Mario Cantone Biography

Mario Cantone (born December 9, 1959) is an American comedian, writer and actor, with numerous appearances on Comedy Central including Chappelle's Show. He also played Anthony Marentino on Sex and the City. His style is fast-paced and energetic, with much of his humor coming from his impersonations of various characters ranging from his family members, to celebrities, to stereotypes.

Early life

Cantone was born in Massachusetts, and raised in Stoneham, where his family moved when he was two. He was the fourth of five children of Mario, Sr., a Boston restaurant owner, and his wife, Elizabeth (ne Pescione). His father moved the family to Stoneham, according to Cantone in a 2004 New York Times interview to get her away from her bookie relatives. Cantone stated that the problem "was that she was not only a bookie but she was also a compulsive gambler." His mother, who had been a big band singer in her youth, died when he was 21.

Cantone's first impression was of Julia Child, which he presented in a junior high school talent show. He graduated from Stoneham High School in 1978 and Emerson College in 1982.

Early career

He began his professional career hosting a children's show called Steampipe Alley, which aired on New York-New Jersey superstation WWOR-TV from 1987 to 1993.

Stand-up career

In his stand-up concerts, he is known for his occasionally campy impressions of entertainment personalities such as Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, Bruce Springsteen, Jim Morrison, and Bette Davis as well as for his original songs.

Much of his comedy derives from his boisterous Italian-American family. Cantone, who is gay, has said that he considers himself an actor and comedian who happens to be gay rather than a gay comic relying on gay jokes. "Talking about being gay is a very small part of my show and when I first started I wasn't out on stage but I was out off stage, I certainly didn't lie about it on stage but if you didn't know you were an idiot and you lived in a cave after seeing me"?really??"

Acting career

Sex and the City

Cantone is well known for his role in the HBO series Sex and the City as Anthony Marentino, Charlotte York's gay wedding planner who dispensed advice with a rapid fire delivery.

Broadway

Cantone made his Broadway debut in 1995, replacing Nathan Lane in the role of Buzz in Terrance McNally's Tony Award-winning play, Love! Valour! Compassion! Later that year, he appeared in the revival of The Tempest with Patrick Stewart. Several years later, Cantone did a workshop for The Lion King as Timon but was not comfortable with the makeup or manipulating a puppet and eventually left the project. In 2002, he created and wrote his own one-man show for Broadway, An Evening With Mario Cantone. A year later, Cantone starred as Gidger in Richard Greenberg's The Violet Hour in a part written specifically for him. The Violet Hour received mixed reviews and closed after 54 performances.

In 2004, Cantone appeared as Samuel Byck in Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins. Originally slated for the 2001 Broadway season, Assassins was postponed because of the September 11, 2001 attacks. In 2001, Cantone had turned down the role of Carmen Ghia in Mel Brooks's The Producers. His other Broadway credits include his second one-man show, Laugh Whore, which ran from October 24, 2004, to January 2, 2005, at the Cort Theatre. Laugh Whore received a Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event and an Outer Critics Circle award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance. Showtime taped the December 11, 2004 performance, which premiered on May 28, 2005. It was the network's first Broadway production to air as a comedy special.

In September 2010, Cantone appeared in a staged reading of the Charles Messina play A Room of My Own at The Theatre at 45 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. As of November 2012, the play was still in development with Cantone in the cast. The Off-Broadway production is expected to begin previews in February 2016.

Other work

He has appeared in the Comedy Central roasts of Joan Rivers and fellow Boston-area native and Emerson College alumni, Denis Leary. The network's Chappelle's Show featured him in a segment called "Ask A Gay Dude." His voice over work includes Sunsilk "hairapy" advertisements. and the voice of talent scout Mikey Abromowitz in the 2007 computer animated movie Surf's Up. He has appeared frequently on the Opie and Anthony radio show.

A regular guest on the ABC daytime talk show The View since at least 2003 and a guest co-host since 2005, more regularly since 2014, in August 2013, he was in the news as a rumored replacement for retiring co-host Joy Behar.

Cantone was among the judges of the Miss America 2014 pagent. He appeared on the July 3, 2016, episode of The $100,000 Pyramid as a celebrity guest star.

Personal life

In October 2011, Cantone married his partner of 20 years, musical theater director Jerry Dixon. The ceremony was officiated by pastor Jay Bakker.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Quiz Show	Passerby	Historical film produced & directed by Robert Redford and based on Richard N. Goodwin's memoir Remembering America: A Voice From the Sixties.
	Who Do I Gotta Kill?	Rico	Comedy film directed by directed and co-written by Frank Rainone with James Lorinz and Rocco Simonelli.
1997	MouseHunt	Zeppco Suit #1	Comedy film directed by Gore Verbinski.
2002	Pandora	Tech Support	Short animated comedy-drama film directed and written by Antonio Campos.
	And She Was	Mario	Comedy film directed by Frank Rainone.
2003	Happy Hour	Geoffrey	Comedy-drama film directed and co-written by Mike Bencivenga.
	Crooked Lines	Cliff	Comedy film directed and co-written by Harry O'Reilly.
2005	Searching for Bobby D	Casting Director	Adventure/comedy film directed and co-written by Paul Borghese.
	The Aristocrats	Himself	Documentary comedy film produced by comedians Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza.
2006	Farce of the Penguins	Sidney (voice)	Direct-to-video parody directed by Bob Saget. of the 2005 French feature length nature documentary March of the Penguins (French La Marche de l'empereur ; ) directed and co-written by Luc Jacquet.
	The Last Request	Mr. Oliver	Comedy film directed and written by John DeBellis.
2007	Three Days to Vegas	Chris	Comedy film written and directed by Charlie Picerni.
	Staten Island	Mr. Burton	Crime film written and directed by James DeMonaco.
	Surf's Up	Mikey Abromowitz (voice)	Computer-animated mockumentary family comedy film directed by Ash Brannon and Chris Buck.
2008	Sex and the City	Anthony Marentino	Romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Patrick King.
2010	Sex and the City 2	Anthony Marentino	Romantic comedy film written and directed by Michael Patrick King.
	Circus Maximus	Romano	Comedy film directed and written by Thomas J. La Sorsa.
2011	Goldberg, P.I.	Bartender	Comedy film directed by Steven Moskovic and Rosario Roveto Jr.
	Dirty Movie	The Director	Comedy film directed by Jerry Daigle and Christopher Meloni.
2015	In Stereo	John Resnick	Romantic comedy film directed and written by Mel Rodriguez III.

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987-1993	Steampipe Alley	Various
1994	NYPD Blue	Bidder #1	Episode: "Rockin' Robin" (S 1:Ep 22)
2001	Ed	Scott Hayes	Episode: "Mixed Signals" (S 1:Ep 21)
2003	Chappelle's Show	Himself	Season 1 Episode 6
2000-2004	Sex and the City	Anthony Marentino
2004	Mouthing Off: 51 Greatest Smartasses	Himself	Comedy special
2005	Laugh Whore	Himself	Comedy special
2006-2008	Men in Trees	Terri Romano
2009	Killer Hair	Leonardo	(TV movie)
	Hostile Makeover	Leonardo	(TV movie)
2011	A Mann's World	Nicky	(TV movie)
2014	Toadalees	Filth, Flarn & Gee	TV Movie Animated film directed by Ryan Duff.
2015	Hindsight	Simon	Episodes:
2016	The $100,000 Pyramid	Himself (celebrity guest)	Episode: Mario Cantone vs. Robin Roberts
2017	Match Game	Himself (celebrity guest)	Season 1, Episodes 6-7 Season 2, Episode 6