Carmine Dominick Giovinazzo ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American actor, writer, painter and musician, known for his role as
Detective Danny Messer in ''
CSI: NY''.
Early life
Giovinazzo was born and raised in the
Port Richmond neighborhood of
Staten Island
Staten Island ( ) is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Richmond County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located in the city's southwest portion, the borough is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull a ...
, New York, the son of Nancy and Dominick Giovinazzo. Growing up, Giovinazzo was an avid athlete. He graduated from
Port Richmond High School
Port Richmond High School is a public high school on the North Shore of Staten Island, New York City, New York. It is located in the Elm Park neighborhood, at 85 St Josephs Avenue between Innis Street and Charles Avenue. It has approximately 1 ...
in 1991 and attended
Wagner College
Wagner College is a private liberal arts college in Staten Island, New York City. Founded in 1883 and with an enrollment of approximately 2,200 students, Wagner is known for its academic program, The Wagner Plan for the Practical Liberal Arts. It ...
on a baseball scholarship. He had hoped to become a professional baseball player, but a serious back injury dashed his career plans; with the support of his family, he turned to acting. He studied acting at Wagner College and HB Studios, and spent four years working mostly non-paying roles in the New York area.
[Buckley, A. J. (April 2010)]
"Before the Scene with Carmine Giovinazzo"
''Scene'' (Louisiana's Entertainment Magazine), p. 18. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
Career
In 1997, Giovinazzo moved to Los Angeles. Not long afterward, he successfully landed his first Hollywood role in the pilot of ''
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' is an American supernatural drama television series created by writer and director Joss Whedon. It is based on the 1992 film of the same name, also written by Whedon, although the events of the film are not consid ...
'', in which his character was the show's first on-screen victim. Afterwards, he appeared in numerous guest-starring roles on television and in film, including ''
Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss'', ''
For Love of the Game'', ''
The Big Brass Ring
''The Big Brass Ring'' is a 1999 drama film, starring William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Irene Jacob, Jefferson Mays and Miranda Richardson (who was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance). The film's script was heavily rewritten by ...
'', and ''
Black Hawk Down''. He was also cast as one of the stars of the short-lived
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
sitcom ''
Shasta McNasty'', which was nominated for a Peoples Choice Award. Other films in which he had starring roles include ''
In Enemy Hands'' with
William H. Macy
William Hall Macy Jr. (born March 13, 1950) is an American actor. His film career has been built on appearances in small, independent films, though he has also appeared in mainstream films. Some of his best known starring roles include those i ...
, and ''Players'' with
Freddy Rodriguez and
Peter Dobson. He played Tony Galper, the victim in
the final episode of the TV series ''
Columbo
''Columbo'' () is an American crime drama television series starring Peter Falk as Lieutenant Columbo, a homicide detective with the Los Angeles Police Department. After two pilot episodes in 1968 and 1971, the show originally aired on NBC f ...
''.
Giovinazzo was cast as
forensic scientist
Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...
Danny Messer on the hit TV series ''
CSI: NY'' and is the first actor to appear in all three ''CSI'' series; his character was introduced in the ''
CSI: Miami'' episode "
MIA/NYC NonStop" (along with the other ''CSI: NY'' cast members), and he guest-starred in season three of the Las Vegas-based
original series
Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...
as street racer Thumpy G in the episode "
Revenge is Best Served Cold" (though it is never specified that this guest spot was in any way related to his character on ''CSI: NY''). Giovinazzo penned season six's
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mischief or deaths ...
-themed episode "
Sanguine Love", joining series leads
Melina Kanakaredes
Melina Eleni Kanakaredes Constantinides ( el, Μελίνα Ελένη Κανακαρίδη Κωνσταντινίδη; born April 23, 1967) is an American actress. She is widely known for her roles in U.S. primetime television dramas as Dr. Sydn ...
and
Gary Sinise
Gary Alan Sinise (; born March 17, 1955) is an American actor, humanitarian, and musician. Among other awards, he has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and four Screen Actors Guild Awards. He has also received a sta ...
who have also written episodes for the series.
In 2014, Giovinazzo portrayed the recurring role of Sid Markham in season two of the
USA
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
television series ''
Graceland
Graceland is a mansion on a estate in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, which was once owned by rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. His daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, inherited Graceland after his death in 1977. Graceland is located at 3764 Elv ...
''. In this series, he reunited with his former ''CSI: NY'' co-star
Vanessa Ferlito
Vanessa Ferlito is an American actress. She is known for playing Detective Aiden Burn in the first season of the CBS crime drama '' CSI: NY'', as well as for her recurring portrayal of Claudia Hernandez in FOX drama '' 24'', and for her starrin ...
.
Personal life
Giovinazzo plays the guitar, and writes songs and poetry.
[ He is also a painter, mostly in oils, and one of his paintings appeared in the " Tri-Borough" episode of ''CSI: NY''. He is currently a lead vocalist in the band Ceesau, which released one album, ''Era of the Exposed'' (2008). The song "Tear To Spare", from this album, was played in the ''CSI: NY'' sixth-season episode "Sanguine Love", which Giovinazzo wrote.
Giovinazzo is a cousin of Buddy Giovinazzo and ]Larry Romano
Lawrence John Romano (born July 31, 1963) is an American film and television actor.
Born in Mount Vernon, New York, he was a regular on ''NYPD Blue'' and the sitcom ''The King of Queens'', on which he played Richie Iannucci. He played First B ...
.
Giovinazzo married actress Vanessa Marcil
Vanessa Marcil ( ;) is an American actress. She is best known for her television roles as Brenda Barrett on ''General Hospital'', Gina Kincaid on ''Beverly Hills, 90210'', and Sam Marquez on ''Las Vegas''.
Early life
Marcil, the youngest of f ...
on July 11, 2010, in a private ceremony in New York City. Marcil filed for divorce in August 2012 on the basis of irreconcilable differences
''Irreconcilable Differences'' is a 1984 American comedy-drama film starring Ryan O'Neal, Shelley Long, and Drew Barrymore. The film was a minor box-office success, making over $12 million. For their performances, both Long and Barrymore were n ...
. The divorce was finalized in March 2013.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Carmine Giovinazzo
at the CSI: NY Fan Wiki
Ceesau on Facebook
{{DEFAULTSORT:Giovinazzo, Carmine
1973 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male video game actors
American people of English descent
American writers of Italian descent
American people of Norwegian descent
American television writers
Living people
Male actors from New York City
American male television writers
People from Staten Island
Wagner College alumni
Screenwriters from New York (state)
21st-century American singers
21st-century American male singers