John Turturro
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| John Turturro | |
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| Birth name | John Michael Turturro |
| Born | February 28, 1957 (age 50) |
| Notable roles | Pino in Do the Right Thing (1989) Bernie Bernbaum in Miller's Crossing (1990) Barton Fink in Barton Fink (1991) Herb Stempel in Quiz Show (1994) |
John Michael Turturro (born February 28, 1957) is an Emmy Award winning American actor noted for his performances in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Five Corners (1987), Do The Right Thing (1989), Barton Fink (1991), Men of Respect (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), and Monday Night Mayhem (1999). He has appeared in over sixty movies, and is well known for his ability to change both his demeanor and physique.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life and film career
Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American Roman Catholic family, the son of an Apulian father (emigrated from Giovinazzo, in the province of Bari, Apulia) and a mother of Sicilian origin. His family moved to the Rosedale section of Queens, New York when he was six. He majored in drama at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and completed his MFA at the Yale School of Drama. He worked as an extra in Raging Bull (1980).
John Turturro created the title role of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in 1983. He repeated it the following year off-Broadway and won an Obie Award.
Spike Lee liked Turturro's performance in Five Corners so much that he chose to cast him in Do the Right Thing, in which he played the explosive racist Pino. This movie initiated a long-standing collaboration between the famous director and John Turturro.
A versatile actor comfortable with both comedy and drama, Turturro also had an extended collaboration with the Coen Brothers, appearing in their films Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998) and most recently, O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He also appeared as a severely disturbed patient of Jack Nicholson's in the comedy Anger Management and played Johnny Depp's antagonist in Secret Window. Turturro is also an occasional guest star on Monk as Adrian's eccentric brother, Ambrose Monk. Before becoming a household name, Turturro made a cameo in the Woody Allen film Hannah and Her Sisters.
Turturro was the producer, director and actor of the film Illuminata (1999), which also starred his wife Katherine Borowitz.
He wrote and directed the film Romance and Cigarettes (2005). He recently appeared in Robert DeNiro's The Good Shepherd as the right hand man of C.I.A. man Edward Wilson (Matt Damon).
[edit] Family
John's brother is actor Nicholas Turturro, actress Aida Turturro is John Turturro's cousin.
He has two children, Amedeo Turturro and Diego Turturro born in July 1990 and December 2000, respectively. Turturro is Catholic and his wife is Jewish.
[edit] Awards
He also won an Emmy award for his portrayal of Adrian Monk's brother Ambrose Monk in the USA Network series Monk. He has also been nominated and won many awards from many film organizations such as SAG, Cannes Film Festival, Golden Globes, and others.[1]
[edit] Trivia
- Despite his many acclaimed performances, Turturro has never been nominated for an Academy Award.
- Turturro's last name is from the Italian tortora meaning "turtle-dove" (a name used in Italy in the past), a fact slyly alluded to in the Monk episode "Mr. Monk Goes Home Again" when Ambrose Monk (Turturro) tells Adrian's assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard) that their father named him Ambrose after his beloved pet turtle.
[edit] Selected filmography
- Raging Bull, 1980, uncredited extra
- Desperately Seeking Susan, 1985, as Ray
- To Live and Die in L.A., 1985, as Carl Cody
- The Color of Money, 1986, as Julian
- Five Corners, 1987, as Heinz Sabantino
- The Sicilian, 1987, as Pisciotta
- Do the Right Thing, 1989, as Pino
- State Of Grace, 1990, as Nick
- Mo' Better Blues, 1990, as Moe Flatbush
- Miller's Crossing, 1990, as Bernie Bernbaum
- Men of Respect, 1991, as Mike Battaglia
- Jungle Fever, 1991, as Paulie Carbone
- Barton Fink, 1991 as Barton Fink
- Mac, 1992, as Niccolò Vitelli; also directed and co-written by Turturro
- Brain Donors, 1992, as Roland T. Flakfizer
- Fearless, 1993, as Bill Pearlman
- Quiz Show, 1994, as Herb Stempel
- Clockers, 1995, as Det. Larry Mazilla
- Girl 6, 1996, as Murray
- Box of Moon Light, 1996, as Al Fountain
- Rounders, 1998, as Joey Knish
- He Got Game, 1998, as Billy Sunday
- The Big Lebowski, 1998, as Jesus Quintana
- Summer of Sam, 1999, as the voice of Harvey
- Cradle Will Rock, 1999, as Aldo Silvano
- O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000, as Pete
- The Man Who Cried, 2000, as Dante Dominio
- The Luzhin Defence, 2001, as Alexander Luzhin
- Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, 2001, as Walker
- Collateral Damage, 2002, as Armstrong
- Monday Night Mayhem, 2002, as Howard Cosell
- Mr. Deeds, 2002, as Emilio
- Fear X, 2003, as Harry
- Anger Management, 2003, as Chuck
- She Hate Me, 2004, as Don Angelo Bonasera
- Secret Window, 2004, as John Shooter
- The Good Shepherd, 2006, as Ray Brocco
- Quelques jours en septembre, 2006, as William Pound
- Transformers, 2007, as Simmons
[edit] Television appearances
- Monk, 2004-2005, as Ambrose Monk
