Anthony John Sarrero (born September 20, 1949), also known by his stage name Anthony Denison (also credited as Anthony John Denison and Tony Denison), is an American actor.

Early life

The eldest of three, he was born and raised in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. He worked for

John Hancock Insurance John Hancock Life Insurance Company, U.S.A. is a Boston-based insurance company. Established April 21, 1862, it was named in honor of John Hancock, a prominent American Patriot. In 2004, John Hancock was acquired by the Canadian multinational li ...

as a life insurance agent in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

, while pursuing his acting career, starring in several stage productions around New Paltz, New York. His stage surname "Denison" was taken from his friend Jan Denison during his days as an actor and director at a nonprofit theater in the late 1970s.

Career

Denison is most recently known for his role as Lieutenant Andy Flynn in ''

The Closer ''The Closer'' is an American television police procedural starring Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Los Angeles Police Department deputy chief. A CIA-trained interrogator originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Brenda has a reputation as a c ...

'' (2005–2012) and its spin-off '' Major Crimes'' (2012–2018). He is well known for his role as

mob boss A crime boss, also known as a crime lord, Don, gang lord, gang boss, mob boss, kingpin, godfather, crime mentor or criminal mastermind, is a person in charge of a criminal organization. Description A crime boss typically has absolute or near ...

Ray Luca on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

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 combin ...

'' Crime Story'' (1986–1988). Afterwards, he starred and guest-starred in several crime movies and television programs, notably as

undercover agent To go "undercover" (that is, to go on an undercover operation) is to avoid detection by the object of one's observation, and especially to disguise one's own identity (or use an assumed identity) for the purposes of gaining the trust of an indi ...

John Henry Raglin in '' Wiseguy'' (1987–90), '' The Great Escape II: The Untold Story'' (1988), '' City of Hope'' (1991), as

Joey Buttafuoco Joseph A. Buttafuoco (born March 11, 1956) is an auto body shop owner from Long Island who had sex with a minor, Amy Fisher. Fisher subsequently shot his wife, Mary Jo Buttafuoco, in the face. Tabloid news coverage labelled Fisher the "Long I ...

in ''

The Amy Fisher Story ''The Amy Fisher Story'' is a 1993 American television film dramatizing the events surrounding Amy Fisher's teenage affair with Joey Buttafuoco and her conviction for aggravated assault for shooting Buttafuoco's wife. The film was produced by ...

'' (1993), as John Gotti in ''

Getting Gotti ''Getting Gotti'' is a 1994 TV film centered on an Assistant United States Attorney named Diane Giacalone, and her attempts to build a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) case against John Gotti and the Gambino crime fami ...

'' (1994), '' Criminal Passion'' (1994), and as

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Mike George in

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...

's drama series ''

Playmakers ''Playmakers'' is an American drama series that aired on ESPN from August 26 to November 11, 2003. It depicted the lives of the Cougars, a fictional professional football team in an unidentified city. The show starred Omar Gooding, Marcello Th ...

'' (2003). He appeared in Season 1, Episode 3, of '' Charmed'' (1998-2006) as the father of the Halliwell sisters. In 2005, he appeared on ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created and produced by Jeff Davis. The series premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005, and originally concluded on February 19, 2020; it was revived in 2022. It ...

'' as Sgt. Weigart, a role he reprised in 2020 for one episode. He played Detective Buroughs in '' Karla'' (2006). He had a

recurring role A recurring character is a fictional character, usually in a prime time TV series, who frequently appears from time to time during the series' run. Recurring characters often play major roles in more than one episode, sometimes being the main foc ...

as Aldo Burrows on the Fox series '' Prison Break'' (2005–2009). In 2000, he played the role of a killer for hire in ''

Walker, Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film '' Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the ...

'' (1993–2001). Denison embodied "Government Investor" in the 2011 Frankie Muniz superhero film '' Pizza Man''. Denison played "The General" in the VR movie Agent Emerson.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Denison, Anthony John 1949 births Living people People from Harlem American male television actors American male film actors State University of New York at New Paltz alumni Male actors from New York City 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors