Joe Pesci

Joe Pesci (real name Joseph Frank Pesci) is an American actor, comedian and singer. He was born on February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey. He is known for the crime films he made with Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro and the Oscar he won for his role in Goodfellas.

Early years and music

He appeared on stage at a very young age; He took part in plays in New York from the age of five, and at the age of ten he was among the regular child actors of the television program Startime Kids. While working as a barber in the 1960s, he dabbled in music and in 1968, under the name Joe Ritchie, he released Little Joe Sure Can Sing! released his album. He performed in comedy shows with Frank Vincent in the first half of the 1970s.

Cinema career

He got his first major film role in 1976 in the low-budget crime film The Death Collector. Robert De Niro, who saw this film, recommended it to Martin Scorsese, and Pesci played boxer Jake LaMotta's brother, Joey, in Raging Bull (1980). The role earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA award for promising newcomer.

After taking part in productions such as Once Upon a Time in America in the 1980s, he experienced the most productive period of his career in the 1990s. He won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas (1990). During the same period, he starred as Leo Getz in the films Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny (1992), JFK and three films of the Lethal Weapon series; He met Scorsese again in Casino (1995).

Pesci, who took a significant break from acting in 1999, released new albums in 1998 and 2019. In 2019, he received his third Oscar nomination for playing mob leader Russell Bufalino in Scorsese's The Irishman.

Pesci, who works in a wide range of roles, from tough and angry characters to comedic roles, is considered one of the most recognizable faces of American cinema.