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Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (born May 15, 1952)
Chazzpalminteri.net. Retrieved on November 19, 2013.
is an American actor. He is best known for his
Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
–nominated performance in '' Bullets Over Broadway'', the 1993 film ''
A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of a ...
'', based on his play of the same name, and his recurring role as Shorty in '' Modern Family''.


Early life

Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri was born on May 15, 1943, in the Bronx borough of New York City, the son of Rose, a homemaker, and Lorenzo Palminteri, a bus driver. He was raised in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx. Palminteri is of Sicilian origin; his grandparents, Calogero Palminteri and Rosa Bonfante, married in 1908, and immigrated to the United States in 1910 from Menfi in the province of Agrigento, Sicily. At the age of nine, Palminteri witnessed the murder of a mobster in front of his apartment building; the police questioned him, but he maintained that he did not see the incident. He struggled to become an actor, splitting his time between acting in off-Broadway plays and
moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...
as a bouncer, alongside Dolph Lundgren.


Career


Theater

Palminteri starred on Broadway in ''
A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of a ...
'', the autobiographical one-man show based on his childhood that he first performed at Theatre West in Los Angeles in 1989. Palminteri states that he began writing the play after being fired from a club when, as a doorman, he refused entry to super agent
Swifty Lazar Irving Paul "Swifty" Lazar (March 28, 1907 – December 30, 1993) was an American talent agent and dealmaker, representing both movie stars and authors. Early life and education Born Samuel Lazar to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, he gr ...
.Winn, Steven
"Palminteri revisits 'A Bronx Tale'"
'' San Francisco Chronicle'', September 23, 2008.
The Broadway production, directed by
Jerry Zaks Jerry Zaks (born September 7, 1946) is an American stage and television director, and actor. He won the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play and Drama Desk Award for directing '' The House of Blue Leaves'', ''Lend Me a Tenor'', and '' Six Degr ...
and with music by John Gromada, began previews October 4, 1988, at the Walter Kerr Theatre and opened on October 25, running for 18 weeks. Palminteri plays 18 roles in ''A Bronx Tale'', which depicts a rough childhood on the streets of the Bronx. The play ran for two months at Playhouse 91 in 1989. Palminteri starred opposite Kenny D'Aquila in D'Aquila's play, ''Unorganized Crime''. Palminteri always appreciated the shot that Robert De Niro gave him, so he in turn agreed to star in D'Aquila's mafia-themed drama. Palminteri performed in the Broadway musical version of ''A Bronx Tale'' in 2018.


Film career

Robert De Niro saw Palminteri's Broadway show of ''A Bronx Tale'' in 1990, and the two partnered together to adapt the play into a film. Palminteri created the screenplay and starred as Sonny, the gangster Calogero meets, while De Niro directed the film, making his directorial debut, also co-starring as Lorenzo, Calogero's father. The film was a commercial and critical success. In 1994, Chazz Palminteri played mob henchman Cheech in the black comedy film '' Bullets Over Broadway'', for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Palminteri also had performances in films such as '' The Usual Suspects'', ''
The Perez Family ''The Perez Family'' is an American comedy film released in 1995 about a group of Cuban refugees in America who pretend to be a family. It stars Marisa Tomei, Alfred Molina, Anjelica Huston, Chazz Palminteri, and other well-known actors. It w ...
'', '' Jade'', and '' Diabolique'', as well as comedic roles in films such as '' Oscar'', '' Analyze This'', and '' Down to Earth''. During its run, he appeared in many advertisements for Vanilla Coke, in which he portrayed a mob boss who would threaten celebrities if they did not praise the taste of the product in question, and then let them walk away with the Vanilla Coke to "reward their curiosity", touching on its slogan at the time. Palminteri has voiced characters in various animated films, the most notable being Smokey in '' Stuart Little'' and Woolworth in '' Hoodwinked''. He made his directorial debut with an episode of '' Oz'', then the television film ''Women vs. Men'' and the 2004 feature film '' Noel''. Palminteri's recent acting efforts include ''
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints ''A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints'' is a 2006 American drama film based on a 2001 memoir of the same name by author, director, and musician Dito Montiel, which describes his youth in Astoria, New York during the 1980s. Montiel wrote and directed ...
'', '' Running Scared'', and ''
Arthur and the Minimoys ''Arthur and the Invisibles'' or ''Arthur and the Minimoys'' (French: ''Arthur et les Minimoys'') is a 2006 English-language French fantasy adventure comedy animated/live-action film directed and co-written by French filmmaker Luc Besson. It is ...
''. In 2004, he received the "Indie Hero Award" from the
Method Fest Independent Film Festival The Method Fest Independent Film Festival is an independent film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more cinemas or screening venues, usually in a single city or region. Increasingly, film festiv ...
for his artistic achievements in film.


Television

On January 20, 2010, Palminteri guested on '' Modern Family'' and played the same character on the November 2, 2011, episode. Palminteri has reprised the role twice more in season 5. In June 2010, Palminteri began guest-starring on the TNT
crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and comb ...
'' Rizzoli & Isles'' as Frank Rizzoli, Sr. He guest starred twice on the CBS drama '' Blue Bloods'' as Angelo Gallo, a mob lawyer and childhood friend of main character Frank Reagan. Palminteri portrayed deceased mobster Paul Castellano in the 2001 TV film '' Boss of Bosses''.


Other work

In 2011, Palminteri opened a restaurant, Chazz: A Bronx Original, in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...
's Little Italy neighborhood; their main foods are coal-fired pizza and Italian food. However, the restaurant closed in 2015. Palminteri opened an Italian restaurant, Chazz Palminteri Ristorante Italiano, in New York City on Second Avenue. Also, Palminteri did the voice acting for the '' Call of Duty: Black Ops II'' character Sal De Luca in the zombies map ''Mob of the Dead'', and his likeness was used for the character as well. On February 8, 2021, amidst the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quick ...
pandemic, a video posted to
YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...
featuring Mr. Palminteri delivering a public service announcement as a prequel to the debut of the Chazz Palminteri Show, an hour-long live-streamed weekly infotainment installation hosted by the veteran actor and playwright (A Bronx Tale, The Usual Suspects). True to word, on February 15th, 2021, the first episode of Chazz Palminteri Show, titled "It's All You" kicked off the series. Live-streamed and posted each Monday at 11 o'clock Eastern Standard Time on Palminteri's YouTube channel, Chazz Palminteri Show is an hour-long show delivered in classic talk show format that conveys content centrally grounded in moral
ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concer ...
, essential life lessons and traditional "old school" loving family values. Producers of ''Chazz Palminteri Show'' are Dante Lorenzo Palminteri and podcaster / produce
Michael Lavin
Guests features who have been featured on the show include actor William Baldwin, Episode 3 and, Kathrine Narducci, Episode 86 and Phil Stutz (co-author, "The Tools"), Episode 53.


Personal life

Palminteri lives in Westchester County, New York in the town of Bedford. He describes himself as a "very spiritual", devout
Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
.Rypka, Marsala (December 2009) . He married Gianna Ranaudo in 1992, and together they have two children.


Filmography


Film


Television


Video games


Theatre work


Broadway

* 2007 – ''
A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of a ...
'' – performer * 2013 – ''Human'' – performer and writer * 2016 – ''
A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of a ...
'' – writer and performer


Off-Broadway

* 1989 – ''
A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of a ...
'' – writer and performer * 2002 – '' The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' – Ernesto Roma


References


External links

*
A Bronx Tale on Broadway , The Official Website

AskChazz.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Palminteri, Chazz 1952 births American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors People of Sicilian descent Belmont, Bronx Catholics from New York (state) Film directors from New York City Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male winners Living people Male actors from New York City People from the Bronx Sundance Film Festival award winners American film directors of Italian descent