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Steve Schirripa

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Steve Schirripa
Schirripa in 2014
Born
Steven Ralph Schirripa

(1957-09-03) September 3, 1957 (age 67)
New York City, U.S.
Alma materBrooklyn College
Occupation(s)Actor, businessman, producer, author, voice actor
Years active1995–present
Spouse
Laura Lemos
​
(m. 1989)​
Children2

Steven Ralph Schirripa (/ʃɪˈrɪpə/, Italian pronunciation: [skirˈriːpa]; born September 3, 1957)[1][2] is an American actor, producer, author, and voice artist. He is best known for portraying Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos and Detective Anthony Abetemarco on Blue Bloods. Schirripa is a producer and host of two Investigation Discovery series: Karma's A B*tch! and Nothing Personal. He was a regular cast member of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and the voice of Roberto in the Open Season series. Schirripa has also appeared in commercials for Lamisil, Dick's Sporting Goods, and McDonald's.

Early life

Schirripa was born on September 3, 1957[3] in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. His father, Ralph Schirripa, was Italian American. His grandparents, Ilario Schirripa and Maria Capacci, were from Riace, Italy. His mother, Lorraine Schirripa[4] (née Bernstein),[5] was of Jewish descent.[6][7][5] Schirripa grew up in a low-income household with four siblings and graduated from Brooklyn College.[8]

Career

Film and television

Schirripa got his first taste of show business in his job as entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.[9][10] In the biography page of his website,[11] Schirripa says that he had cameo appearances in comedy specials by Drew Carey and Kevin Pollak, among other comedians. That led to a role as an uncredited extra in Martin Scorsese's Casino. In the film, he portrayed a customer at the bar in the scene when Joe Pesci's character angrily stabs a man with a pen. After this, Schirripa decided that he wanted to become an actor.[12]

He had several minor roles in movies, including The Runner (1999) and Joe Dirt. His breakthrough role was in the second season (2000) of The Sopranos, playing Tony Soprano's mobster brother-in-law Bobby Baccalieri. By chance, he was in New York City in June 1999 for a friend's wedding, and around that time he was invited for an audition in New York City, initially for Agent Skip Lipari, and later for the role of Baccalieri.[10] He played Baccalieri for five seasons, and for the first two seasons, he wore a fat suit to fit the role.[13]

His many television appearances include Angel, Casino Cinema, Columbo, Star Trek: Enterprise, Hollywood Squares, Joey, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, My Wife and Kids, Ed, Jeopardy!, George Lopez, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and The King of Queens.[14] In 2008, Schirripa appeared on CBS's primetime game show Million Dollar Password,[15] and in 2019, Schirripa appeared on the game show Pyramid alongside Jamie-Lynn Sigler.[16] He also made an uncredited appearance along with fellow Soprano star Vincent Pastore on the 6th Season episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force entitled "She Creature".

Schirripa was a frequent guest on the Don Imus radio program. In February 2007, he began to make appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, on Spike TV, siding with Team 3D as their cousin in their ongoing battle against The Latin American Xchange. On October 30, 2007, he appeared on, The Podge and Rodge Show. He also did spots as "Steve the Judgmental Bastard" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and taped several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell, as one of the celebrity judges.

From 2008 to 2012, Schirripa had a recurring role in the ABC Family show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, as Leo Boykewich, Ben's dad.

In 2009, he made a cameo appearance alongside fellow Sopranos actor Frank Vincent in Stargate Atlantis episode "Vegas".[17] He was also in 2009's My Fake Fiancé with Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence as the Monkey.

He has appeared on the Tonight Show more than 40 times as a guest and as a correspondent. Schirripa hosted NBC's poker game show, Face the Ace, with the premiere episode airing on August 1, 2009. In the fall of 2010, Schirripa had a guest star role in the digital comedy short film, Lil DPC, from writer/director Michael Ratner, which also features rapper Fat Joe and Blink 182's Mark Hoppus.

In 2011 and 2012, Schirripa hosted and narrated the television true-crime series Nothing Personal,[18] which premiered in the US on Investigation Discovery and in the UK on History. The series featured an often humorous take on true stories and reenactments of murders-for-hire. In addition to hosting the hour-long programs, Schirripa was one of the program's executive producers. Subsequently, Schirripa hosted Karma's a B*tch!, also for Investigation Discovery.

He has also guest-starred in the American version of Top Gear. Schirripa played Sonny Rosselli in A Poet Long Ago, a short film written by Pete Hamill and directed by Bob Giraldi, which gained entry into a number of film festivals in 2013.

In 2014, Schirripa played Joey on the ABC series Black Box, did voice acting in an episode of American Dad! entitled "Stan Goes on the Pill", and played Vito in the silver screen adaptation Jersey Boys, directed by Clint Eastwood. He will play Father Ed in Chasing Yesterday, a film by writer/director Joseph Pernice, as well as be in the film Houses, by writer/director Jenner Furst, alongside Sopranos co-stars Michael Imperioli and John Ventimiglia.

Starting in 2015, Schirripa has played Det. Anthony Abetemarco, an investigator who works with assistant district attorney Erin Reagan on the CBS series Blue Bloods.

In July 2017, Schirrpa appeared in a segment on John Oliver's satirical news show Last Week Tonight satirizing Boris Epshteyn and the right-wing tone of mandatory segments given to member stations by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Schirripa began hosting a podcast alongside Michael Imperioli called Talking Sopranos, which began on April 6, 2020, where the two provide inside info as they follow The Sopranos series episode by episode.[19][20] By September 2020, the podcast had reached over five million downloads.[21] On September 17, 2020, Imperioli and Schirripa signed a deal with HarperCollins book imprint William Morrow and Company to write an oral history of the show.[21]

Books

Schirripa's acting roles often portrayed "goombas," slang for stereotypical Italian-American tough guys and often denoting connections to the Mafia. He carried that persona over into real life but with a comedic twist, especially in appearances on talk and game shows. He expanded on that persona when he wrote a series of books starting with A Goomba's Guide to Life (ISBN 978-1400046393) in 2002. He followed up with The Goomba's Book of Love, co-authored with Charles Fleming in 2003 (ISBN 978-1-4000-5089-5). The series continued with The Goomba Diet: Large and Loving It (ISBN 978-1400054633) in 2006, and in 2013 Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look (ISBN 978-1476706344), co-authored by Philip Lerman.

Schirripa and Fleming also collaborated on two books about Nicky Deuce, a suburban teenager who is sent to visit his grandparents in Brooklyn. Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family was followed by Nicky Deuce: Home for the Holidays, which was the basis for the 2013 Nickelodeon film Nicky Deuce starring Noah Munck. Nicky Deuce also featured supporting roles filled by James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Curatola of The Sopranos fame.

Theatre

On April 3, 2014, Steve Schirripa gave a theatrical performance in a special production of Guys and Dolls alongside Nathan Lane, Patrick Wilson, and Megan Mullally at Carnegie Hall.[22]

Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties

In 2014, Schirripa launched a line of organic vegan pasta sauces under the business name of Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties Group. Schirripa appeared on the Eric Andre Show to promote the sauce. The sauces do not contain any additives whatsoever and the tomatoes used in the sauces are imported from Italy.[23][24]

Personal life

Schirripa married Laura Lemos on April 22, 1989. They have two children, daughters Bria and Ciara.[25]

When asked if he was bar mitzvahed, Schirripa answered no and stated that he was raised as a Catholic but that he ”very much identifies as being Jewish as well”.[5]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Steve Schirripa at Hollywood.com[unreliable source?]
  2. ^ Stange, Ellen Silver (10 March 2016). New York State of Fame. ISBN 9781682890264.
  3. ^ https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2013/05/05/steve-schirripa-big-daddys-rules/2126339/
  4. ^ "Lorraine Schirripa – NMG – Manalapan Archives". Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  5. ^ a b c Paltrowitz, Darren (2019-02-08). "'Blue Bloods,' 'Sopranos' star Steve Schirripa on His Jewish Roots and Kosher Sauces". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  6. ^ Curtis, Lisa J. (2003-02-17). "BADA-BING! • The Brooklyn Paper". Brooklynpaper.com. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  7. ^ Schirripa, Steven R.; Fleming, Charles (September 2003). A Goomba's Guide to Life - Charles Fleming, Steven R. Schirripa - Google Books. ISBN 9781400050819. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  8. ^ "'The Sopranos' and 'Blue Bloods' star Steve Schirripa talks to the Eagle". Brooklyn Eagle. 2016-10-05. Retrieved 2020-01-17.
  9. ^ Clarke, Norm (April 4, 2013). "Schirripa still a wanted man". Las Vegas Review Journal.
  10. ^ a b "'The Sopranos' 20th Anniversary Look Back: Part II". deadline.com. January 10, 2019.
  11. ^ Steven Schirripa biography at steveschirripa.com
  12. ^ "Steve Schirripa: From 'The Sopranos' to true-crime TV". globeandmail.com. July 11, 2011.
  13. ^ "Schirripa wore fat suit for The Sopranos". uk.news.yahoo.com. March 30, 2012.
  14. ^ "The Sopranos: Final Season; Begins Sunday, April 8". Washington Post. 2007-04-06. Retrieved 2007-06-10. [dead link‍]
  15. ^ http://www.cmt.com/news/1590046/sara-evans-appearing-as-million-dollar-password-contestant/
  16. ^ https://www.wdtvpress.com/abc/shows/100000-pyramid/episodes/episode-402-chris-sullivan-vs-susan-kelechi-watson-and-jamie-lynn-sigler-vs-steve-schirripa/
  17. ^ "Stargate Image Gallery". GateWorld. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  18. ^ Femme Fatale (2011-02-17). "Nothing Personal". Investigation Discovery. Archived from the original on 2012-02-10. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  19. ^ "'Talking Sopranos' Podcast Launching In April With Series Stars Michael Imperioli & Steve Schirripa". deadline.com. February 28, 2020.
  20. ^ "Talking Sopranos". Apple Inc. April 6, 2020. Retrieved April 11, 2020.
  21. ^ a b "'Talking Sopranos' Duo Michael Imperioli And Steve Schirripa Score Book Deal With William Morrow". deadline.com. September 17, 2020.
  22. ^ CarnegieHall.org (2011-02-17). "Carnegie Hall". Carnegie Hall. Archived from the original on 2014-05-08. Retrieved 2014-06-06.
  23. ^ "Sopranos Steve Schirripa Spaghetti Sauce". YouTube. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  24. ^ "Uncle Steve's Italian Specialities by Steve Schirripa". Uncle Steve's. Retrieved 15 June 2018.
  25. ^ Steve Schirripa at IMDb
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