Joseph Charles John Piscopo ( ; born June 17, 1951) is an American actor, comedian and conservative radio talk show host. He was a cast member on ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
'' from 1980 to 1984, where he played a variety of recurring characters. His film roles include Danny Vermin in ''
Johnny Dangerously
''Johnny Dangerously'' is a 1984 American crime comedy film, and a parody of 1930s crime/gangster movies. It was directed by Amy Heckerling.
The film stars Michael Keaton as an honest, goodhearted man who turns to a life of crime to finance hi ...
'' (1984), Moe Dickstein in ''
Wise Guys'' (1986), Doug Bigelow in ''
Dead Heat
A dead heat is a rare situation in various racing sports in which the performances of competitors are judged to be so close that no difference between them can be resolved. The result is declared a tie and the competitors are awarded a joint ra ...
'' (1988), and Kelly Stone in ''
Sidekicks'' (1992).
Early life
Piscopo was born in
Passaic, New Jersey
Passaic ( or ) is a city in Passaic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city had a total population of 70,537, ranking as the 16th largest municipality in New Jersey and an increase of 656 from the 69,78 ...
, and grew up in
North Caldwell
North Caldwell is a borough in northwestern Essex County, New Jersey, United States, and a suburb of New York City. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 6,694, an increase of 511 (+8.3%) from the 2010 census count ...
. He attended
West Essex High School
West Essex High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in North Caldwell. The high school is part of the West Essex Regional School District, which comprises the constituent municipalities of Essex Fells, Fairfield, N ...
and was a member of the drama club "The Masquers."
He developed a reputation for never playing a part the way it was written. After graduating in 1969, Piscopo attended
Jones College in
Jacksonville, Florida
Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...
, where he received a degree in broadcast management.
''Saturday Night Live''
In the summer of 1980, Piscopo was hired as a contract player for ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''. The show had gone through a major upheaval when all the writers, major producers, and cast members left that spring. The mew cast bombed with critics and fans with the exception of Piscopo and
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan Murphy (born April 3, 1961) is an American actor, comedian, writer, producer, and singer. He rose to fame on the sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', for which he was a regular cast member from 1980 to 1984. Murphy has als ...
. As a result, they were the only two cast members to be kept when
Dick Ebersol
Duncan "Dick" Ebersol (; born July 28, 1947) is an American television executive and a senior adviser for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics. He had previously been the chairman of NBC Sports, producing large-scale television events such as the O ...
took over the show the following spring. With the success of ''SNL'', Piscopo moved to the wealthy borough of
Alpine, New Jersey.
Piscopo was best known for his impressions of celebrities, including
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...
. Piscopo rewrote the lyrics for a Sinatra sketch with the help of Sinatra lyricist
Sammy Cahn
Samuel Cohen (June 18, 1913 – January 15, 1993), known professionally as Sammy Cahn, was an American lyricist, songwriter, and musician. He is best known for his romantic lyrics to films and Broadway songs, as well as stand-alone songs premier ...
and recalled that, "by the grace of God, the old man loved it." Piscopo had an occasional spot on the ''Weekend Update'' segment as a bombastic sports commentator who would pose a series of questions and usually follow them up with a loud, “Who cares?”. Piscopo and
Robin Duke
Robin Duke (born March 13, 1954) is a Canadian actress, comedian, and voice actress. Duke may be best known for her work on the television comedy series '' SCTV'' and, later, ''Saturday Night Live''. She co-founded ''Women Fully Clothed'', a ske ...
also played
The Whiners.
Post–''Saturday Night Live'' career
Piscopo left ''Saturday Night Live'' at the end of the 1983–1984 season. In 1984, he starred with
Michael Keaton
Michael John Douglas (born September 5, 1951), known professionally as Michael Keaton, is an American actor. He is known for his various comedic and dramatic film roles, including Jack Butler in ''Mr. Mom'' (1983), Betelgeuse in ''Beetlejuice'' ( ...
in the movie ''
Johnny Dangerously
''Johnny Dangerously'' is a 1984 American crime comedy film, and a parody of 1930s crime/gangster movies. It was directed by Amy Heckerling.
The film stars Michael Keaton as an honest, goodhearted man who turns to a life of crime to finance hi ...
'', which was met with mixed reviews. He also starred in an
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
special and wrote a book for
Pocket Books
Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books.
History
Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing in ...
titled ''The Piscopo Tapes''. An album, ''New Jersey'', for
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
, followed in 1985 and an
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
special titled ''The Joe Piscopo New Jersey Special'' in May 1986. In 1987, Piscopo was mentioned in
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the lat ...
and the Heartbreakers' No. 1 rock single "
Jammin' Me
"Jammin' Me" is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, co-written by Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Mike Campbell. The heartland rock tune first appeared on the band's 1987 album ''Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)'', and was later included on Petty's 'b ...
".
In the mid-to-late 1980s, Piscopo developed an interest in
bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...
. He first became involved with it when he was doing impressions of
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen (born September 23, 1949) is an American singer and songwriter. He has released 21 studio albums, most of which feature his backing band, the E Street Band. Originally from the Jersey Shore, he is an originat ...
on ''SNL''. He appeared on the cover of ''
Muscle & Fitness
''Muscle & Fitness'' is an American fitness and bodybuilding magazine founded in 1935 by Canadian entrepreneur Joe Weider. It was originally published under the title ''Your Physique'', before being renamed to ''Muscle Builder'' in 1954, and acq ...
'' magazine in April 1988 and again in June 1990. In the 1990 issue, he said, "Some people in Hollywood think I'm nuts with this bodybuilding stuff. They'll say, 'You're getting too big. You'll hurt your career.' But they don't understand that high that comes from a workout, the challenge, and the personal victory."
Since January 2014, Piscopo has hosted ''Piscopo in the Morning'', a radio show from 6:00 am to 10:00am weekdays on
970AM The Answer in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Starting on December 13, 2020, Piscopo also began to host the Ramsey Mazda Sunday Nights with Sinatra on
770 AM WABC in New York and WABC's sister station
107.1 FM WLIR in
Hampton Bays.
Piscopo considered running as an independent for
governor of New Jersey
The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The official res ...
in 2017 based in part on the political success of
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
, for whom he campaigned in 2016. He was encouraged by a number of political figures, including former New York City mayor
Rudy Giuliani
Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
. However, in May 2017 he ultimately decided not to run. Piscopo has been active in a band and performed stand up and music at a political rally hosted by businessman
Mike Lindell
Michael James Lindell (born June 28, 1961), also known as the My Pillow Guy, is an American businessman, political activist, and conspiracy theorist. He is the founder and CEO of My Pillow, Inc., a pillow, bedding, and slipper manufacturing ...
in May 2021.
Personal life
Piscopo was diagnosed
thyroid cancer
Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. C ...
in 1990. In 1973, Piscopo married Nancy Jones. They had one child and divorced in 1988. In 1997, he married Kimberly Driscoll, who was his son's nanny when Piscopo was married to Jones. They had three children and divorced in 2006.
Piscopo is a resident of
Lebanon Township, New Jersey
Lebanon Township is a township located at the northernmost point of Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 6,588, reflecting an increase of 772 (+13.3%) from the 5,816 cou ...
, and has also lived in
Tewksbury Township, New Jersey
Tewksbury Township is a township located in Hunterdon County, New Jersey and is located within the New York Metropolitan Areabr>As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 5,993, reflecting an increase of 452 (+8.2%) from ...
.
Piscopo is an avid
New Jersey Devils
The New Jersey Devils are a professional sports, professional ice hockey team based in Newark, New Jersey. The Devils compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern ...
fan and was the emcee for the team's
2003 Stanley Cup championship celebration.
Awards
In 2013, Piscopo was inducted into the
New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Filmography
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piscopo, Joe
1951 births
Living people
20th-century American comedians
21st-century American comedians
American impressionists (entertainers)
American male film actors
American male musical theatre actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American people of Italian descent
American sketch comedians
People from Alpine, New Jersey
People from Lebanon Township, New Jersey
People from North Caldwell, New Jersey
People from Passaic, New Jersey
People from Tewksbury Township, New Jersey
West Essex High School alumni