Steve Buscemi

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Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi, c. 1996
Birth name	Steven Vincent Buscemi
Born	December 13, 1957 Brooklyn, New York
Notable roles	Nick in Parting Glances Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs Carl Showalter in Fargo Seymour in Ghost World

Steven Vincent Buscemi (born December 13, 1957) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated American film and stage character actor and film director, based in New York City.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Acting 2.2 Directing 3 Private life 4 Trivia 5 Filmography 6 External links 7 References

[edit] Early life

Buscemi was born in Brooklyn, New York to John Buscemi (an Italian American Korean War veteran) and an Irish American mother. Steve graduated from Valley Stream Central High School, where he wrestled in the varsity squad at 125 lbs, in 1975. He then attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to attend the Lee Strasberg Institute. ^[1] He was a New York City firefighter Engine Company #55 in the Little Italy from 1980 to 1984. The day after the attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11, Buscemi showed up at his old firehouse and volunteered to work at Ground Zero. For the next week he worked 12 hour shifts digging through the rubble in an effort to recover bodies, all the while refusing to do inteviews or have his picture taken.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Career

[edit] Acting

Buscemi is an associate member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group.

Buscemi's memorable roles include Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, Garland Greene in Con Air, Rockhound in Armageddon, Donny in The Big Lebowski and Carl Showalter in Fargo. Although usually a supporting actor, he has had critical success as a lead actor, particularly his role as Seymour in Ghost World.

Buscemi normally plays characters that are neurotic and paranoid. He often appears in films by the Coen Brothers, wherein he often dies in a grisly, prolonged or unexpected manner (In Fargo, Buscemi is shot in the jaw with a revolver. When he insists to his partner on a larger cut of the money, he is hacked to death with an axe, later to be fed into a woodchipper).

In 2003, Buscemi made a brief celebrity guest appearance as himself on the long-running FOX animated television show The Simpsons in the episode Brake My Wife, Please. In 2004, Buscemi joined the cast of The Sopranos as Tony Soprano's cousin and childhood friend, Tony Blundetto. Buscemi had previously been involved with the show, directing the third season episode "Pine Barrens", which is a fan favorite. He recently appeared in the third episode of Season 6, as a doorman at heaven (portrayed as a country club) in a dream of Tony Soprano's. He also returned as a director to the show, directing the fifth episode of Season 6.

[edit] Directing

In addition to acting, Buscemi also has a career as a director. He currently is directing the feature film, Interview, in which he also stars. Previous to this, he has directed Trees Lounge in (1996), Animal Factory (2000), Lonesome Jim (2005). In addition to directing feature films, he has also directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and The Sopranos. Also, he directed two episodes of the HBO prison-drama series Oz, "U.S. Male," and "Cuts Like A Knife."

[edit] Private life

Steve Buscemi is married to Jo Andres, who is also involved with the arts as a performance artist, choreographer and filmmaker. Buscemi has one son, Lucian Buscemi, born in 1990. Buscemi currently lives in Brooklyn. ^[2]

[edit] Trivia

• Political Donations
• In April 2001, while shooting the film Domestic Disturbance in Wilmington, North Carolina, Buscemi was cut while intervening into a bar fight between his friend Vince Vaughn, screenwriter Scott Rosenberg, and a local man, Timothy Fogerty, who allegedly instigated the brawl. ^[3]
• During his profile on the show Inside the Actors Studio, avant-garde director John Waters noted that both he and Buscemi bear an uncanny resemblance to each other, to the point where Waters sent out Christmas cards with a picture of "himself" which was actually Buscemi dressed as him. He also (somewhat jokingly) noted that should a movie ever be made about Waters' life, Buscemi agreed to star as Waters in the film.
• He was rumored to be considered for the role of The Scarecrow in Joel Schumacher's fifth and final installment of the Batman franchise, Batman Triumphant, before Warner Bros. Pictures cancelled the project. ^[4]
• Ranked #52 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] ^[5]
• Is infamous for his high number of violent on screen deaths. Ironically, in Reservoir Dogs, his is the only character to survive.

[edit] Filmography

• Parting Glances (1986)
• Kiss Daddy Goodnight (1987)
• Slaves of New York (1989)
• Mystery Train (1989)
• Lonesome Dove (1989)
• Tales from the Darkside: The Movie (1990)
• King of New York (1990)
• Miller's Crossing (1990)
• Barton Fink (1991)
• In the Soup (1992)
• Reservoir Dogs (1992)
• Twenty Bucks (1993)
• Rising Sun (1993)
• The Adventures of Pete & Pete (TV) (1993)
• Ed And His Dead Mother (1993)
• The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994)
• The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
• Airheads (1994)
• Pulp Fiction (1994)
• Billy Madison (1995) (uncredited)
• Living in Oblivion (1995)
• Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995)
• Desperado (1995)
• Fargo (1996)
• Escape from L.A. (1996)
• Trees Lounge (1996)
• Con Air (1997)
• The Big Lebowski (1998)
• The Impostors (1998)
• The Wedding Singer (1998) (uncredited)
• Armageddon (1998)
• Big Daddy (1999)
• 28 Days (2000)
• Animal Factory (2000)
• Ghost World (2001)
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (voice)
• The Grey Zone (2001)
• Love in the Time of Money (2001)
• Monsters, Inc. (voice) (2001)
• Mr. Deeds (2002)
• 13 Moons (2002)
• The Laramie Project (2002)
• Spy Kids 2: Island Of Lost Dreams (2002)
• Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003)
• Coffee and Cigarettes (2003)
• Big Fish (2003)
• The Sopranos (TV) (2004)
• Home on the Range (2004) (voice)
• Lonesome Jim (2005)
• The Island (2005)
• Monster House (2006) (voice)
• Paris, je t'aime (2006)
• Charlotte's Web (2006) (voice)
• Dust to Dust: The Health Effects of 9/11 (2006) (narrator)
• Interview (2007)

[edit] External links

• Steve Buscemi at the Internet Movie Database
• Steve Buscemi at the Voice Chasers Database
• All Movie Guide entry

[edit] References

1. ^ IMDB bio
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ [2]
4. ^ [3]
5. ^ IMDB bio