Vince Vaughn, screenwriter Scott Rosenberg, and a local man, Timothy Fogerty, who allegedly instigated the brawl.^[4]

During his profile on the show Inside the Actors Studio, avant-garde director John Waters noted that he and Buscemi bear an uncanny resemblance to each other, to the point where Waters sent out Christmas cards with a picture of "himself" which was actually Buscemi dressed as him. He also (somewhat jokingly) noted that should a movie ever be made about Waters' life, Buscemi agreed to star as Waters in the film.

Buscemi has one son, Lucian, with wife Jo Andres.

Filmography

Footnotes

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