Joe Pesci Bio

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Joseph Frank "Joe" Pesci (born February 9, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, singer and musician.

Usually known for playing violent mafia mobsters or grouchy but lovable funnymen, Pesci has starred in a number of high-profile films such as Goodfellas, Raging Bull, My Cousin Vinny, Home Alone, Lethal Weapon 2, Lethal Weapon 3, Lethal Weapon 4, Casino and more recently The Good Shepherd.

In 1990, ten years after receiving a nomination in the same category for Raging Bull, Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as mobster Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas.

Joe Pesci: Early life

Pesci (pronounced Peshi), an Italian American, was born in Newark, New Jersey, the son of Mary, who worked part-time as a barber, and Angelo Pesci, a forklift driver for General Motors and bartender. By the time Pesci was 5 years old, he was appearing in plays in New York. A few years later, at age 10, he was a regular on a television variety show called Startime Kids, which also featured Connie Francis. He started out working as a barber in the 1960s, following in his mother's footsteps. He released an album entitled Little Joe Sure Can Sing, under the pseudonym "Joseph Richie," accompanied by a band that included good friend and future fellow actor Frank Vincent. He practiced Judo all throughout his teens. He played guitar for "Joey Dee and the Starliters" and was an extra in Dee's film Hey, Let's Twist!, in which he made his film debut. Subsequently, he performed with Robert De Niro in the films, Raging Bull (for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor), Once Upon A Time In America (in which he was cast at the behest of his friend De Niro), Goodfellas (for which he received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, in 1990,) and Casino. The pairing became famous enough to inspire a recurring sketch on Saturday Night Live, called, "The Joe Pesci Show". (The real Pesci and De Niro would eventually make a surprise appearance in one episode). Pesci hosted Saturday Night Live on October 10, 1992. During the monologue, he restored a picture of Pope John Paul II, which was torn by Sinéad O'Connor on the previous broadcast.

Joe Pesci - Other work

In the late 70's, Joe teamed up with Frankie Vincent, performing in local clubs like the Arlington Lounge and other venues around Northern NJ as 'Vincent and Pesci'. The comedy duo's material was a play on Martin/Lewis and Abbott and Costello. He co-starred in Home Alone (1990), playing one of two bumbling burglars (along with good friend, Daniel Stern) who attempt to rob the house of the character played by Macaulay Culkin. He also had roles in JFK (as David Ferrie) and My Cousin Vinny (as the title character) released in 1991 and 1992 respectively. He appeared as Leo Getz in three Lethal Weapon films.

Joe Pesci - Retirement from acting and musical career

In 1998, he released an album called Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You which spawned the single "Wise Guy". In 1999, Pesci announced his retirement from acting to pursue a musical career and to enjoy life away from the camera. He returned to acting when he did a cameo in De Niro's 2006 film The Good Shepherd. He is slated to star in the 2009 drama Love Ranch, alongside Dame Helen Mirren.

He is one of the producers of the hit Broadway Musical Jersey Boys. The musical is based on the lives of the musical group, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Pesci claims to have been present during the formation of the group as a young man and is portrayed as a character in the play.

Joe Pesci: Personal life

He has been married three times, the third time to Claudia Martha (Marty) Haro. He has a daughter, Tiffany from his first marriage. In 2008, a then 65-year-old Pesci became engaged to actress/model Angie Everhart who was 38 at the time. However, according to Angie Everhart, they were never actually engaged. They announced their breakup in April, 2008. George Carlin, in a comedy set denouncing religion, stated he prayed to Joe Pesci rather than God, because "Joe looks like a guy who can get things done". The two were also close friends.