John Turturro
| John Turturro | |
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 Turturro at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival |
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| Born | John Michael Turturro February 28, 1957 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, writer, director |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse(s) | Katherine Borowitz (1985-present) |
John Michael Turturro (born February 28, 1957) is an Italian-American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing (1989), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Quiz Show (1994), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) and the Transformers film series. He has appeared in over sixty films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, Adam Sandler and Spike Lee.
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Early life [edit]
Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Katherine, an amateur jazz singer who worked in a Navy yard during World War II, and Nicholas Turturro, a carpenter and construction worker who fought as a Navy sailor in D-Day.[1][2] Turturro's mother was Sicilian (from Aragona near Agrigento) and his father immigrated from Giovinazzo, Bari, Italy at the age of six.[3] Turturro was raised a Roman Catholic[4] and moved to the Rosedale section of Queens, New York with his family when he was six. He majored in Theatre Arts at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and completed his MFA at the Yale School of Drama. He first appeared on film working as an extra in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed Raging Bull (1980).
Career [edit]
Turturro created the title role of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in 1983. He repeated it the following year Off-Broadway and won an Obie Award. Spike Lee liked Turturro's performance in Five Corners so much that he chose to cast him in Do the Right Thing. This movie was the first of a long-standing collaboration between the famous director and Turturro, which includes work together on a total of nine films—more than any other actor in the Lee oeuvre--[5] including Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Clockers (1995), Girl 6 (1996), He Got Game (1998), Summer of Sam (1999), She Hate Me (2004), and Miracle at St. Anna (2008). A versatile actor comfortable with both comedy and drama, Turturro also had an extended collaboration with the Coen Brothers, appearing in their films Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He has also appeared in several of Adam Sandler's movies, such as Mr. Deeds (2002) and You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). He played a severely disturbed patient of Jack Nicholson's in the comedy Anger Management and played Johnny Depp's antagonist in Secret Window. Turturro hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994, where he spoofed his recent film Quiz Show, being told he was ineligible to host unless he answered questions in a booth and if he failed, the honor of hosting would go to Joey Buttafuoco, who was actually backstage to witness Turturro's test.
He won an Emmy award for his portrayal of Adrian Monk's brother Ambrose in the USA Network series Monk, and has reprised the role on numerous occasions. He has also been nominated and won many awards from film organizations such as Screen Actors Guild, Cannes Film Festival, Golden Globes and others.
Turturro produced and directed, as well as acted in, the film Illuminata (1999), which also starred his wife Katherine Borowitz. He wrote and directed the film Romance and Cigarettes (2005). In 2006 he appeared in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd, and as the Sector 7 agent Simmons in three films of the Transformers live-action series. In 2010 he directed (and had cameo on-screen appearances in) Passione, which chronicles the rich musical heritage of Naples, Italy.
His stage directorial debut was in October 2011, with the Broadway play "Relatively Speaking," in which he guided an ensemble of veteran actors in a production of three comedic one-act plays, written by Elaine May, Woody Allen and Ethan Coen. The cast included Julie Kavner, Marlo Thomas, Mark Linn-Baker and Steve Guttenberg.[5]
Personal life [edit]
Turturro's brothers are actor Nicholas Turturro and artist Ralph Turturro. Actress Aida Turturro is his cousin. He has two children, Amedeo (born 1990) and Diego (born 2000), with his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz.[2]
Turturro participates as a member of the Jury for the NYICFF, a local New York City Film Festival dedicated to screening films for children between the ages of 3 and 18.[6] He and his brother Nicholas are avid New York Yankees fans.[7]
In January 2011, Turturro received his Italian passport and dual Italian-American citizenship.[8]
Filmography [edit]
Audiobook [edit]
- World War Z, 2007, as Serosha Garcia Alvarez
Television [edit]
- Miami Vice, episode 1x16, 1985
- Monk, as Ambrose Monk
- Mr. Monk and the Three Pies (2004) He won an Emmy Award for his guest appearance in this episode.
- Mr. Monk Goes Home Again (2005)
- Mr. Monk's 100th Case (2008)
- The Bronx is Burning, 2007, as Billy Martin
- Flight of the Conchords, 2007, as himself
Commercials [edit]
- NBA on TNT, as Claude X
References [edit]
- ^ "John Turturro Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1957-02-28. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ a b Pfefferman, Naomi (1998-04-19). "JewishJournal.com". JewishJournal.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "TURTURRO BURNS THROUGH THREE VERSIONS OF REALITY IN 'LIFE (X) 3'". Saint Paul Pioneer Press. 2003-06-01. Retrieved 2009-03-27.
- ^ "Actor and director John Turturro's Dirty Dozen — 12 movie favorites that have a special place in his heart. - Review - movie review | Film Comment | Find Articles at BNET.com". Findarticles.com. 2009-06-02. Retrieved 2010-03-14.[dead link]
- ^ a b Akers, W.M. (19 September 2011). "The Long and the Short of It". The New York Observer -Fall Arts Preview.
- ^ "NYICFF Jury". Gkids.com. Retrieved 2010-03-14.
- ^ "I Breathe Baseball featuring Nick Turturro on MLB Network Sunday, September, 27th and Sunday, October 4th" (Press release). MLB.com. 10/07/2009. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
- ^ "John Turturro and His New Italian Passport". YouTube. 01/27/2011. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
External links [edit]
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- 1957 births
- Actors from New York City
- American film actors
- American stage actors
- American television actors
- American people of Italian descent
- American people of Sicilian descent
- Emmy Award winners
- Living people
- Obie Award recipients
- People from Brooklyn
- People from Queens
- Yale School of Drama alumni
- State University of New York at New Paltz alumni
- David di Donatello winners
- 20th-century American actors
- 21st-century American actors
