John Turturro
John Turturro | |
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 Turturro at the Montclair Film Festival in May 2017 | |
| Born | John Michael Turturro February 28, 1957 New York City, U.S. |
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| Alma mater | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse |
Katherine Borowitz (m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
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John Michael Turturro (/tərˈtʊəroʊ/;[1] born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, Adam Sandler, and Spike Lee. He began his acting career on-screen in the early 1980s, and received early critical recognition with the independent film Five Corners (1987). Turturro's mainstream breakthrough came with Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989) and the Coens' Miller's Crossing (1990) and Barton Fink (1991), for which he won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. His subsequent roles included Herb Stempel in Quiz Show (1994), Jesus Quintana in both The Big Lebowski (1998) and The Jesus Rolls (2020), Pete in O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), Seymour Simmons in the Transformers film series (2007–2017) and Carmine Falcone in The Batman (2022). In 2016, in a lead role, he portrayed a lawyer in the HBO miniseries The Night Of. He had a recurring role in the miniseries The Plot Against America in 2020. He currently stars as Irving on the Apple TV+ series Severance.
An Emmy Award winner, Turturro has also been nominated for four Screen Actors Guild Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, and four Independent Spirit Awards. He directed Mac (1992), which won the Golden Camera Award at the Cannes Film Festival, Illuminata (1998), and Romance and Cigarettes (2005).
Early life
John Turturro was born on February 28, 1957 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, the son of Katherine Florence (Incerella) and Nicholas Turturro. His mother was born in the U.S. to Italian parents with roots in Sicily, and was an amateur jazz singer who had worked in a naval yard during World War II.[2][3][4] His maternal grandmother died of a botched home abortion when his mother was six, leaving his mother in an orphanage, as his grandfather was unable to provide for the children on his own.[5] His father had emigrated at age six from Giovinazzo, Italy to the United States, and later worked as a carpenter and construction worker before joining the U.S. Navy.
Turturro was raised a Roman Catholic and moved to the Rosedale section of Queens, New York with his family when he was 6.[6] 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.
Career
Turturro's first film appearance was a non-speaking extra role in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed Raging Bull (1980).[7] He 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. Turturro had a notable supporting role in William Friedkin's action film To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), as the henchman of the villainous counterfeiter played by Willem Dafoe.
Spike Lee liked Turturro's performance in Five Corners (1987) so much that he cast him in Do the Right Thing (1989). This movie was the first of a long-standing collaboration between the director and Turturro, which includes work together on a total of nine films—more than any other actor in the Lee oeuvre[8]—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).[9]
Turturro has appeared in both comedy and drama films, and engaged in an extended collaboration with the Coen Brothers—he appeared in their films Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991, in the lead role), The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Turturro 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 character in the comedy Anger Management and played Johnny Depp's character's antagonist in Secret Window.[9]
Turturro hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994, where he spoofed his then-recently made 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 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.[9]
Turturro produced and directed, as well as acted in, the film Illuminata (1999), which also starred his wife, actress 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 Seymour Simmons in four 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.[10]
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.[8]
Turturro's fifth directorial film Fading Gigolo premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in mid-September 2013. Turturro also acts in the film alongside Woody Allen, who plays a novice pimp overseeing the sex work of Turturro's character. During a September 2013 interview, Turturro expressed his intention to draw parallels between sex work and acting, explaining that the latter is a "service business" in which actors are "acting out people's wishes or fantasies".[7] In March 2014, Turturro received the Career Achievement tribute and award at the 31st Edition of the Miami International Film Festival at the Olympia Theater in Downtown Miami.[11] Turturro starred in the 2016 miniseries The Night Of, garnering a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2019 Turturro played William of Baskerville in a television adaptation of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose.
In 2022, he appeared in Matt Reeves' film The Batman based on the DC Comics character of the same name as Carmine Falcone.[12]
Personal life
Turturro's brother is actor Nicholas Turturro. Composer and film director Richard Termini and actress Aida Turturro are his cousins.[13] He has two children with his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz, who moved on to a social work career in 2016.[6]
John Turturro participates as a member of the Jury for the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF), which is dedicated to screening films for children between the ages of 3 and 18.[14] Turturro holds dual Italian and American citizenship as of January 2011.[15]
He has lived in Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York since 1988.[16]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Raging Bull | Man at table | Uncredited |
| 1984 | The Flamingo Kid | Ted From Pinky's | |
| 1985 | Desperately Seeking Susan | Ray | |
| To Live and Die in L.A. | Carl Cody | ||
| 1986 | Hannah and Her Sisters | Writer | |
| The Color of Money | Julian | ||
| Gung Ho | Willie | ||
| Off Beat | Neil Pepper | ||
| 1987 | Five Corners | Heinz Zabantino | |
| The Sicilian | Pisciotta | ||
| 1989 | Do the Right Thing | Pino | Directed By Spike Lee |
| 1990 | Catchfire | Pinella | |
| State of Grace | Detective Nick Richardson | ||
| Mo' Better Blues | 'Moe' Flatbush | Directed By Spike Lee | |
| Miller's Crossing | Bernie 'The Shamata Kid' Bernbaum | With The Coen Brothers | |
| 1991 | Men of Respect | Mike Battaglia | |
| Jungle Fever | Paulie Carbone | Directed By Spike Lee | |
| Barton Fink | Barton Fink | With The Coen Brothers | |
| 1992 | Mac | Niccolò Vitelli | Also director and writer |
| Brain Donors | Roland T. Flakfizer | ||
| 1993 | Being Human | Lucinnius | |
| Fearless | Bill Pearlman | ||
| 1994 | Quiz Show | Herb Stempel | |
| The Search for One-eye Jimmy | Disco Bean | ||
| 1995 | Search and Destroy | Ron | |
| Unstrung Heroes | Sidney Lidz | ||
| Clockers | Detective Larry Mazilla | ||
| 1996 | Girl 6 | Murray | |
| Box of Moonlight | Al Fountain | ||
| Grace of My Heart | Joel Milner | ||
| 1997 | Lesser Prophets | Leon | |
| The Truce | Primo Levi | ||
| 1998 | Illuminata | Tuccio | Also director, writer and producer |
| Rounders | Joey Knish | ||
| He Got Game | Billy Sunday | ||
| OK Garage | Jonny | ||
| The Big Lebowski | Jesus Quintana | ||
| Animals | Tuxedo Man | ||
| 1999 | Summer of Sam | Harvey The Dog (voice) | |
| Cradle Will Rock | Aldo Silvana | ||
| 2000 | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Pete | |
| The Man Who Cried | Dante Dominio | ||
| Company Man | Crocker Johnson | ||
| Two Thousand and None | Benjamin Kasparian | ||
| The Luzhin Defence | Alexander Luzhin | ||
| 2001 | Monkeybone | Monkeybone (voice) | |
| Thirteen Conversations About One Thing | Walker | ||
| 2002 | Collateral Damage | Sean Armstrong | |
| Mr. Deeds | Emilio Lopez | ||
| 2003 | Fear X | Harry | |
| Anger Management | Chuck | ||
| Opopomoz | John | Voice | |
| 2004 | Secret Passage | Paolo Zane | |
| Secret Window | John Shooter | ||
| She Hate Me | Don Angelo Bonasera | ||
| 2BPerfectlyHonest[17] | Sal / Roberto | ||
| 2005 | Romance and Cigarettes | Male Dancer & Singer | Also director, writer and producer |
| The Moon and the Son | Son (voice) | Short film | |
| 2006 | The Good Shepherd | Ray Brocco | |
| A Few Days in September | William Pound | ||
| 2007 | Transformers | Agent Seymour Simmons | |
| Margot at the Wedding | Jim | ||
| Slipstream | Harvey Brickman | ||
| Joulutarina | Iisakki | English dub | |
| 2008 | What Just Happened | Dick Bell | |
| You Don't Mess With The Zohan | Fatoush 'The Phantom' Hakbarah | ||
| Miracle at St. Anna | Detective Antonio 'Tony' Ricci | ||
| 2009 | The Taking of Pelham 123 | Lieutenant Vincent Camonetti | |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Seymour Simmons | ||
| Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy | Himself | Documentary; also writer and executive producer | |
| 2010 | Passione | Himself / Narrator | Documentary; also director and co-writer |
| The Nutcracker in 3D | The Rat King | ||
| 2011 | Cars 2 | Francesco Bernoulli (voice) | |
| Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Seymour Simmons | ||
| Somewhere Tonight | Leroy | ||
| 2013 | Fading Gigolo | Fioravante | Also director and writer |
| Gods Behaving Badly | Hades | ||
| 2014 | God's Pocket | Arthur 'Bird' Capezio | |
| Exodus: Gods and Kings | Seti I | ||
| Rio, I Love You | Homem | Segment "Quando não há Mais Amor"; also director and writer | |
| 2015 | Mia madre | Barry Huggins | |
| Partly Cloudy with Sunny Spells | Lombelli | ||
| The Ridiculous 6 | Abner Doubleday | ||
| 2016 | Hands of Stone | Frankie Carbo | |
| 2017 | Landline | Alan Jacobs | |
| Hair | John Turturro | Short film; also director and writer | |
| Transformers: The Last Knight | Seymour Simmons | ||
| 2018 | Gloria Bell | Arnold | |
| 2019 | The True Adventures of Wolfboy | Mr. Silk | |
| The Jesus Rolls | Jesus Quintana | Also director and writer[18] | |
| 2022 | The Batman | Carmine Falcone | |
| Pinocchio | Il Dottore | Voice |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Miami Vice | David Traynor | Episode: "Rites of Passage" |
| 1988 | The Fortunate Pilgrim | Larry | 4 episodes |
| 1994 | Saturday Night Live | Himself / Host | Episode: "John Turturro/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers" |
| 1995 | Sugartime | Sam Giancana | Television film |
| 2001 | Biography | Narrator | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Monday Night Mayhem | Howard Cosell | Television film |
| Frasier | Grant (voice) | Episode: "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" | |
| 2004–08 | Monk | Ambrose Monk | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | The Bronx Is Burning | Billy Martin | 8 episodes |
| Flight of the Conchords | Credits Cop | Episode: "The Actor" | |
| 2016 | The New Yorker Presents | Patient | Episode: "#1.8" |
| The Night Of | John Stone | 8 episodes | |
| 2017 | Difficult People | 'Dusty' | Episode: "Bernie and Blythe" |
| 2019 | The Name of the Rose | William of Baskerville | 8 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
| Green Eggs and Ham | Goat (voice) | 6 episodes | |
| 2020 | The Plot Against America | Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Severance | Irving Bailiff | Main role[19] |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Cars 2 | Francesco Bernoulli |
Audiobooks
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | World War Z | Serosha Garcia Alvarez |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Waiting for Godot | Estragon | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | [20] |
| 2003 | Life x 3 | Henry | Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2007 | A Spanish Play | Director | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | |
| 2011 | The Cherry Orchard | Yermolai Alekaseyevich Lopakhin | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | |
| 2011–12 | Relatively Speaking | Director | Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2013 | The Master Builder | Halvard Solness | Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn | |
| 2015 | Zorba! | Zorba | New York City Center, Concert Staging |
Awards and nominations
 | This section needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021) |
References
- ^ "John Turturro's 'Passione': Going Behind the Lens With "The Big Lebowski" Actor Turned Director" on YouTube
- ^ "TURTURRO BURNS THROUGH THREE VERSIONS OF REALITY IN 'LIFE (X) 3'". Saint Paul Pioneer Press. June 1, 2003. Retrieved March 27, 2009.
- ^ "John Turturro Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. February 28, 1957. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
- ^ Stated on Finding Your Roots, October 31, 2017
- ^ John Turturro (July 8, 2022). "My grandmother's botched abortion transformed three generations". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. ISSN 0190-8286. OCLC 1330888409.
- ^ a b Pfefferman, Naomi (April 19, 1998). "Far Beyond Tears". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
- ^ a b Shoard, Catherine (September 12, 2013). "John Turturro on nuns, Woody Allen and middle-aged sex". The Guardian. Retrieved September 13, 2013.
- ^ a b Akers, W.M. (September 19, 2011). "The Long and the Short of It". The New York Observer -Fall Arts Preview.
- ^ a b c John Turturro at IMDb
- ^ Scott, A. O. (June 21, 2011). "Soaring From Poverty All the Way to Ecstasy". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ^ Morgenstern, Hans. "John Turturro Receives Career Tribute Award at Miami International Film Festival". Miami New Times. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
- ^ Scarnato, Ryden (March 28, 2020). "The Batman: John Turturro Opens Up About His Role As Carmine Falcone". Heroic Hollywood. Retrieved March 6, 2022.
- ^ "Ralph Turturro". Bergen Museum of Art and Science. 2014. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
- ^ "NYICFF Jury". Gkids.com. Retrieved March 14, 2010.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "John Turturro and His New Italian Passport". YouTube. January 27, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2012.
- ^ Hettich, Colter (April 25, 2017). "John Turturro talks about Brooklyn's past and future while riding the B train". AM NY. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- ^ Scheib, Ronnie (May 25, 2004). "Review: '2B Perfectly Honest'". Variety. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
- ^ "'Big Lebowski' Spinoff 'Going Places' Already Shooting, with John Turturro Directing and Starring as The Jesus". indiewire.com. August 17, 2016. Retrieved August 17, 2016.
- ^ ‘Severance’: John Turturro To Star In Apple Drama Series
- ^ "John Turturro". abouttheartists.com. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "John Turturro". Playbill. Retrieved August 31, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "John Turturro - Emmy Awards, Nominations, and Wins". Emmy Awards. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
- ^ Tinoco, Armando (August 12, 2022). "Saturn Awards Nominations: 'The Batman', 'Nightmare Alley', 'Spider-Man', 'Better Call Saul' Top List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 22, 2022.
External links
- 1957 births
- Living people
- American film directors of Italian descent
- People of Sicilian descent
- American male film actors
- American male screenwriters
- American male stage actors
- American male television actors
- American male voice actors
- American writers of Italian descent
- Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor winners
- Citizens of Italy through descent
- David di Donatello winners
- Directors of Caméra d'Or winners
- Film directors from New York City
- Male actors from New York City
- Obie Award recipients
- People from Park Slope
- People from Rosedale, Queens
- People of Apulian descent
- Primetime Emmy Award winners
- Screenwriters from New York (state)
- State University of New York at New Paltz alumni
- Yale School of Drama alumni
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors