Chazz Palminteri

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Chazz Palminteri 2011

Chazz Palminteri (born May 15, 1952 in New York City as Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri ) is an American actor and writer of Sicilian descent.

Life

Palminteri grew up in the Bronx borough of New York . He graduated from Theodore Roosevelt High School and learned from 1973 the art of acting in the Actors Studio by Lee Strasberg . He appeared in a number of plays in the early 1980s and then in television series such as Hill Street Police Station , Matlock and Fighting the Mafia in the second half of the decade .

Palminteri wrote the plays In the Streets of the Bronx and The Wedding Day and later adapted both to scripts that were filmed in 1993 and 1996. In the film adaptation In the Streets of the Bronx , directed by Robert De Niro and also played one of the leading roles, Palminteri took on the role of Mafioso Sonny. In Woody Allen's comedy Bullets Over Broadway , he also took on a gangster role alongside John Cusack and Dianne Wiest in 1994 . For this role he was nominated for an Oscar and a Screen Actors Guild Award , and then won an Independent Spirit Award and a Sant Jordi Award . In Bryan Singer's 1995 film The Usual Suspects , he played the investigating customs inspector Kujan in search of the mysterious gang boss Keyser Söze.

In 1999 Palminteri took on the role of Giovanni Falcone in Falcone - In the Crosshairs of the Mafia , directed by Ricky Tognazzi . In the series Rizzoli & Isles he has appeared in a recurring guest role since 2010.

Palminteri has been married to Gianna Ranaudo since 1992 and has two children.

Filmography

actor

script

Director

Film awards and nominations

year Movie role movie Award
1993 In the streets of the Bronx Sonny LoSpecchio Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor also for Bullets Over Broadway and The Usual Suspects
1994 Bullets Over Broadway Cheech Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor
Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor Also
Nominated for In The Streets Of The Bronx and The Usual Suspects - Academy Award For Best Supporting Actor
Nominated - Chicago Film Critics Association Award For Best Supporting Actor
Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award For Best Supporting Actor
1995 The usual suspects Dave Kujan National Board of Review Award for Best Ensemble
Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actor also for A Bronx Tale and Bullets Over Broadway
A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints Monty Sundance Film Festival - Special jury award for best performance by an ensemble

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Palminteri, Chazz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Palminteri, Calogero Lorenzo (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actor and writer
DATE OF BIRTH May 15, 1952
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City