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 plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox 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 a ...

'' (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 ...

, working in a style he calls abstract emotionalism.

Early life

Richard Grieco was born in Watertown,

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, ...

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, an ...

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. Chane ...

. 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 ''

'' 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 Mob, but along with his childhood fri ...

in the movie ''

''. 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, M ...

''.

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 mu ...

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 use ...

. In 2004, he formed the band Wasteland Park with music manager Cheryl Bogart.

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 year ...

, 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

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 A ...

. 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 y ...

shirt for the one he is wearing. Several references are made to Grieco and his movies (especially '' Point Doom''). In ''

'', 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 Char ...

''.

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