STEVE BUSCEMI

'Steven Vincent Buscemi' (born December 13, 1957) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor and film director.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Acting career

Directing

Personal life

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York, to John Buscemi, an Italian American sanitation worker and Korean War veteran, and Dorothy, who is Irish American and worked as a hostess at Howard Johnson's.^[1][2][3] He has three brothers: Jon, Ken and Michael. Buscemi was raised Catholic. He graduated in 1975 from Valley Stream Central High School in Valley Stream, New York, a school which he attended with writer Edward Renehan and actress Patricia Charbonneau. 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, New York.) Buscemi briefly attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to enroll in the Lee Strasberg Institute. In the early 80's 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.

Acting career

Buscemi is an associate member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. Buscemi's 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, wherein 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 played a nemesis to Sandler and Kevin James in the comedy ''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry''. He also has worked with Quentin Tarantino, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Jim Jarmusch 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". 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". He recently 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. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request", the fifth episode of Season 6.
Buscemi also had a role as Phil Hickle, Ellen's father and older Pete's guidance counselor, in ''The Adventures of Pete and Pete''. He also guest starred 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.^[4]
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 Strummers death, and Buscemi appears alongside of a graffiti portrait of Strummer.

Directing

Buscemi has worked extensively as a director, currently helming (and starring in) the feature film, ''Interview''. He previously directed ''Trees Lounge'' (1996), ''Animal Factory'' (2000), and ''Lonesome Jim'' (2005). In addition to feature films, he has directed episodes of the television shows '' 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.^[5]
In April 2001, while shooting the film ''Domestic Disturbance'' in Wilmington, North Carolina, Buscemi was slashed and badly scarred on his face while intervening in a bar fight between his friend Vince Vaughn, screenwriter Scott Rosenberg and a local man, Timothy Fogerty, who allegedly instigated the brawl.^[6]
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.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	''Parting Glances''	Nick
1987	''Kiss Daddy Goodnight''	Johnny
1989	''Slaves of New York''	Wilfredo
	''Mystery Train''	Charlie the Barber
	''Lonesome Dove''	Luke	(TV Series)
1990	''	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
1993	''Twenty Bucks''	Frank
	''Rising Sun''	Willy 'the Weasel' Wilhelm
	''The Adventures of Pete & Pete''	Phil Hickle	(TV Series)
	''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
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
	''Escape from L.A.''	Map to the Stars Eddie
	''Trees Lounge''	Tommy	Writer, Director
1997	''Con Air''	Garland 'The Marietta Mangler' Greene
1998	''The Big Lebowski''	Theodore Donald 'Donny' Kerabatsos
	''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
2001	''Ghost World''	Seymour
	''	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
	''	Romero
2003	''	Romero
	''Coffee and Cigarettes''	Waiter (segment "Twins")
	''Big Fish''	Norther Winslow
2002-2006	''The Sopranos''	Tony Blundetto Man	(TV Series)
2004	''Home on the Range''	Wesley	(voice)
2005	''Lonesome Jim''		Director
	''The Island''	McCord
2006	''Monster House''	Nebbercracker	(voice)
	''Charlotte's Web''	Templeton the Rat	(voice)
	''	Narrator	(TV)
2007	''I Think I Love My Wife''	George
	''Paris, je t'aime''	The tourist (segment 'Tuileries')
	''Interview''	Pierre Peters
	''I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry''	Clinton Fitzer
	''Delirious ''	Les Galantine
	''Romance & Cigarettes''	Angelo
2008	'' Igor''	Scamper	(voice)
	''Keep Coming Back ''
	''We're The Millers''	David

References

1. http://www.filmlinc.com/fcm/ja07/extbuscemi.htm
2. http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12600382_ITM
3. http://www.johnlahr.com/stevebuscemi.html
4. moviemansguide.com review of ''Batman Begins'' by Andy Hoglund
5. indieking.com interview with photos
6. thesmokinggun.com mugshots and description

External links

★

★

★ All Movie Guide entry

★ IndieKing site devoted to Steve Buscemi

★ Italian Fans Club