Joe Mantegna

Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Jr. (born November 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American actor.

Biography

Born into an Italian-American family, he made his acting debut in the 1969 stage production of Hair. Joe attended Morton East High School in Cicero, Illinois (home of Al Capone) and received much inspiration for acting from this small town with lots of character. He graduated with a degree in acting from the Goodman School of Drama in 1969.

Mantegna has been married to the former Arlene Vrhel since December 3, 1975. They have two daughters, one of whom, Mia, is autistic; the other, Gina, has just finished an upcoming movie alongside her father.

He 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. He won a Tony award for his portrayal of Richard Roma in David Mamet's play Glengarry Glen Ross.

He 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), for which he and co-star, Don Ameche, both received the Best Actor Award at the Venice Film Festival. In 1991 he starred in 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 Daysor Joey Zasa, a treacherous mobster in The Godfather Part III.

Mantegna also 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".

He 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.

Trivia

While still a young man in Chicago, he played bass in a band called "The Apocryphals". His band played with another local group called "The Missing Links" which 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.

Mantegna was referenced in The Waterboy. A fan played by Clint Howard says that one of the players plays like Joe Montana. Upon being reminded that Montana, as a quarterback, did not play defense, the fan quickly replies by claiming, "I said Joe Mantegna!"

Owns a Chicago-themed restaurant in Burbank, California named Taste Chicago.

Selected filmography

• The Money Pit (1986)
• Three Amigos (1986) ... Harry Flugleman
• House of Games (1987) ... Mike
• Suspect (1987)
• Things Change (1988) ... Jerry
• Wait until Spring, Bandini (1989)
• Alice (1990)
• The Godfather Part III (1990) ... Joey Zasa
• Homicide (1991) ... Detective Bobby Gold
• Bugsy (1991) ... George Raft
• Body of Evidence (1993)
• Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) ... Fred Waitzkin
• Baby's Day Out (1994) ... Eddie the kidnapper
• Airheads (1994)
• Thinner (1996) ... Richie Ginelli
• The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit (1998) ... Gomez
• Jerry and Tom (1998) ... Tom
• Liberty Heights (1999) ... Nate
• More Dogs Than Bones (2000) ... De Salvo
• This Old Cub (2004) ... Narrator
• Edmond (2005) ... Man
• Nine Lives (2005) ... Richard
• The Simpsons Movie (2007)

Selected TV roles

• The Water Engine (1992)
• The Comrades of Summer (1992)
• The Rat Pack (1998) ... Dean Martin
• The Simpsons (1991-present) ... Voice of Fat Tony
• Joan of Arcadia (2003-2005) ... Will Girardi
• Saturday Night Live (1991) ... Bill Swerski in the original Bill Swerski's Superfans sketch
• Frasier (1993) ... Derek Mann in the episode "I Hate Frasier Crane"
• The Starter Wife (2007) ... Lou Manahan
• Criminal Minds (2007) ... FBI Special Agent David Rossi

Cast

Starring Hank Azaria • Nancy Cartwright • Dan Castellaneta • Julie Kavner • Harry Shearer • Yeardley Smith Also starring Susan Blu • Albert Brooks • Kimberly Brooks • Michael Carrington • Christopher Collins • Grey DeLisle • Alex Désert • Robin Atkin Downes • Chris Edgerly • Marcia Mitzman Gaven • Brian George • Dana Gould • Doris Grau • Terry Greene • Jo Ann Harris • Pamela Hayden • John Kassir • Denice Kumagai • Dawnn Lewis • Jonathan Lipow • Eric Lopez • Tress MacNeille • Karen Maruyama • Cesar Mazariegos • Melanie Minichino • Christine Nangle • Kevin Michael Richardson • Renee Ridgeley • Tony Rodríguez • Maggie Roswell • James Sie • David Silverman • Russi Taylor • Frank Welker • Karl Wiedergott • Lona Williams • Marc Wilmore • Jenny Yokobori Special Guest Voices Albert Brooks • Glenn Close • Kelsey Grammer • Valerie Harper • Phil Hartman • Jan Hooks • Jane Kaczmarek • Maurice LaMarche • Jon Lovitz • Joe Mantegna • Jackie Mason • Kevin Michael Richardson • Marcia Wallace • Frank Welker One-time cast members Larina Jean Adamson • Elisabeth Kiernan Averick • Sunkrish Bala • Jim Beanz • Greg Berg • Gregg Berger • Rosalie Chiang • Joe Clabby • Christian Coffinet • Daryl Coley • Henry Corden • Jim Cummings • Miriam Flynn • June Foray • Jess Harnell • Montse Hernandez • Mario Jose • Brian J. Kaufman • Phil LaMarr • Jim Lau • Sang Am Lee • Kipp Lennon • Ken Levine • Kelly Macleod • Dima Malanitchev • Aron Michael Manderosian • Robert J. Manderosian • Ping Marshall • Paul McGuinness • Larry McKay • Sam McMurray • Mike Mitchell • Joey Miyashima • Jason Nash • Carolyn Omine • Jack Ong • Bill Plympton • Susie Smith • Eli Steele • Matthew Sweet • Diana Tanaka • Meher Tatna • Ron Taylor • David Turley • Joey Vieira • Gedde Watanabe • Paul Willson • Keone Young