Anthony LaPaglia

Anthony LaPaglia
Spouse(s)	Gia Carides (1998-present) Cherie Michan

Anthony M. LaPaglia (Template:PronEng; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor, best known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, a role which won him a Golden Globe Award.

Biography

Early life

LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Maria, a secretary, and Eddie LaPaglia, an auto mechanic and car dealer. He is of Italian and Dutch extraction. He is the brother of Jonathan LaPaglia, another movie-actor. His other brother, Michael, is a car wholesaler in Los Angeles.

Introduction to acting

LaPaglia first began his venture into the world of dramatic art in his late teens. He enrolled at the "South Australian Castings Agency", more commonly referred to as "S.A. Castings". Rather than completing the two and half year course (plus quarter year boot camp/trial period) offered by "S.A. Castings", Anthony completed one and half years of the course, with one year still to complete he left Adelaide and headed to Los Angeles.

Career

LaPaglia's credits include the films Innocent Blood, The Client, Looking for Alibrandi, Lantana, Summer of Sam, So I Married an Axe Murderer, and Empire Records. LaPaglia also appeared on nine episodes of the sitcom Frasier, including the series finale, as Daphne Moon's brother Simon. The role won him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series. He also appeared uncredited in the film Analyze That playing an actor, Anthony Bella, who appeared in the TV show-within-a-film Little Caesar. He also played the role of Jimmy Wyler, the lead during the second and final season of the television program Murder One.

Currently LaPaglia is the only person bombarded by 'Mr Ten Questions' from The Chaser's War on Everything to answer all ten questions correctly.

In September 2007, it was announced that LaPaglia would be appearing in the Australian political thriller Balibo, about the killing of the five Australian journalists in the town of the same name in East Timor in 1975. LaPaglia will play the part of Roger East, another Australian journalist, who went to investigate the deaths of the newsmen, only to be killed the day after the Indonesian invasion.

Soccer

In the 1980s LaPaglia was a goalkeeper in the National Soccer League, playing for Adelaide City and West Adelaide. LaPaglia is now part owner of A-League club Sydney FC, and has been flying from California to Sydney to attend their matches since their inception in 2005. He was the narrator and executive producer of The Away Game, a critically-acclaimed television documentary exploring the experiences of Australian footballers in Europe.

LaPaglia underwent a hip replacement in the summer of 2004, a result of his days playing football. He has fully recovered and has even played for a couple of amateur clubs in California. He plays occasionally with Hollywood United, an amateur organization of which he is club president, with other luminaries such as Frank Leboeuf, Vinnie Jones, Steve Jones (of the Sex Pistols) and others.

LaPaglia has a minority shareholding in the International Goalkeepers Academy. The Academy was founded and is operated by James Fraser, who represented the Australian national team leading up to the 1974 FIFA World Cup.

LaPaglia has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program. He played in a charity football match in 2007 to raise funds for Southern California wildfire relief.

Personal life

LaPaglia currently lives in Santa Monica, California. LaPaglia states that he adopted an American accent to help him get acting work after moving to America, and has now lost his Australian accent completely. Some critics and viewers have noted even this accomplished actor has his occasional dialect slips, however. His first marriage was to actress Cherie Michan.

He is currently married to Australian actress Gia Carides, whom he met whilst jointly starring in the 1994 (Ben Lewin) Australian movie Lucky Break. They have one daughter Bridget. LaPaglia is the brother to actor Jonathan LaPaglia, who starred in The District and Seven Days, and to Michael LaPaglia, both of whom are also currently based in the United States. Anthony LaPaglia attended Rostrevor College.

Filmography

• Cold Steel (1987)
• Slaves of New York (1989)
• Betsy's Wedding (1990)
• 29th Street (1991)
• One Good Cop (1991)
• He Said, She Said (1991)
• Whispers in the Dark (1992)
• Innocent Blood (1992)
• So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)
• Past Tense (1994)
• Lucky Break (1994)
• The Client (1994)
• Empire Records (1995)
• Trees Lounge (1996)
• Brilliant Lies (1996)
• Phoenix (1998)
• Summer of Sam (1999)
• Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
• The House of Mirth (2000)
• Autumn in New York (2000)
• Looking For Alibrandi (2000)
• Lantana (2001)
• Jack the Dog (2001)
• The Bank (2001)
• Analyze That (2002)
• The Salton Sea (2002)
• I'm With Lucy (2002)
• Dead Heat (2002)
• Road to Perdition (2002) (deleted scene)
• Happy Hour (2003)
• Spinning Boris (2003)
• Winter Solstice (2005)
• Happy Feet (2006) (voice)
• Played (2006)
• The Architect (2006)
• A View From The Bridge (2007)

External links

• Anthony LaPaglia at the TCM Movie Database
• Anthony LaPaglia Online - The Most Comprehensive Source For Everything Anthony LaPaglia
• Anthony LaPaglia Bio at CBS - Without a Trace
• ABC TV Enough Rope Interview with Andrew Denton