Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony Mantegna (/mɑːnˈteɪnjə/, Italian pronunciation: [manˈteɲɲa]; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor. He has starred in the CBS television series Criminal Minds since 2007 as FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi. He has voiced the recurring role of mob boss Fat Tony on the animated series The Simpsons, beginning with the 1991 episode "Bart the Murderer", as well as The Simpsons Movie (2007).
Joe Mantegna
Mantegna began his career on stage in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical Hair. He earned a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play and a Joseph Jefferson Award for portraying Richard Roma in the first American productions of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize–winning play Glengarry Glen Ross, the first of many collaborations with Mamet.[1] His long-standing association with Mamet includes the premieres of A Life in the Theatre, The Disappearance of the Jews and Speed-the-Plow on Broadway. Mantegna also directed a highly lauded production of Mamet's Lakeboat, which enjoyed a successful theatrical run in Los Angeles. He later directed the film version of Lakeboat.[2] In addition to theatrical appearances directed by Mamet, Mantegna appeared in Mamet's films House of Games (1987), Things Change (1988), Homicide (1991), and Redbelt (2008).
In film and on television, Mantegna is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos (1986), The Godfather Part III (1990), Forget Paris (1995), and Up Close and Personal (1996). He starred in the television series First Monday (2002) and Joan of Arcadia (2003–2005). He has earned Emmy Award nominations for his roles in three different miniseries: The Last Don (1997), The Rat Pack (1998), and The Starter Wife (2007). He has also served as executive producer for various movies and television movies, including Corduroy (1984), Hoods (1998), and Lakeboat (2000), which he also directed. Additionally, he played Robert B. Parker's fictional detective Spenser in three made-for-TV movies between 1999 and 2001, and has narrated a number of audiobook readings of the Spenser novels.
Early life[edit]
Mantegna was born on November 13, 1947, in Chicago to Italian American parents.[3] His parents were Mary Ann (Novelli; 1916–2017), a shipping clerk from Acquaviva delle Fonti, Apulia, Italy,[4] and Joseph Henry Mantegna, an insurance salesman[5] from Calascibetta, Sicily,[6] who died in 1971 of tuberculosis.[7]
Mantegna was raised Catholic[8] and attended J. Sterling Morton High School East in Cicero, Illinois. He then attended Morton College and the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University), leaving just before graduation in 1969.[9][10]
As a young man in Chicago, he played bass in a band called The Apocryphals, which later played with another local group, The Missing Links, who went on to form the band Chicago. As of 2007, Mantegna remained very close to the original members of Chicago.[11]
Mantegna started off in the film industry as a photographer, taking headshots.[12]
Legacy[edit]
On April 29, 2011, Mantegna received the 2,438th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles.[22] On June 6, 2011, Mantegna's hometown of Cicero, Illinois celebrated his body of work with an honorary street sign—Joe Mantegna Boulevard—on the northeast corner of Austin Boulevard and 25th Street, the location of his high school.[23] In 2014, Mantegna received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto.[24] On May 3, 2017, the city of Chicago dedicated Joe Mantegna Way, a section of Armitage Avenue where Mantegna lived during his early acting days.[25]
On April 4, 2015, Mantegna received a Lifetime Achievement Award for Film and Television from The Riverside International Film Festival.[26] On May 22, 2015, Mantegna received the Saint Pio Award from the Saint Pio Foundation, in recognition of his outstanding contribution in being an extraordinary individual in "providing relief from suffering to those in need".
An avid firearms enthusiast, he is the host of MidwayUSA's Gun Stories on the cable television Outdoor Channel.[27]
Personal life[edit]
Mantegna married Arlene Vrhel on October 3, 1975. He said in an interview on The Talk that the 300th episode of Criminal Minds aired on October 3, 2018, their 43rd wedding anniversary, and he apologized during that interview for working on their anniversary.
They have two daughters: Mia and Gia. Arlene owned a Chicago-themed restaurant in Burbank, California, named Taste Chicago, which closed on March 22, 2019, for personal reasons.[28] Mia, born 1987, is autistic[29] and works as a make-up artist.[30][31] She has also appeared with her father on KCAL-TV in support of Autism Awareness Month (April). Gina was born in 1990 and changed her name to Gia at age eighteen.[29]
Mantegna is a Chicago Cubs fan and has led the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the 7th inning stretch multiple times.[32][33] This was referenced in the show Criminal Minds where his character David Rossi's office is decked with Cubs gear.
In 1988, during the play Speed the Plow, Mantegna was stricken with Bell's Palsy. Although considered temporary,[34] Mantegna still has persistent facial characteristics of the disease.[1]