Joe Mantegna Biography

Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. (, ; born November 13, 1947) is an American actor, producer, writer, director, and voice actor. He 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 & Personal (1996). He currently stars in the CBS television series Criminal Minds as FBI Special Agent David Rossi.

Mantegna has gained Emmy Award nominations for his roles in three different miniseries: The Last Don (1997), The Rat Pack (1999), 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.

For television, Mantegna has starred in the short lived series First Monday (2002) and Joan of Arcadia (2003"2005). Since the 1991 episode "Bart the Murderer," Mantegna has had a recurring role on the animated comedy series The Simpsons as mob boss Fat Tony, reprising the role in The Simpsons Movie (2007). Additionally, he played Robert B. Parker's fictional detective Spenser in three made-for-TV movies between 1999 and 2001.

Early life

An Italian American, Mantegna was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947 to Mary Anne (Novielli), a shipping clerk from Acquaviva delle Fonti Italy, and Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Sr., who worked in insurance sales and died in 1969 of tuberculosis. Mantegna was raised Catholic and attended J. Sterling Morton High School East in Cicero, Illinois. He studied acting at the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University in from 1967 to 1969. While still 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. Mantegna is still very close to the original members of Chicago, and keeps in touch with his old band mates as well.

Career

Mantegna made his acting debut in the 1969 stage production of Hair and debuted on Broadway in Working (1978). He also helped write Bleacher Bums, an award-winning play which was first performed at Chicago's Organic Theater Company, and was a member of its original cast. He had a small role in the movie Xanadu which was cut, although since his name is in the film's credits Mantegna gets residuals for the film. Mantegna won a Tony award for his portrayal of Richard Roma in David Mamet's play Glengarry Glen Ross. He has had a long and successful association with Mamet, appearing in a number of his works.

Mantegna made his feature film debut in Medusa Challenger (1977). He played womanizing dentist Bruce Fleckstein in Compromising Positions (1985). Other early movies include co-starring roles in The Money Pit (1986), Weeds (1987), and Suspect (1987). He also starred in the critically acclaimed movies House of Games (1987) and Things Change (1988), both written by Mamet. He and Things Change co-star Don Ameche received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1991 Mantegna starred in another Mamet story, the highly praised police thriller Homicide. A highly versatile actor, Mantegna has played a wide range of roles, from the comic"?as a fed up shock jock in Airheads and the hilariously inept kidnapper from Baby's Day Out"?to the dramatic, in roles such as Joey Zasa, a treacherous mobster in The Godfather Part III and an Emmy-nominated performance as singer Dean Martin in HBO's 1998 film The Rat Pack. Mantegna has a recurring role in the animated series The Simpsons as the voice of mob boss Anthony "Fat Tony" D'Amico. He insists on voicing the character every time he appears, no matter how little dialogue he has. To quote: "If Fat Tony sneezes, I want to be there." In one instance, however, Phil Hartman voiced Fat Tony in the episode "A Fish Called Selma."

Mantegna spoofed himself when he hosted Saturday Night Live for the 1990"1991 season in which he calmly began his monologue by saying he did not wish to be typecast from his gangster roles. A disappointed little boy and his father leave, as they mistakenly believed the host would be Joe Montana (football player) due to the similar names. Mantegna then began speaking in a low, controlled voice to the little boy, telling him it was best to stay in the audience and respect his performance; he warned the boy that if he (Mantegna) made a call, then Montana would not play in his next game"?an implication that Mantegna's true personality equaled his gangster roles. In 2002, Mantegna starred as Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Joseph Novelli, on the CBS midseason replacement drama First Monday.

Mantegna received the Lifetime Achievement Award on April 26, 2004, at the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival. On August 11, 2007, Mantegna signed on to replace departing star Mandy Patinkin on the CBS crime drama Criminal Minds. Since 2006, he has co-narrated the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C. with Gary Sinise. Mantegna was the keynote commencement speaker at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in June 2008. On April 29, 2011, Mantenga received the 2,438th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. On June 6, 2011, Mantegna's hometown of Cicero, IL celebrated his body of work with an honorary street sign"?Joe Mantegna Boulevard"?on the northeast corner of Austin Blvd and 25th St., the location of his high school.

Personal life

Mantegna married Arlene Vrhel on December 3, 1975. Their oldest daughter Mia was born on June 5, 1987 after an emergency C-section performed to save the child's life. Mia was born three months after her umbilical cord became infected. At birth, she weighed one pound and 13 ounces, and spent her first few months in intensive care. A few years later, they noticed that her ability to speak was as limited as her attention span. After having her evaluated by a neurologist, they received the diagnosis. Mia has autism. She is high functioning and well aware of her condition. She also has a wealth of support in her family who ensure that she's involved in the world as much as possible. Her father's career as an actor has played a part in her development, as well. Two and a half years later, they gave birth to Gina, who later had her name changed to Gia when she turned eighteen years old. Gia, an actress, first appeared alongside her father in "Uncle Nino" in 2003 as his character's daughter "Gina". She appeared with her father again in Criminal Minds (still under the name Gina Mantegna), as one of the victims in the Season 3 episode "3rd Life." Arlene owns a Chicago-themed restaurant in Burbank, California named Taste Chicago.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Medusa Challenger	Joe	Main Role
1978	Towing	Chris	Main Cast
1978	A Steady Rain		Main Cast
1979	To Be Announced		Main Cast
1979	Elvis	Joe Esposito
1979	Bleacher Bums	Decker	Main Role
1980	Xanadu	The Muses	Scenes deleted
1983	Second Thoughts	Orderly
1984	The Outlaws	Yuri	Main Cast
1985	Compromising Positions	Bruce Fleckstein	Main Cast
1985	Big Shots in America	Jovan Joey Shagula	Main Role
1986	The Money Pit	Art Shirk	Main Cast
1986	Off Beat	Pete Peterson	Main Cast
1986	Three Amigos	Harry Flugleman	Recurring role
1987	Critical Condition	Arthur Chambers	Main Cast
1987	House of Games	Mike	Main Cast
1987	Weeds	Carmine	Main Cast
1987	Suspect	Charlie Stella	Main Cast
1988	Things Change	Jerry	Main Role
1989	Wait Until Spring, Bandini	Bandini	Main Role
1990	The Godfather Part III	Joey Zasa	Main Cast
1990	Alice	Joe	Main Cast
1991	Queens Logic	Al	Main Cast
1991	Homicide	Bobby Gold	Main Role
1991	Bugsy	George	Recurring role
1992	The Comrades of Summer	Sparky Smith	Main Role
1992	The Water Engine	Lawrence Oberman	Main Cast
1993	Body of Evidence	Robert Garrett	Main Cast
1993	Family Prayers	Martin Jacobs	Main Role
1993	Searching for Bobby Fischer	Fred Waitzkin	Main Cast
1994	Baby's Day Out	Eddie	Main Role
1994	Airheads	Ian	Main Cast
1994	State of Emergency	Dr. John Novelli	Main Role
1995	Captain Nuke and the Bomber Boys	Joey Franelli	Main Role
1995	For Better or Worse	Stone	Recurring role
1995	Forget Paris	Andy	Main Cast
1995	Above Suspicion	Alan Rhinehart	Recurring role
1995	Favorite Deadly Sins	Frank Musso	Main Cast
1996	Eye for an Eye	Det. Sgt. Denillo	Main Cast
1996	Up Close & Personal	Bucky Terranova	Main Cast
1996	Underworld	Frank Gavilan / Frank Cassady / Richard Essex	Main Cast
1996	Albino Alligator	A.T.F. Agent G.D. Browning	Recurring role
1996	Thinner	Richie Ginelli
1996	Persons Unknown	Jim Holland	Main Role
1997	A Call to Remember	Davis Tobias	Main Cast
1997	Face Down	Bob Signorelli	Main Role
1997	Merry Christmas, George Bailey	Joseph/Nick	Main Cast
1998	Jerry and Tom	Tom	Main Role
1998	The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit	Gomez	Main Role
1998	For Hire	Alan Webber	Main Cast
1998	Hoods	Angelo Martinelli	Main Cast
1998	Celebrity	Tony Gardella	Main Cast
1998	Boy Meets Girl	Il Magnifico	Main Cast
1998	The Great Empire: Rome	Narrator	Main Cast
1998	The Rat Pack	Dean Martin	Main Cast
1999	Airspeed	Raymond Stone	Main Cast
1999	Error in Judgment	Eric	Main Cast
1999	The Runner	Rocco	Main Cast
1999	Liberty Heights	Nate Kurtzman	Main Cast
1999	Small Vices	Spenser	Main Role
1999	My Little Assassin	Fidel Castro	Main Cast
2000	Lakeboat	Guy at Gate (uncredited)
2000	Body and Soul	Alex Dumas	Main Cast
2000	More Dogs Than Bones	Desalvo	Main Role
2000	The Last Producer
2000	Thin Air	Spenser	Main Role
2001	Fall: The Price of Silence	Agent Jim Danaher	Main Cast
2001	The Trumpet of the Swan	Monty (voice)	Main Cast
2001	Laguna	Nicola Pianon	Main Role
2001	Off Key	Ricardo Palacios	Main Role
2001	Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal	Frank Garner
2001	Walking Shadow	Spenser	Main Role
2002	Mother Ghost	Jerry	Recurring Role
2002	Women vs. Men	Michael	Main Cast
2002	And Thou Shalt Honor	Host/Narrator	Main Role
2003	Uncle Nino	Robert Micelli	Main Role
2004	First Flight	Robert Sloan (Voice)
2004	Stateside	Gil Deloach	Main Cast
2004	Pontormo: A Heretical Love	Pontormo	Main Role
2004	A Very Married Christmas	Frank Griffin	Main Cast
2005	Nine Lives	Richard	Main Cast
2005	Edmond	Man in Bar	Main Cast
2005	The Kid & I	Davis Roman	Main Cast
2006	Club Soda	Mike	Main Cast
2007	Elvis and Anabelle	Charlie	Main Cast
2007	Naked Fear	Sheriff Tom Benike	Main Cast
2007	Cougar Club	Mr. Stack	Main Cast
2007	The Simpsons Movie	Fat Tony (voice)	Recurring Role
2008	Hank and Mike	Mr. Pan	Main Cast
2008	West of Brooklyn	Gaetano D'Amico	Main Cast
2008	Witless Protection	Dr. Rondog 'Doc' Savage	Main Cast
2008	Redbelt	Jerry Weiss	Main Cast
2008	Childless	Richard
2008	Who's Wagging Who?	Rudy (voice)	Main Cast
2008	Justice League: The New Frontier	Crooner (voice)
2008	The Last Hit Man	Harry Tremayne	Main Role
2009	Lonely Street	Jerry Finkelman	Main Cast
2009	Archie's Final Project	Indian Psychiatrist	Recurring Role
2009	The Assistants	Gary Greene	Main Cast
2009	The House That Jack Built	Jack Jr.	Main Role
2010	Pop Shock	Billy
2010	Valentine's Day	Angry Driver	Recurring Role
2010	Hannah Mantegna	Hannah Mantegna	Main Role
2011	Cars 2	Grem (voice)
2011	Sacks West		Recurring Role
2011	'	Tim O'Neill
2013	Kill Me, Deadly	Bugsy Siegel	Recurring Role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980"1981	Soap	Juan One	7 episodes
1981	It's a Living	Louis Allen	Season 2 Episode 3
1981	Bosom Buddies	The Shiek	Season 2 Episode 4
1981	Open All Night	Change Arab	Season 1 Episode 1 Season 1 Episode 3
1982	The Greatest American Hero	Juan	Season 2 Episode 3
1982	Archie Bunker's Place	Joe Garver	Season 3 Episode 20
1982	Simon & Simon	Henry	Season 2 Episode 1
1984	Comedy Zone	Various	2 episodes
1987	The Twilight Zone	Harry Dobbs	Season 2 Episode Shelter Skelter
1991"present	The Simpsons	Fat Tony (voice)	25 episodes
1993	Fallen Angels	Carl Streeter	Season 1 Episode 3
1993	Frasier	Derek Mann (voice)	Season 1 Episode 4
1997	Duckman	Rube Richter (voice)	Season 4 Episode 11 Season 4 Episode 13
1997"1998	The Last Don	Pippi De Lena	Miniseries
1997	Rugrats	Diner 2/Jack Montello (voice)	Season 4 Episode 13
2001	The Sopranos	Mercedes ad voiceover	Season 3 Episode 8
2002	First Monday	Justice Joseph Novelli	Main Role (13 episodes)
2003"2005	Joan of Arcadia	Will Girardi	Main Cast (45 episodes)
2006	Let Go	Jack Rossati	Unaired pilot for a series starring Bonnie Hunt
2006	Kim Possible	Jimmy Blamhammer (voice)	Season 3 Episode 11
2007"2008	The Starter Wife	Lou Manahan	Recurring Role (8 episodes)
2007"present	Criminal Minds	David Rossi	Main Role (135 episodes)

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Working	Emilio Hernandez / Dave McCormick
1984"1985	Glengarry Glen Ross	Richard Roma
1988	Speed-the-Plow	Bobby Gould