Costas Mandylor (born Konstantinos Theodosopoulos; 3 September 1965) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Kenny in ''

Picket Fences ''Picket Fences'' is an American family drama television series about the residents of the town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS televisio ...

'' and for portraying

Mark Hoffman Detective Lieutenant Mark Hoffman is a fictional character and the secondary antagonist of the ''Saw'' franchise. He is portrayed by Australian actor Costas Mandylor. While the character was first shown as a police officer in ''Saw III'', late ...

in the ''Saw'' films.

Early life

Mandylor was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, the son of Greek immigrants from the

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

region. Mandylor took a version of his mother's maiden name, citing his real name in Greek being too long. He grew up in St Kilda and

South Melbourne South Melbourne is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3 km south of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Port Phillip local government area. South Melbourne recorded a population of 11,548 at t ...

. He moved to the United States in 1987 where he started taking acting lessons. He was initially unable to find any work acting and had to work any job available.

Career

Mandylor's first major role was in the 1989 film '' Triumph of the Spirit'' playing a European Jew, which was filmed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. He returned to Los Angeles meeting director

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born September 15, 1946) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Stone won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay as writer of '' Midnight Express'' (1978), and wrote the gangster film remake '' Sc ...

and auditioned and got the role of an Italian count in ''

The Doors The Doors were an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger, and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most controversial and influential ro ...

'' (1991). Mandylor landed a leading role in ''

Mobsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

'' playing Mafia boss

Frank Costello Frank Costello (; born Francesco Castiglia; ; January 26, 1891 – February 18, 1973) was an Italian-American crime boss of the Luciano crime family. In 1957, Costello survived an assassination attempt ordered by Vito Genovese and carried out by ...

. He went mentally prepared for the role, telling the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', "It was interesting that I got that part, because I felt tuned in to gangsters, it was a genre I'd read a lot. When I was 13, I got a job as a dishwasher in a Melbourne nightclub and saw everything there, real gangsters, and had met characters who were dangerous people from an underground world." In 1992 he had a lead role on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

television drama, ''

'', playing officer Kenny Lacos until the show ended in 1996. Mandylor also had a lead role in the ''

Saw A saw is a tool consisting of a tough blade, wire, or chain with a hard toothed edge. It is used to cut through material, very often wood, though sometimes metal or stone. The cut is made by placing the toothed edge against the material and mo ...

'' films as Detective Mark Hoffman. Shawnee Smitha and Costas Mandylor Saw 3D premiere

Personal life

Mandylor played professional football/soccer in Europe until suffering

shin splints A shin splint, also known as medial tibial stress syndrome, is pain along the inside edge of the shinbone (tibia) due to inflammation of tissue in the area. Generally this is between the middle of the lower leg and the ankle. The pain may be dull ...

. In 1991, he was chosen by ''People'' as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the world". Mandylor married

Talisa Soto Miriam Talisa Soto (born March 27, 1967) is an American former actress and former model. She is known for portraying Bond girl Lupe Lamora in the 1989 James Bond film ''Licence to Kill'', and as Kitana in the 1995 fantasy action film ''Mortal Kom ...

in May 1997; they divorced in 2000.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mandylor, Costas 1965 births Male actors from Melbourne Australian male television actors Australian people of Greek descent Greek emigrants to the United States Australian expatriate male actors in the United States Australian male film actors Living people