Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular
Fox
Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush'').
Twelve sp ...
series ''
21 Jump Street
''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...
'' (1988–89) and its spin-off
''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starred in various films, including
''If Looks Could Kill'' and ''
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 ...
'' (both 1991). He has voiced characters in several video games and appeared as either himself or his ''21 Jump Street'' character in several films and television shows. Since 2009, he worked as a
painter
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...
, working in a style he calls abstract emotionalism.
Early life
Richard Grieco was born in
Watertown Watertown may refer to:
Places in China
In China, a water town is a type of ancient scenic town known for its waterways.
Places in the United States
*Watertown, Connecticut, a New England town
**Watertown (CDP), Connecticut, the central village ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, the son of Richard and Carolyn (née O'Reilly) Grieco. He is of
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
descent.
Career
Modeling, TV and film
Grieco worked as a model for
Armani
Giorgio Armani S.p.A. (), commonly known as Armani, is an Italian luxury fashion house founded in Milan by Giorgio Armani which designs, manufactures, distributes and retails haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods, shoes, accessories, and ...
,
Calvin Klein
Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...
and
Chanel
Chanel ( , ) is a French high-end luxury fashion house founded in 1910 by Coco Chanel in Paris. Chanel specializes in women's ready-to-wear, luxury goods, and accessories and licenses its name and branding to Luxottica for eyewear. Chanel is ...
. He played Rick Gardner on ''
One Life to Live
''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...
'' from 1985 to 1987. In 1988, Grieco began appearing as Detective Dennis Booker on the shows ''
21 Jump Street
''21 Jump Street'' is an American police procedural television series that aired on the Fox network and in first run syndication from April 12, 1987, to April 27, 1991, with a total of 103 episodes. The series focuses on a squad of youthful-loo ...
'' and its spinoff ''
Booker''. Grieco's feature film debut was as Michael Corben in ''
If Looks Could Kill'' (1991) and has appeared in numerous films since then. Later in 1991, he played the young Jewish bootlegger and mobster
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel
Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (February 28, 1906 – June 20, 1947) was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was not only influential within the Jewish-American organized crime, Jewish Mob, ...
in the movie ''
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 ...
''. He also appeared in the TV series ''
Marker'' in 1995. He played himself in the 1998 film ''
A Night at the Roxbury
''A Night at the Roxbury'' is a 1998 American comedy film based on a recurring sketch on television's long-running ''Saturday Night Live'' called "The Roxbury Guys". ''Saturday Night Live'' regulars Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Molly Shannon, Mark ...
''.
Music
Grieco began a singing career in 1994 with the Dunmire Band. He signed to a German label and released a CD, ''
Waiting for the Sky to Fall'', in 1995; he re-released the album in 2011, making it available on streaming services such as
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
and
Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
. In 2004, he formed the band Wasteland Park with music manager
Cheryl Bogart
Cheryl Bogart (born November 27, 1977) is an American music industry veteran and spinal cord injury awareness advocate.
Personal life
Bogart was born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois and is of Russian, Polish and Italian descent. She ...
.
Art
In 2009, several years after being encouraged to do so by
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper (May 17, 1936 – May 29, 2010) was an American actor, filmmaker and photographer. He attended the Actors Studio, made his first television appearance in 1954, and soon after appeared in ''Giant'' (1956). In the next ten years ...
,
Grieco publicly revealed that he has been painting since 1991 and sold his first painting for $10,900. He calls his work "Abstract Emotionalism."
In popular culture
In
the WB
The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...
sitcom ''
Off Centre
''Off Centre'' is an American sitcom that aired on The WB network from October 14, 2001, to October 31, 2002. Created by Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, and Danny Zuker, the series was heavily promoted as "from the guys who brought you '' American Pie' ...
'', Grieco is idolized by Chau Presley, a character played by
John Cho
John Cho (born Cho Yo-Han; June 16, 1972) is an American actor known for his roles as Harold Lee in the ''Harold & Kumar'' films, and Hikaru Sulu in the ''Star Trek'' rebooted film series.
Early in his career, Cho also starred in the Asian Ame ...
. In the show, Chau meets Grieco at the Department of Motor Vehicles and trades him an
Oingo Boingo
Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ye ...
shirt for the one he is wearing. Several references are made to Grieco and his movies (especially ''
Point Doom
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Scotland, Lismore, Inner Hebrides, ...
'').
In ''
A Night at the Roxbury
''A Night at the Roxbury'' is a 1998 American comedy film based on a recurring sketch on television's long-running ''Saturday Night Live'' called "The Roxbury Guys". ''Saturday Night Live'' regulars Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, Molly Shannon, Mark ...
'', Grieco is idolized by the main characters. His lifestyle ("Clothes, Cars, Women") was what Doug and Steve Butabi were trying to achieve.
In 2016, he appeared as himself in an episode of ''
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
''It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'' is an American sitcom created by Rob McElhenney and developed by McElhenney and Glenn Howerton that premiered on August 4, 2005 on FX and later FXX beginning with the ninth season in 2013. It stars Charlie ...
''.
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
Web
References
External links
*
Richard Grieco Fine Art website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grieco, Richard
1965 births
21st-century American male actors
Male models from New York (state)
American male soap opera actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American male film actors
American male video game actors
American people of Irish descent
American people of Italian descent
Central Connecticut Blue Devils football players
Living people
Participants in American reality television series
People from Watertown, New York
20th-century American male actors
20th-century American singers
21st-century American singers
20th-century American male singers
21st-century American male singers