Dennis Farina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dennis Farina | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Dennis Farina, May 2007 |
|||||||
| Born | Dennis Farina February 29, 1944 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
||||||
| Spouse(s) | Patricia Farina (1964-1985) 3 Children |
||||||
|
|||||||
Dennis Farina[1] (born February 29, 1944) is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or cop.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Early life
Farina was born in Chicago, Illinois to Italian American parents Yolanda, a homemaker, and Joseph Farina, a Sicilian doctor.[2][3] He was raised in a large family and has three brothers and three sisters.
[edit] Career
Farina began his work in show business working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant on Mann's early works. This led to an interest in acting when Mann cast him in a small role in the 1981 film Thief. Farina proceeded to moonlight as an actor in the Chicago theater scene before Mann chose him for his Crime Story series. Farina played the mobster Albert Lombard in Michael Mann's other television show Miami Vice.
One of his most well-known movie characters is Jimmy Serrano, the mob boss from Midnight Run. Other movies in Farina's filmography include Manhunter, Striking Distance, Another Stakeout, Get Shorty, Saving Private Ryan, Big Trouble, Snatch, The Mod Squad and Out of Sight. He has also acted opposite Bette Midler in the romantic comedy That Old Feeling. In early 2005 Farina provided the voice of aging boxer-turned-superhero Wildcat on Justice League Unlimited.
Farina starred as Det. Joe Fontana on NBC's long-running television series Law & Order from 2004 to 2006. In May 2006, it was announced that Farina was leaving Law & Order to pursue other projects.
His role of -Detective Lt. Mike Torello on Crime Story was as a Chicago police officer. Farina's Law & Order character, Joe Fontana, worked for Chicago Homicide before his transfer to the NYPD. As is common on Law & Order, Fontana shares a number of other characteristics with the actor who plays him: they hail from the same Chicago neighborhood, attended the same parochial school, and have the same tastes in both clothes and music (Dean Martin).
It was confirmed on April 7, 2008 that Dennis Farina will be the new host of Unsolved Mysteries when it returns to television with a new five season, 175 episode run on Spike TV in October of 2008. Farina is filling the void that the late Robert Stack left upon his death (Stack hosted the series for its entire original 15 year run). The series will include re-edited segments from the series' previous incarnations on NBC, CBS, and Lifetime (all originally hosted by Stack) as well as several all-new original stories.[4]
[edit] Personal life
Farina is the father of three sons, Dennis, Michael and Joseph from his marriage. His youngest son, Joseph, is also an actor. He was an officer of the Chicago Police Department from 1967 to 1985. When Farina quit the force, he became a private detective. He has one granddaughter, Brianna, and four grandsons, Michael, Tyler, Matthew and Eric. Dennis is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and played an avid fan alongside Dennis Franz in the play "The Bleacher Bums" for a few years.
Farina was arrested on May 11, 2008 for trying to get through LAX security with a loaded .22 caliber pistol. Farina was taken to LAPD's Pacific Division. He was booked on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon, and bail was set for $25,000.00. He claimed he had simply forgotten the weapon was still in his briefcase and had never intended to take it on a plane. After police found out the weapon was unregistered, the charges were upgraded to a felony and bail was increased to $35,000.00.[5]
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Thief | Carl | |
| 1985 | Code of Silence | Dorato | |
| 1986 | Manhunter | Jack Crawford | |
| Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling | Freddy | ||
| 1988 | Midnight Run | Jimmy Serrano | |
| 1991 | Men of Respect | Bankie Como | |
| 1992 | Mac | Mr. Stunder | |
| Street Crimes | Brian | ||
| We're Talking Serious Money | Sal | ||
| 1993 | Striking Distance | Capt. Nick Detillo | |
| Romeo Is Bleeding | Nick Gazzara | ||
| Another Stakeout | Brian O'Hara | ||
| 1994 | Little Big League | George O'Farrell | |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Ray 'Bones' Barboni | American Comedy Award (won) |
| 1996 | Eddie | Coach John Bailey | |
| 1997 | That Old Feeling | Dan De Mora | |
| 1998 | Saving Private Ryan | Lieutenant Colonel Anderson | |
| Out of Sight | Marshall Sisco | ||
| 1999 | The Mod Squad | Captain Adam Greer | |
| 2000 | Snatch | Abraham 'Cousin Avi' Denovitz | |
| Preston Tylk | Dick Muller | ||
| Reindeer Games | Jack Bangs | ||
| 2001 | Sidewalks of New York | Carpo | |
| 2002 | Stealing Harvard | Mr. Warner | |
| Big Trouble | Henry DeSalvo | ||
| 2004 | Scrambled Eggs | Dr. Carlson | |
| Paparazzi | Detective Burton | ||
| 2007 | National Lampoon's Bag Boy | Marty Engstrom | |
| The Grand | L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks | ||
| Purple Violets | Gilmore | ||
| You Kill Me | Edward O'Leary | ||
| 2008 | Bottle Shock | Maurice | |
| What Happens in Vegas... | Banger |
[edit] Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Through Naked Eyes | Patrolman | ABC TV-Movie | |
| 1984 | Hard Knox | NBC TV-Movie | ||
| 1985 | Final Jeopardy | Policeman# 2 | NBC TV-Movie | |
| Remington Steele | Cop | Episode: Steele Trying | ||
| Hunter | Vic Terranova | Episode: The Snow Queen Part 1 Episode: The Snow Queen Part 2 |
||
| Hardcastle and McCormick | Ed Coley | Episode: Undercover McCormick | ||
| The Killing Floor | Supervisor | TV-Movie | ||
| 1986 | Triplecross | Veteran Cop, Ernie | ABC TV-Movie/TV-Pilot | |
| Lady Blue | Joe Kaufman | Episode: Sylvie | ||
| The Birthday Boy | TV-Pilot | |||
| 1987 | Six Against the Rock | Robert Stroud | NBC TV-Movie | |
| 1986-1988 | Crime Story | Lt. Mike Torello | ||
| 1988 | Open Admissions | Fred | CBS TV-Movie | |
| 1989 | The Case of the Hillside Stranglers | Angelo Buono | NBC TV-Movie | |
| China Beach | Lt. Col. Edward Edward Vincent | Episode: All About E.E.V. | ||
| 1984-1989 | Miami Vice | Albert Lombard | Episode: One Eyed Jack Episode: Lombard Episode: World of Trouble |
|
| 1990 | People Like Us | Elias Renthall | NBC TV-Movie | |
| Blind Faith | Prosecutor Kelly | NBC TV-Movie | ||
| 1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Antoine | Episode: Werewolf Concerto | |
| Cruel Doubt | Tom Brereton | NBC TV-Movie | ||
| Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel | Mike Cerone | TV-Movie | ||
| 1993 | A Stranger in the Mirror | TV-Movie | ||
| The Disappearance of Nora | Denton | TV-Movie | ||
| 1994 | The Corpse Had a Familiar Face | Detective Harry Lindstrom | TV-Movie | |
| One Woman's Courage | Craig McKenna | TV-Movie | ||
| 1995 | Perfect Crimes | Armando Zarro | CBS TV-Movie | |
| Bonanza: Under Attack | Charley Siringo | NBC TV-Movie | ||
| Out of Annie's Past | Charlie Ingle | TV-Movie | ||
| 1997 | Bella Mafia | Don Roberto Luciano | CBS TV-Movie | |
| 1998 | Buddy Faro | Buddy Faro | ||
| 2002-2003 | In-Laws | Victor Pellet | ||
| 2005 | Empire Falls | Walt Comeau | HBO Miniseries | |
| Law & Order: Trial by Jury | Det. Joe Fontana | Episode: Skeleton | ||
| Justice League Unlimited | Wildcat | Episode: The Cat and the Canary | ||
| 2004-2006 | Law & Order | Det. Joe Fontana | ||
| 2008 | Unsolved Mysteries | Host | presumed |
[edit] References
- ^ His name is sometimes given as Donaldo Guglielmo Farina. However, this is incorrect - it has never been his name.
- ^ Cigar Aficionado | People Profile | Dennis Farina
- ^ Dennis Farina Biography (1944-)
- ^ 'UNSOLVED MYSTERIES' GETS A NEW LOOK ON SPIKE TV
- ^ Actor Dennis Farina arrested at LA Airport. 11 May 2008. Reuters.
