Joe Pesci

Joseph Frank Pesci ( PESH-ee Italian: [ˈpeʃʃi]; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and singer. He is best known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro in the films Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Irishman (2019).

Pesci also appeared in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Moonwalker (1988), JFK (1991), A Bronx Tale (1993), and The Good Shepherd (2006). He is also known for his comic roles in Home Alone (1990) and its sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), My Cousin Vinny (1992), and the Lethal Weapon franchise (1989–1998).

Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the gangster character Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas and received two other nominations in the same category for his portrayals of Joey LaMotta and Russell Bufalino in Raging Bull and The Irishman, respectively. Pesci retired from acting in 1999, but has periodically returned to act since then.

Pesci is also a musician who has recorded three studio albums: Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (1968), Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You (1998), and Pesci... Still Singing (2019).

Joseph Frank Pesci was born on February 9, 1943, in Newark, New Jersey. His mother, Mary (née Mesce), was a part-time barber, and his father, Angelo Pesci, was a forklift truck driver for General Motors and a bartender. Pesci is of Italian descent with family origins both in Turin and Aquilonia in the province of Avellino. He was raised in Belleville, New Jersey, and graduated from Belleville High School.

By the time Pesci was five years old, he was appearing in plays in New York. At age 10, Pesci was a regular on a television variety show called Startime Kids, which also featured Connie Francis. As an entertainer from Belleville, he was acquainted with guitarist Tommy DeVito of The Four Lovers, a novelty act from Belleville that included singer Frankie Valli. Pesci also knew keyboardist Bob Gaudio of The Royal Teens. Pesci introduced Gaudio to DeVito and Valli in 1958, which led to the formation of the band The Four Seasons. Pesci and DeVito remained friends for the rest of DeVito's life; when DeVito fell on hard times in the 1970s following his resignation from the Four Seasons, Pesci placed DeVito on his personal payroll and arranged for him to make cameos in some of his films in the 1990s.

Pesci was childhood friends with American Mafia figure Robert Bisaccia.

In the 1960s, Pesci began working as a barber. At the same time, Pesci tried to start a musical career, playing guitar with several bands, including Joey Dee and the Starliters, who introduced the "Peppermint Twist" record, dance, and Peppermint Lounge in New York City.

In 1968, Pesci released his debut album Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (billed as Joe Ritchie), on which he sang covers of contemporary pop hits.

Pesci later joined Frank Vincent as a comedy duo, performing as "Vincent and Pesci" from 1970 to 1976. Their act coupled Abbott and Costello-inspired double act antics with Don Rickles-style insult comedy, which proved popular with crowds. During this time, the pair developed a strong professional and personal friendship. In 1975, they appeared in the Broadway show The New Vaudevillians, which only lasted a week.

The first film Pesci starred in was the 1976 low-budget crime film The Death Collector alongside Frank Vincent. After the film, Pesci returned to The Bronx and lived above Amici's Restaurant, where he was an employee.

In 1979, Pesci received a phone call from Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, who were impressed with his performance in The Death Collector and asked him to co-star in Scorsese's Raging Bull as Joey LaMotta. During the course of filming, Pesci broke one of his ribs during a fight scene with De Niro. For his role in the film, he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and won Most Promising Newcomer at the 1981 British Academy Film Awards.

In 1982, according to a conversation intercepted by the FBI between actor James Caan and mobster Anthony Fiato, Caan requested that Fiato beat up Pesci for failing to pay an $8,000 hotel bill.

In 1984, Pesci was cast in Once Upon a Time in America, again appearing alongside De Niro. The following year, Pesci starred as private detective Rocky Nelson in the short-lived television comedy series Half Nelson.

In 1988, Pesci appeared in the Michael Jackson musical anthology film Moonwalker, in the film's sixth and longest segment, "Smooth Criminal". He played the antagonist, crime boss Frankie "Mr. Big" LiDeo (an analogue for one of the film's producers and longtime Jackson manager Frank DiLeo, with whom Pesci later acted in Goodfellas).

Pesci appeared as Leo Getz, a comedic sidekick and best friend to protagonist detectives Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover) in the Lethal Weapon sequels, released in 1989, 1992, and 1998.

In 1998, Pesci released his second album and his first in 30 years, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You, which was named after his character from the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny. The album was both humorous and serious, exploring a variety of genres, though most of it was big band jazz. The album spawned the single "Wise Guy", a rap number that played on the gangsta theme by making reference to Mafia gangsterism. "Wise Guy" interpolated the 1980 hit "Rapture" by Blondie and was co-written and produced by the hip-hop production team the Trackmasters.

In 1999, Pesci retired from acting to pursue a musical career and to enjoy life away from the camera. He returned to acting when he did a cameo in De Niro's 2006 film The Good Shepherd. In 2010, Pesci starred in the brothel drama Love Ranch alongside Helen Mirren.

Pesci appeared with Don Rickles, with whom he had worked in Casino, in a 2011 Snickers advertisement in which he portrays the angry alter ego of a young man who attends a party and becomes agitated by two women until he is calmed down by eating a Snickers bar.

In 2011, Pesci sued Fiore Films, the producers of the film Gotti, saying they had broken their promise to cast him in the film as real-life mobster Angelo Ruggiero. Pesci stated that he had gained 30 pounds (14 kg) for the role. He sued them for $3 million, which was the payment he had been promised. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2013 for an unspecified sum, and the role, after many production delays, eventually went to Pruitt Taylor Vince.

Pesci appears in the 2016 music documentary Jimmy Scott: I Go Back Home, in which he is filmed recording "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" from Scott's 2017 posthumous album I Go Back Home.

In 2017, Pesci was cast alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in The Irishman, a crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. He was offered his role a reported 50 times before agreeing to take part, at first saying that he did not want to do "the gangster thing again," while Scorsese tried to persuade Pesci that The Irishman would be "different." The film received a limited theatrical release on November 1, 2019, followed by digital streaming on November 27, 2019, by Netflix. Pesci's performance as Russell Bufalino was critically acclaimed and earned him various accolades, including nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor and for two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Pesci also returned to music with his third album and his first in 21 years, titled Pesci... Still Singing, released on November 29, 2019.

Following The Irishman, Pesci co-starred in Pete Davidson's comedy series Bupkis and appeared in Jack Huston's directorial debut Day of the Fight, both released in 2023.

Pesci has been married and divorced three times.

His first marriage was in January 1964. His second marriage was from 1988 to 1992, to Claudia Haro, a model and actress. They have a daughter. In 2000, Pesci started dating Angie Everhart. They became engaged in 2007 but broke up the following year.

Pesci has received numerous awards nominations including three Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), and The Irishman (2019).