Joe Mantegna

[Shepherd]

Biography

American award-winning actor Joe Mantegna was born on November 13, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois. He married Arlene Vrhel, owner of the restaurant Taste Chicago on December 3, 1975. They have 3 children together.

A graduate of the Goodman School of Drama, he began acting on stage, starting in the 1969 production of Hair. He made his Broadway debut in 1978, with the play Working. He won his only Tony Award in 1984, with his portrayal of Richard Roma in the play Glengarry Glen Ross.

Mantegna made his film debut in 1977, in the applauded dramatic short film Medusa Challenger. His more memorable films include 1985’s Compromising Positions, 1986’s The Money Pit, and 1987’s Weeds and Suspect. In 1988, he won the Best Actor award at that year’s Venice Film Festival for his performance in Things Change, an honor he shared with co-star Don Ameche. In 1990, he played the treacherous mobster Joey Raza in The Godfather III. In 1991, he played the lead role, that of police detective Bobby Gold in the acclaimed crime thriller Homicide. Three years later, he played bumbling kidnapper Eddie in the comedy Baby’s Day Out.

Throughout that time, he also made several guest appearances in shows like Soap, The Greatest American Hero, Fallen Angels and Frasier, as well as a hosting stint in two episodes of Saturday Night Live. Mantegna also provided the voice to mob boss “Fat Tony” in The Simpsons, and insists on voicing the character every time it appears, regardless of how little dialogue there is.

Mantegna’s recent credits include a role as Supreme Court justice Joseph Novelli in the short-lived legal drama First Monday, as Will Gerardi in Joan of Arcadia, and most recently, as FBI agent David Rossi in the crime drama Criminal Minds. His recent films include First Flight, A Very Married Christmas, The Kid & I, The Simpsons Movie and the animated direct-to-DVD feature Justice League: The New Frontier.

Throwing out the first pitch, Wrigley Field, Chicago, June 23 '13