Joseph Anthony “Joe” Mantegna, Jr. (born November 13, 1947) is an
American Tony Award-winning
actor,
producer,
writer and
director. He is best known for his roles in box-office hits such as
Three Amigos (1986),
The Godfather Part III (1990),
Forget Paris (1995),
Up Close & Personal (1996), and
The Simpsons Movie (2007).
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). Mantegna served as
executive producer for various movies and
television movies, such as Corduroy (1984), Hoods (1998), and
Lakeboat (2000), which he also directed.
On television, Mantegna starred in the short lived series
First Monday (2002),
Joan of Arcadia (2003-2005). Since the 1991 Simpsons episode "
Bart the Murderer" Mantegna has had a recurring role on the animated comedy series
The Simpsons as mob boss
Fat Tony. In 2007 Mantegna replaced
Mandy Patinkin as a main character of the hit drama series
Criminal Minds.
Biography
Personal life
Mantegna, an
Italian American,
was born in
Chicago,
Illinois, the son of Mary Ann (
née Novelli), a shipping clerk, and Joseph Anthony Mantegna, Sr., who worked in insurance sales
and died in 1969 of tuberculosis.
Mantegna attended
J. Sterling Morton High School East in
Cicero, Illinois 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 (the Theatre School at DePaul University) in 1969.
While still a young man in Chicago, he played bass in a band called The Apocryphals.
His band played with another local group 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 has been married to the former Arlene Vrhel since
December 3,
1975. Mantegna is a parent of a child with
autism[mickeynews.com, writing "James Denton ... applauded hosts of the organization's autism awareness public service announcements, including celebrity parents of children with autism, Ed Asner, Gary Cole, Joe Mantegna, and John Schneider."] and he and Arlene have two daughters, Mia and
Gina. Mantegna owns a Chicago-themed restaurant in
Burbank,
California named Taste Chicago.
He has
Bell's palsy.
[Byrne, Bridget. "Joe Mantegna returns as private eye, Spenser", The Associated Press. Retrieved on September 19, 2008]
Career
Mantegna made his acting debut in the 1969
stage production of
Hair. 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, and was a member of its original cast.
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, both received the Best Actor Award at the
Venice Film Festival. In 1991 he 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" (during the part where Troy McClure goes into the DMV and Fat Tony tries to explain to his goon, Louie, what he meant when he said that Troy McClure "sleeps with the fishes").
Mantegna spoofed himself when he hosted
Saturday Night Live for the 1990-1991 season (musical guest:
Vanilla Ice) in which he calmly begins his monologue saying he did not wish to be
typecast as gangster roles. When he sees a disappointed little boy and his father leave as they mistakenly believe the host was
Joe Montana due to the similar names, Mantegna then begins speaking in a low, controlled voice to the little boy it is best he stay in the audience to respect his performance, and warned that if he made a call, then Montana would not play in his next game, implying Mantegna's true personality is like his gangster roles.
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.
Mantegna was the keynote commencement speaker at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in June 2008.
In May of 2009 he co-narrated the National Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C. with
Gary Sinise.
[www.pbs.org/memorialdayconcert/features/families.html]
Filmography
Film
Television roles
