Anthony LaPaglia Biography

Anthony M. LaPaglia (born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama, and for his portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He is also known for his role as Barry "The Blade" Muldanno in The Client.

Early life

LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Maria Johannes (née Brendel), a secretary, and Gedio "Eddie" LaPaglia, an auto mechanic and car dealer. LaPaglia's mother was Dutch, and his Italian father immigrated from Bovalino, Calabria, at the age of eighteen. His younger brother, Jonathan LaPaglia, is also an actor, and his other brother, Michael, is a car wholesaler in Los Angeles. LaPaglia attended Rostrevor College.

LaPaglia first began his venture into dramatic art in his late teens, when he enrolled in an acting course at the South Australian Castings Agency (SA Castings) in Adelaide. The two and half year course was to be supplemented with a further three months, which would have included a "boot camp" and a trial listing with SA Castings. After completing one and half years of the course, LaPaglia left Adelaide for Los Angeles.

Career

LaPaglia's earliest credit was a 1985 part in an episode of the television series Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories. His first feature film was Cold Steel in 1987, followed that same year by the title role of Frank Nitti in the telemovie Nitti: The Enforcer. LaPaglia had a supporting role as a mobster in the minor hit Betsy's Wedding (1990). This was followed by roles in the vampire/Mafia story Innocent Blood (1992), the comedy thriller So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993), the legal thriller The Client (1994), and the comedy Empire Records in 1995. That same year, LaPaglia took over the role of Jimmy Wyler, lead character in the TV series Murder One, during its second and final season.

During 1997"98, LaPaglia appeared in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge with the Roundabout Theatre Company and later received a Tony Award for his portrayal of the protagonist, Eddie Carbone. Before the show opened, LaPaglia was sent a script for the pilot of The Sopranos and met its creator, David Chase, to discuss the role of protagonist Tony Soprano. However, various factors, including his Broadway role, prevented LaPaglia obtaining the monumental role. LaPaglia also played Tito Merelli in Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway. "'The Sopranos' thing didn't work out...and of course it did work out perfectly, because the right person ended up with the role. You can't imagine that show without James Gandolfini." LaPaglia did, however, later play (in an uncredited 2002 cameo) an actor in a Sopranos-style TV show-within-a-film, in the comedy movie Analyze That. (In 2007, The Sopranos reciprocated, by featuring LaPaglia's brother Jonathan in a film-within-the-TV show.)

Spike Lee cast LaPaglia as a New York police detective in Summer of Sam (1999).

During 2000"04, LaPaglia appeared in eight episodes of the sitcom Frasier, including the finale, playing Daphne Moon's brother Simon. The role won him an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series".

LaPaglia made his debut in an Australian production with Looking for Alibrandi (1999), followed by a role as a Sydney police detective in the critically acclaimed Ray Lawrence film Lantana (2001).

In 2002, LaPaglia co-starred as a fire captain opposite Sigourney Weaver in The Guys, a film about New York firemen who died in the World Trade Center. He also played the role onstage, rotating with Bill Murray and others. "We did it as a tribute to the men," said LaPaglia. "I've been so lucky to do it, to be part of this experience. But I can't go back to that morning or watch the video. It's too painful." He also played fictional Australian actor Anthony Bella (who played Nicky Caesar in the fictitious series 'Little Caesar') in the comedy movie Analyze That, but was uncredited in his role.

In addition to playing the central character in Without a Trace during 2002"09, LaPaglia co-wrote an episode entitled "Deep Water".

In 2009, LaPaglia played the part of Roger East, a real life Australian journalist, in the political thriller Balibo, about the killing in 1975 of five Australian journalists by the Indonesian Army in the town of Balibo, East Timor. The opening scene depicts East's own summary execution, during the Indonesian invasion.

In October 2011 it was announced that LaPaglia would join the cast of Quentin Tarantino's new film Django Unchained, in which he would portray an Australian character once again. However, he eventually left the project, calling the production "out of control."

In February 18, 2012, it was announced that LaPaglia would star in the ABC drama pilot Americana.

Personal life

LaPaglia currently lives in Santa Monica, California, USA. He has said that he adopted an American accent to help him get acting work after moving to the US. His current accent is neither distinctly American nor is it Australian, but rather a combination of both. According to an offhand remark by LaPaglia, he has employed an American accent since 1982.

LaPaglia's first marriage was to actress Cherie Michan. He is currently married to actress Gia Carides, whom he met at a party; the two starred in the 1994 (Ben Lewin) Australian movie Paperback Romance (a.k.a. Lucky Break) and married in 1998. Their daughter Bridget was born in January 2003.

Soccer

In the 1980s, LaPaglia was a goalkeeper in the National Soccer League, playing for Adelaide City and West Adelaide. LaPaglia was part owner of A-League club Sydney FC until 2008; flying from California to Sydney to attend their matches since their inception in 2005. He was the narrator and executive producer of The Away Game, a critically acclaimed television documentary exploring the experiences of Australian footballers in Europe.

LaPaglia underwent a hip replacement in the summer of 2004, a result of his days playing soccer. He has fully recovered and has even played for a couple of amateur clubs in California. He plays occasionally with Hollywood United, an amateur organization of which he is club president, with other luminaries such as Frank Leboeuf, Vinnie Jones, Steve Jones (of the Sex Pistols) and others.

LaPaglia has a minority shareholding in the International Goalkeepers Academy. The Academy was founded and is operated by James Fraser, who represented the Australian national team leading up to the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

LaPaglia has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program. He played in a charity football match in 2007 to raise funds for Southern California wildfire relief.

Filmography

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Cold Steel	Spooky
1989	Slaves of New York	Henry
	Mortal Sins	Vito
1990	Betsy's Wedding	Stevie Dee
1991	He Said She Said	Mark
	One Good Cop	Stevie Diroma
	29th Street	Frank Pesce, Jr.
1992	Whispers in the Dark	Larry Morgenstern
	Innocent Blood	Joe Gennaro
1993	So I Married an Axe Murderer	Tony Giardino
	The Custodian	Det. Sgt. James Quinlan	Nominated - Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
1994	The Client	Barry 'The Blade' Muldano
	Lucky Break	Edward 'Eddie' Mercer
	Killer	Mick
	Mixed Nuts	Felix
1995	Empire Records	Joe Reaves
1996	Chameleon	Willie Serling
	Trees Lounge	Rob
	Brilliant Lies	Gary Fitzgerald
1997	Commandments	Harry Luce
1998	Phoenix	Mike Henshaw
1999	Summer of Sam	Detective Lou Petrocelli
	Sweet and Lowdown	Al Torrio
2000	Company Man	Fidel Castro
	Looking for Alibrandi	Michael Andretti	Nominated - Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The House of Mirth	Sim Rosedale
	Autumn in New York	John
2001	Jack the Dog	Jack's Attorney
	Lantana	Detective Leon Zat	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor IF Award for Best Actor Nominated - Chlotrudis Award for Best Actor
	The Bank	Simon O'Reily
2002	The Salton Sea	Al Garcetti
	Dead Heat	Ray
	I'm with Lucy	Bobby Staley
	The Guys	Nick
	Analyze That	Anthony Bella / Nicky Caesar	Uncredited
2003	Manhood	Jack's Attorney
	Happy Hour	Tulley	Newport Beach Film Festival - Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting Prism Award for Best Performance in a Film Festival Award
	Spinning Boris	Dick Dresner
2004	Winter Solstice	Jim Winters	Verona Love Screens Film Festival for Best Actor Nominated - Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2006	The Architect	Leo Waters
	Played	Detective Drummond
	Happy Feet	Boss Skua	voice
2008	$9.99	Jim Peck
2009	Balibo	Roger East	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor Nominated - IF Award for Best Actor Nominated - IF Award for Best Feature Film
2010	Overnight	Captain Brody
	Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole	Twilight	voice
2011	All-Star Superman	Lex Luthor	voice
	Happy Feet Two	The Alpha Skua	voice
2012	Long Time Gone	Gordie
	Mental	Barry Moochmore
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Amazing Stories	Mechanic	Episode: The Mission
1986	Magnum, P.I	Albert Stanley Higgins	Episode: Who Is Don Luis Higgins... and Why Is He Doing These Terrible Things to Me?
	The Twilight Zone	Punk	Episode: A Day in Beaumont/The Last Defender of Camelot
1988	Frank Nitti: The Enforcer	Frank Nitti
1990	Criminal Justice	David Ringel
1991	Keeper of the City	Vince Benedetto
1994	Past Tense	Larry Talbert
1996	Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story	Jim 'Jimmy V' Valvano
1996-1997	Murder One	Jimmy Wyler	18 episodes
1999	Lansky	Charlie 'Lucky' Luciano
	Black and Blue	Bobby Benedetto
2001	On the Edge	Dr. Maas
2000-2004	Frasier	Simon Moon	8 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2002) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2000, 2004)
2007	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Jack Malone	Episode: Who and What
2002-2009	Without a Trace	Jack Malone	160 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama (2004) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (2004) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series (2004, 2005) Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2004) Nominated - Satellite Award for Best Actor " Television Series Drama (2004, 2005) Nominated - Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role (2009)
2012	Americana	Robert Soulter
Stage
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Bouncers	Les	Minetta Lane Theatre
1993	On the Open Road	Angel	Joseph Papp Public Theater/Martinson Hall
1995	The Rose Tattoo	Alvaro Mangiacavallo	Circle in the Square Theatre Theatre World Award Nominated - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play
1995-1996	Northeast Local	Mickey	Lincoln Center Theater
1997-1998	A View From the Bridge	Eddie	Criterion Center Stage Right Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play
2002	The Guys		Flea Theater
2010	Lend Me a Tenor	Tito Merelli	Music Box Theatre