Joseph Peter “Joe” Pantoliano (created September 12, 1951) is an American movie and television celebrity. He also played Deputy U.S. Marshal Cosmo Renfro in both “The Fugitive” and “U.S. Marshals”. He’s frequently called “Joey Pants”, due to the problem some people have pronouncing his Italian surname.
He first grew to popularity as “Guido the Killer Pimp” in Risky Business, and continued to grow in 1985 when he appeared as the villainous Francis Fratelli in teen classic The Goonies. He acquired popularity amongst a fresh generation as Cypher in the 1999 landmark sci-fi film The Matrix, and won an Emmy as Ralph Cifaretto in HBO’s The Sopranos. He also played Deputy Marshal Cosmo Renfro in The Fugitive along with Tommy Lee Jones and reprised the character in the sequel U.S. Marshals. He’s famous for his portrayals of offenders, criminal investigators, detectives, and forensic specialists using a wisecracking impression. The exact same year he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for The Sopranos. In 2013, he was cast in the part of Yogi Berra for the Broadway production of Bronx Bombers, however he dropped out during rehearsals due to “creative differences” When not playing, Pantoliano additionally composes. He is the author of two memoirs: Who’s Sorry Now: The True Story of a Stand-Up Guy and Asylum: Hollywood Stories From My Great Depression: Brain Disorder, Healing and Being My Mother’s Son. In the latter, he writes about his addictions to booze, food, sex, Vicodin and Percocet, before being identified as having clinical depression.
Actor, Film Producer, Voice Actor, Writer, Film director
Education
HB Studio
Nationality
United States of America
Spouse
Nancy Sheppard (m. 1994), Morgan Kester (m. 1979–1984)
Children
Isabella Pantoliano, Michelle Pantoliano
Parents
Mary Pantoliano, Dominic Pantoliano
Siblings
Mary Ann Pantoliano
Nicknames
Joseph Peter Pantoliano , Joey Pants , Joseph Pantoliano , Joe Peter Pantoliano , Joseph Peter "Joe" Pantoliano , Joseph "Joe" Pantoliano
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
Nominations
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama
Movies
The Matrix, Memento, The Goonies, The Fugitive, Risky Business, Bound, Baby's Day Out, Midnight Run, Empire of the Sun, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, U.S. Marshals, Bad Boys II, Daredevil, La Bamba, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, Ready to Rumble, Wedding Daze, Deadly Impact, Bad...
TV Shows
The Sopranos, But Can They Sing?, Dr. Vegas, The Handler, EZ Streets, The Fanelli Boys, Free Country, From Here to Eternity, Waterfront, Sugar Hill
Star Sign
Virgo
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Trademark
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High, husky voice
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Often plays amoral or deceitful characters
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Almost always seen wearing a cap, even in some of his movie roles
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Quote
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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 dialogue.
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On making the transition from character actor to leading actor: It doesn't make any difference if you're a lead. It's all playtime.
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They say that politics is show business for ugly people.
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I liked Matrix Reloaded better than I liked the first one. I haven't seen Revolutions. I loved Cypher. He was very human. He was the one guy that doubted Morpheus, that doubted the real world. He was best served to go back into The Matrix and be a movie star and never know he was out of it. What a deal that would be!
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Going to work for me is very reminiscent of high school. You go and you've got your clique of friends. You go to the cafeteria with everybody. If you can do it, it's the best job in the world.
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My real fear playing Ralphie in The Sopranos was that I would be typescast. Luckily, like Jimmy Gandolfini, I was able to get plenty of other work - Bad Boys 2 and Daredevil in particular. But in a way, Ralphie encouraged me to do more, to ensure he didn't define me. That's why I did Frankie & Johnny on Broadway and, to be honest, it's why I took the role in The Handler - to show my fanbase that there's more to me that just that nutcase, Ralphie.
Was offered the role of Leo in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), but was forced to turn it down due to a conflict with the film The Last of the Finest (1990). Joe Pesci ultimately played the role.
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Founded the charity organization "No Kidding, Me Too!" (nkm2.org) to foster education and awareness of mental illness. The foundation's goal is to "Stomp the Stigma" associated with mental illness and encourage those suffering to seek help. [2008]
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Working on a novel about his hometown, Hoboken, New Jersey, entitled, "Who's Sorry Now?" He hopes to have the book completed in the next fifteen months and is working on a deal with a publisher. [July 2001]
Has suffered from Clinical Depression since the mid-1990s.
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According to his book, "Who's Sorry Now?", at age 12 during an argument in a grocery store, his mother, Mary Centrella Pantoliano, told Joe that his real father was her third cousin, Florio "Florie" Isabella, a made man who had spent several years in prison. Shortly before, Joe's father, Monk, and Mary had separated and Florie moved in with the family. Monk and Mary never got divorced, and Joe never found out which man was actually his father.
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He studied drama at HB Studio in Greenwich Village in New York City.
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Lives in Wilton, Connecticut.
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Studied acting with Michael Howard in New York City.
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He landed his first professional role in 1972 when he played Billy Bibbit in the national touring company of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He worked in regional theater appearing in more than 40 Off-Broadway productions including Vision of Kerouac at the Lion Theater and The Death Star at the Theater of St. Clements.
At age seventeen he moved from his hometown of Hoboken, New Jersey, to Manhattan to study to become a barber.
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Italian-American.
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Keen wine buff. On a recent episode of Jon Favreau's Dinner for Five (2001) on IFC, he was choosing the wine, inquiring about a '97 Ornellaia before settling on a '79 Tignanello. When the wine was presented to him for tasting, he picked up that it was corked and asked the sommelier to taste it himself, and the sommelier concurred.