Matinee Classics - Joe Pesci Biography & Filmography

Joe Pesci ACTOR

PHOTOS

JOE PESCI BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Joe Pesci was born on February 9th, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey with the middle name Frank, born to Mary and Angelo Pesci. Pesci was raised in Belleville, New Jersey and graduated from Belleville High School.

He first became involved in entertainment as a child actor appearing in stage productions in New York. By the age of ten he already had a regular role on the television show, "Startime Kids".

His first un-credited film role was in 1961 in, "Hey, Let's Twist" followed by his first credited role in 1975 in, "The Death Collector". Along with trying to find work as an actor he ran a restaurant in the Bronx. Soon he was offered a role in the film, "Raging Bull" (1980) with Robert De Niro. For his performance in this film, he won a BAFTA Award for Most Outstanding newcomer to Leading Film Roles and even received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

Soon more prominent film roles followed such as, "Once Upon a Time in America" (1984), "Goodfellas" (1990), "Casino" (1995), "A Bronx Tale" (1993) and "The Good Shepherd" (2007).

Along with his film work he also hosted, "Saturday Night Live" in 1992 and did a sketch with Robert De Niro titled, "The Joe Pesci Show". He also became involved as one of the producers of the musical show, "Jersey Boys" and released a album in the 1960's titled, "Little Joe Sure Can Sing" and his second album titled, "Vincent La Guardia Gambini Sings Just for You" in 1998.

Other film credits he has added to his resume over time are, "Home Alone" (1990), "JFK" (1991), "Lethal Weapon" (1989, 1992 and 1998), "Man on Fire" (1987), "The Super" (1991), "Jimmy Hollywood" (1994), "With Honors" (1994), "Gone Fishin" (1997), "Love Ranch" (2010) and soon to release in 2012, "The Irishman".

He married only one time to Claudia Martha Haro in 1988 and they have one daughter together and remained married until 1992. He has not re-married since then and resides in Lavallette, New Jersey.