Steve Buscemi

All you want to know about Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi

Steve Buscemi, c. 1996
Born Steven Vincent Buscemi
December 13, 1957 (1957-12-13) (age 50)
Brooklyn, New York
Spouse(s) Jo Andres

Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi (IPA[bʊˈsɛmi]; born December 13, 1957) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor and film director.

Contents

Early life

Buscemi (pronounced Boo-semi) was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Dorothy, who worked as a hostess at Howard Johnson's, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker and Korean War veteran. Buscemi's father was Italian American and his mother Irish American.[1][2][3] He has three brothers: Jon, Ken, and Michael. Buscemi was raised Catholic,[4] but had given up on God by junior high school.[5] He graduated in 1975 from Valley Stream Central High School in Valley Stream, New York, a school which he attended with actress Patricia Charbonneau and writer Ed Renehan. In high school, Buscemi wrestled for the varsity squad and participated in the drama troupe, at that time directed by Mr. Lynne C. Lappin. (Buscemi's 1996 film Trees Lounge, in which he not only starred but served as screenwriter and director, is set in and was largely shot in his childhood village of Valley Stream.[6]) Buscemi briefly attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to enroll in the Lee Strasberg Institute. In the early '80s Buscemi also served as a firefighter for four years with the FDNY. On March 4th 2005, Buscemi returned to his old high school where he was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award as part of the school's 75th anniversary celebration.

Career

Acting

Buscemi is an associate member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. Buscemi’s first appearance was in Parting Glances in 1986, where he played Nick, an AIDS stricken man.

He first hit the cinema in the 1988 film Call Me, where he played Switchblade. He also was in Tales from the Darkside, a 1990 film with 3 segments, where Buscemi starred in the first, playing Bellingham, a college student who orders a mummy and unleashes it on fellow college students played by Christian Slater and Julianne Moore.

During 1990, Buscemi had a couple of additional crime roles. He played the henchman of Laurence Fishburne named Test Tube in Christopher Walken’s King of New York, and played Mink in the Coen Brothers Millers Crossing. This marked the first of six films of the Coen Brothers which Buscemi appeared in.

In 1991 he played the bellboy, Chet, in the Coen Brothers film, Barton Fink. His first lead role was in 1992, where he played Adolpho Rollo in In the Soup. Then he finally came to public attention for playing Mr. Pink in Quentin Tarantino’s 1992 film, Reservoir Dogs.

Buscemi's most notable character roles include Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, Garland Greene in Con Air, Rockhound in Armageddon, Donny in The Big Lebowski and Carl Showalter in Fargo. Although usually a supporting actor, he has had critical success as a lead actor, particularly in his role as Seymour in Ghost World. Buscemi often plays characters that are neurotic and paranoid. He has appeared in a number of films by the Coen Brothers, in which he tends to die in a grisly, prolonged or unexpected manner. He frequently provides comic relief in Adam Sandler films such as Billy Madison, The Wedding Singer, Big Daddy and Mr. Deeds. Buscemi also starred with Sandler (as brothers) in Airheads. Buscemi also played a nemesis to Sandler and Kevin James in the comedy I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. He also has worked with Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Jim Jarmusch, The Coen Brothers, and Robert Rodriguez on various occasions.

In 2003, Buscemi made a brief celebrity guest appearance as himself on the long-running FOX animated television show The Simpsons in the episode "Brake My Wife, Please". Most recently, Buscemi provided the voice for Dwight, a bank robber who Marge promises to visit in jail if he turns himself in to the authorities. This episode, entitled "I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings", originally aired on October 14, 2007.

In 2004, Buscemi joined the cast of The Sopranos as Tony Soprano's cousin and childhood friend, Tony Blundetto. Buscemi had previously contributed to the show as director of the third season episode "Pine Barrens" (one of the most critically-acclaimed episodes of the series). He appeared in the third episode of Season 6, as a doorman in heaven (portrayed as a country club) in Tony Soprano's dream. He returned to direct the episode "Mr. & Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request...", the fifth episode of Season 6.

In 2005, he played James McCord in The Island. The man who helped the two main characters escape the complex and gave them a quick overview of the real world. Again this role was about a strange but very fun and likable person.

In 1995, Buscemi played suspected cop-shooter Gordon Pratt in the episode "End Game" at the end of a three-episode arc of Homicide: Life on the Street. He also had a role as Phil Hickle, Ellen's father and older Pete's guidance counselor, in The Adventures of Pete and Pete, as well as guest-starring in Miami Vice in 1986. Buscemi was rumored to be considered for the role of The Scarecrow in Joel Schumacher's proposed fifth installment of the Batman franchise, Batman Triumphant, before Warner Bros. cancelled the project.[7]

In 2004, Buscemi appeared in the music video for Joe Strummer's cover of the Bob Marley track "Redemption Song". The video is shot after Strummer's death, and Buscemi appears alongside of a graffiti portrait of Strummer.

In 2008, he provided the voice for Scamper, an intelligent, yet suicidal, rabbit in the animated film Igor.

Directing

Buscemi worked extensively as a director, having worked on (and starred in) the feature film, Interview (2007). He directed Trees Lounge (1996), Animal Factory (2000), and Lonesome Jim (2005). In addition to feature films, he directed episodes of the television shows Homicide: Life on the Street and The Sopranos, as well as two episodes of HBO's prison-drama series Oz, entitled "U.S. Male" and "Cuts Like a Knife".

Personal life

The day after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Buscemi went to his old firehouse to volunteer for recovery work at Ground Zero. That week, he worked 12 hour shifts digging through the rubble, while refusing to do interviews or have his picture taken.[8]

In April 2001, while shooting the film Domestic Disturbance in Wilmington, North Carolina, Buscemi was stabbed while intervening in a bar fight between his friend Vince Vaughn, screenwriter Scott Rosenberg and a local man, who allegedly instigated the brawl.[9][10]

During his profile on the show Inside the Actors Studio, director John Waters said that he and Buscemi bear an uncanny resemblance to each other, to the point where Waters sent out Christmas cards with a picture of "himself" which was actually Buscemi dressed as him. He also (somewhat jokingly) noted that should a movie ever be made about Waters' life, Buscemi has agreed to star as Waters in the film.

Buscemi has one son, Lucian, with his wife Jo Andres.[11]

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1986 Parting Glances Nick
1987 Kiss Daddy Goodnight Johnny
1988 Call Me Switchblade
1989 Slaves of New York Wilfredo
Mystery Train Charlie the Barber Nominated: Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor
Lonesome Dove (TV) Luke
New York Stories
1990 Tales from the Darkside: The Movie Bellingham (Segment "Lot 249")
King of New York Test Tube
Miller's Crossing Mink
1991 Barton Fink Chet
1992 In the Soup Aldolpho Rollo
Reservoir Dogs Mr. Pink Won: Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor
CrissCross Drug Dealer
1993 Twenty Bucks Frank
Rising Sun Willy 'the Weasel' Wilhelm
The Adventures of Pete & Pete (TV) Phil Hickle
Ed And His Dead Mother Ed Chilton
1994 The Search for One-eye Jimmy Ed Hoyt
The Hudsucker Proxy Beatnik Barman at Ann's 440
Airheads Rex
Pulp Fiction Buddy Holly impersonator
The Last Outlaw (TV) Former Confederate soldier and outlaw Philo
1995 Billy Madison Danny McGrath Uncredited
Living in Oblivion Nick Reve
Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead Mister Shhh
Desperado Buscemi
1996 Fargo Carl Showalter Nominated: Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture - Drama
Escape from L.A. Map to the Stars Eddie
Trees Lounge Tommy Also writer and director
Nominated: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature (shared with Chris Hanley and Brad Wyman)
Nominated: Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay
1997 Con Air Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene
1998 The Big Lebowski Theodore Donald 'Donny' Kerabatsos
Divine Trash Himself
The Impostors Happy Franks
The Wedding Singer David 'Dave' Veltri Uncredited
Armageddon Rockhound
1999 Big Daddy Homeless Guy
2000 28 Days Cornell Shaw
Animal Factory A.R. Hosspack Also director
2001 Ghost World Seymour Won: Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor
Won: Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor
Nominated: Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within Officer Neil Voice
The Grey Zone 'Hesch' Abramowics
Love in the Time of Money Martin Kunkle
Domestic Disturbance Ray Coleman
Monsters, Inc. Randall Boggs Voice
2002 Mr. Deeds Crazy Eyes
13 Moons Bananas The Clown
The Laramie Project Doc O'Conner
Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams Romero
2003 Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over Romero
Coffee and Cigarettes Waiter (Segment "Twins")
Big Fish Norther Winslow
2002-2006 The Sopranos (TV) Tony Blundetto \ Man Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series (2001)
Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Drama Series (2004)
2004 Home on the Range Wesley Voice
2005 Lonesome Jim Director
The Island McCord
2006 Art School Confidential Broadway Bob D'Annunzio Uncredited
Monster House Nebbercracker Voice
Charlotte's Web Templeton the Rat Voice
Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11 (TV) Narrator
2007 I Think I Love My Wife George
Paris, je t'aime The tourist (segment 'Tuileries')
Interview Pierre Peters Also director
I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry Clinton Fitzer
The Simpsons episode I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (TV) Dwight Voice
Delirious Les Galantine
Romance & Cigarettes Angelo
30 Rock (TV) Private Eye Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series (2008)
2008 ER (TV) Mr. Masterson
Igor Scamper (voice)
2009 G-Force Bucky (voice) post-production
John Rabe Dr. Robert Wilson post-production
Youth in Revolt George Twisp filming

In popular culture

In the cartoon series, The Oblongs, the episode "Get Off My Back" refers to Buscemi when Milo says, "I vote movie. Anything without Steve Buscemi"

References

External links


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