Vincent D'Onofrio

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Vincent D'Onofrio

D'Onofrio at the Tribeca Film Festival, May 2008
Born Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio
June 30, 1959 (1959-06-30) (age 48)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Other name(s) Vincent Philip D'Onofrio
Years active 1983–present
Spouse(s) Carin van der Donk (1997–present)
Greta Scacchi (1991 - 1993)

Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He first gained attention for his role as Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence in Full Metal Jacket, and more currently for his role as Det. Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

D'Onofrio was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Italian descent.[1] His family moved frequently during his youth, and he grew up in Hawaii, Florida, and Colorado. He graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida in 1977 and attended a Colorado University for about 18 months. He then dropped out of college to pursue acting. He was accepted for study with the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York City.[2]

[edit] Career

In 1984, D'Onofrio became a full member of the American Stanislavsky Theatre, appearing in a number of its productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open Admissions.[3] Before this breakthrough, he had been acting in New York University student films and was working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe.[2]

In 1987, D'Onofrio entered the mainstream consciousness with two film roles that showcased his range as an actor. His first major film role was as the obese Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket, for which he gained nearly 80 pounds for the part, going from 200 to nearly 280 lbs,[4] which still stands as the Guinness World Record for most weight gained for a single movie role.[citation needed] The other role was that of Dawson, the owner of Dawson's Garage in Adventures in Babysitting, which was directed by Chris Columbus. D'Onofrio only appears in one pivotal scene near the end of the film, but his role brought attention due to his muscular physique and long blonde hair which cause the film's youngest character to mistakenly believe that he is actually Thor, the superhero she idolizes.

In the time since, D'Onofrio has continued to play a wide variety of roles, including iconic director Orson Welles in Tim Burton's Ed Wood, farmer Edgar and the evil "Bug" that possesses him from Men in Black, the father of a saint in Nancy Savoca's Household Saints, Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman in Steal This Movie, a time traveler from the distant future in Happy Accidents, and fictional serial killer Carl Stargher in The Cell.

He has dabbled in film production and direction, having produced two films, The Whole Wide World and Guy in 1996 and 1997, respectively, executive produced two others, The Velocity of Gary in 1998 and Steal This Movie in 2000 and directed the short Five Minutes, Mr. Welles in 2005. This last represents a culmination of D'Onofrio's desire to improve on his performance as Welles in Ed Wood, which reportedly left director Tim Burton underwhelmed and in need of a voice-over artist (Maurice LaMarche) despite D'Onofrio's uncanny physical resemblance to the late actor/director.

D'Onofrio has since moved to the small screen. He received an Emmy nomination in 1997 for his appearance as John Lange, the doomed victim in the "Subway" episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He currently stars as Det. Robert Goren, a principal character, on the NBC television show Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

In 2003, it was reported that D'Onofrio and Joe Pantoliano began work on a small film entitled Little Victories, about a 12-year old boy whose perceptions of the world are forever changed when his gangster uncle comes to live with him.[5] According to a television interview with Pantoliano, Little Victories was not completed and went into turnaround due to a failure to raise all of the necessary funds for production.[citation needed]

In November 2005, D'Onofrio won Best Actor at the Stockholm International Film Festival for his role as Mike Cobb in the independent film Thumbsucker.

In 2006, D'Onofrio appeared on the big screen in The Break Up, starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. In it, he played Vaughn's somewhat eccentric brother. They had appeared together on two previous films, in The Cell, when Vaughn played an FBI agent attempting to catch D'Onofrio, and Thumbsucker.

In 2008, D'Onofrio made a cameo appearance in an election-related sketch of a Saturday Night Live episode.[6] His entrance and exit from the skit were punctuated by the classic Law & Order "dun-DUN" sound.

[edit] Personal life

D'Onofrio has an older sister, actress Elizabeth D'Onofrio, who teaches acting in Asheville, North Carolina. D'Onofrio and his father, Genarro D'Onofrio, are founders of the River Run International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which began in 1998.[7]

D'Onofrio has a daughter, Leila George D'Onofrio, born in 1992 in Australia. Her mother is actress Greta Scacchi, with whom D'Onofrio made several movies in the late '80s and early '90s (including The Player and Fires Within). The couple was married from 1991 until 1993. After that relationship ended, D'Onofrio married Carin van der Donk on March 22, 1997. The couple has a son, Elias, born in late 1999. D'Onofrio and van der Donk separated in October 2003[8] but reconciled. Carin gave birth to their second son, Luca, on February 14th, 2008.[9] D'Onofrio and his family reside in New York, where Law & Order: Criminal Intent is filmed.[10]

In late 2004, D'Onofrio experienced a health issue when he collapsed on the set of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on November 10. He collapsed again at home a few days later and was taken back to the hospital for more thorough testing, where he was diagnosed with exhaustion.[11] Subsequently, the series' producers introduced a second team of detectives in 2005, Mike Logan (Chris Noth) and Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra), later replacing Sciorra with Julianne Nicholson as Det. Megan Wheeler.[12] In early episodes of the new 2007-2008 season, Logan's temporary partner was played by Alicia Witt, with Wheeler returning for episodes late in the season.

[edit] Partial filmography

[edit] Television (including notable guest appearances)

[edit] Documentaries

  • Anatomy of a Homicide, PBS (1998)[13]
Awards
Seattle International Film Festival
Preceded by
Kevin Spacey
for The Usual Suspects		 Best Actor
for The Whole Wide World
1996		 Succeeded by
Brendan Fraser
for Still Breathing
Saturn Awards
Preceded by
Brent Spiner
for Star Trek: First Contact		 Best Supporting Actor
for Men in Black
1997		 Succeeded by
Ian McKellen
for Apt Pupil

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mason, Dave. "'Criminal Intent' detective to face personal trauma", Ventura County Star, 2007-10-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-01. 
  2. ^ a b Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Vincent D'Onofrio. NBC Universal Media Village.
  3. ^ Open Admissions at the Internet Broadway Database
  4. ^ Vincent D'Onofrio at the Internet Movie Database
  5. ^ Gardner, Chris. "Pantoliano, D'Onofrio in 'Little' film." The Hollywood Reporter. 21 May 2003.
  6. ^ Itzkoff, Dave. "‘SNL’ Writer Narrows the Gap Between Politics and Farce." New York Times. 3 March 2008.
  7. ^ RiverRun International Film Festival history.
  8. ^ My Way - Liz Smith November 16, 2003
  9. ^ Criminal Intent's Vincent D'Onofrio Welcomes a Son. People.com. October 15, 2007]
  10. ^ Vincent D'Onofrio Biography. NBC.com.
  11. ^ "D'Onofrio returns to 'Law and Order'." Variety.com. 24 November 2004.
  12. ^ Law & Order: Criminal Intent. NBC Universal Media Village.
  13. ^ Anatomy of a Homicide: Fact Sheet

[edit] External links