Joe Pesci

Compact Italian-American actor 'Joe Pesci' (qv) was born February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey, to Mary (Mesce), a part-time barber, and Angelo Pesci, a bartender and forklift driver. Pesci first broke into entertainment as a child actor, and by the mid-1950s, was starring on the series "Star Time Kids". In the mid-1960s, he released a record under the stage name Joe Ritchie titled "Little Joe Sure Can Sing", and was also playing guitar with several bands, including 'Joey Dee' (qv) and 'The Starliters' (qv). He even joined with his friend 'Frank Vincent' (qv) to start a vaudeville-style comedy act, but met with limited success (interestingly, Pesci and Vincent would later go on to co-star in several gangster films together, including _Goodfellas (1990)_ (qv) and _Casino (1995)_ (qv).Pesci's first film role was as an uncredited dancer in _Hey, Let's Twist! (1961)_ (qv) and then he had to wait another 15 years for a minor role in _The Death Collector (1976)_ (qv). His work in the second film was seen by 'Robert De Niro' (qv), who convinced director 'Martin Scorsese' (qv) to cast him as Joey LaMotta in the epic boxing film _Raging Bull (1980)_ (qv), which really got him noticed in Hollywood. He played opposite 'Rodney Dangerfield' (qv) in _Easy Money (1983)_ (qv), was with buddy DeNiro again in _Once Upon a Time in America (1984)_ (qv), nearly stole the show as con man Leo Getz in _Lethal Weapon 2 (1989)_ (qv) and scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing the psychotic 'Tommy DeVito' (qv) in _Goodfellas (1990)_ (qv).His comedic talents shone again in the mega-popular _Home Alone (1990)_ (qv), and he put in a terrific performance as co-conspirator David Ferrie in _JFK (1991)_ (qv). Pesci was back again as Leo Getz for _Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)_ (qv), and was still a bumbling crook in _Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)_ (qv), and had a minor role in the 'Robert De Niro' (qv)-directed _A Bronx Tale (1993)_ (qv). He was lured back by Scorsese to play another deranged gangster named Nicky (based on real-life hood 'Tony Spilotro' (qv) [aka "The Ant"]) in the violent _Casino (1995)_ (qv), and starred in the comedies _8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997)_ (qv) and _Gone Fishin' (1997)_ (qv), although both failed to fire at the box office.Pesci returned again as fast-talking con man Leo Getz in _Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)_ (qv). In 1999, he announced his retirement from acting and since then, he appeared only occasionally in films, including a cameo appearance in _The Good Shepherd (2006)_ (qv). He also appeared in the music documentary _I Go Back Home: Jimmy Scott (2016)_ (qv).::Pedro Borges