Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Anthony LaPaglia

 
AnswerNote: Anthony LaPaglia
 
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > AnswerNotes
LaPaglia, Anthony
Source

Native Australian Anthony LaPaglia moved to NYC and began acting in the theater when he was 25 years old. He got his big break Off-Broadway in Bouncers, a play in which he demonstrated his versatility and talent for accents while playing eight different characters. He did guest work on series like Amazing Stories, Magnum, P.I., Hunter and Trapper John, M.D. before landing the title role of the TV biopic Frank Nitti: The Enforcer (1988). LaPaglia made his feature debut in a small role in James Ivory's Slaves of New York (1989), and soon after gained widespread attention for his scene-stealing performance in Alan Alda's comedy Betsy's Wedding (1990), playing the surprisingly courtly and charming nephew of a Mafia boss. Cast in 29th Street (1991) as a NYC Italian-American, the richly seasoned script offered him one of his better roles as the son of Danny Aiello; he went on to portray "Barry The Blade", a flashy organized crime underling in the courtroom suspense The Client (1994). Parts in the films Bulletproof Heart (1995) and Trees Lounge (1997) brought him critical acclaim. LaPaglia then moved on to a role in the ABC legal drama Murder One, playing "Jimmy Wilder", a former district attorney turned defense counsel who was willing to bend the law to his clients' needs.

A sound presence on the NYC stage, LaPaglia co-starred in the 1993 Off-Broadway production of a Steve Tesich play, On the Open Road, and he received raves for his performance opposite Mercedes Ruehl in the 1995 Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' The Rose Tattoo. His portrayal of "Eddie Carbone" in a revival of Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge (1998) earned him a Tony Award.

Among his many TV appearances, LaPaglia garnered a CableACE Award nomination for his work in the HBO movie Criminal Justice (1990). He played college basketball coach Jim Valvano in the CBS biopic Never Give Up: The Jimmy V Story (1996). LaPaglia has also acted in two Australian features with fellow Australian Gia Carides, Paperback Romance (1994) and Brilliant Lies (1996). Since then La Paglia has appeared in several films, including Summer of Sam and Sweet and Lowdown, both in 1999, The House of Mirth and Lantana in 2001, The Salton Sea and the action movie Dead Heat with Kiefer Sutherland, and The Guys with Sigourney Weaver, in 2002. In 2003, he made Manhood, Happy Hour, and Spinning Boris. His role as "Jack Malone" in the TV series Without A Trace brought him the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama, in 2004.

Anthony LaPaglia was born on January 31, 1959, in Adelaide, Australia. He is married to actress Gia Carides and they have one child.

Last updated: December 14, 2008.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a word or phrase...
All Community Q&A Reference topics

 
Actor: Anthony LaPaglia
Top
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jan 31, 1959 in Adelaide, Australia
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '90s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Trees Lounge, Sweet and Lowdown, Summer of Sam
  • First Major Screen Credit: Betsy's Wedding (1990)

Biography

Despite spending the first 25 years of his life in Adelaide, Australia, Anthony LaPaglia is best known for playing street-savvy Italian New Yorkers. This was not, however, LaPaglia's original plan. Rather than testing the waters of show business, LaPaglia traveled to the United States intending to pursue a full-time teaching career. As luck would have it, however, one of LaPaglia's odd jobs was a small role in Cold Steel (1987), a low-budget detective drama. LaPaglia began pursuing theater and television in his spare time -- one of his more notable early performances was in 1988's Frank Nitti: The Enforcer -- and considered himself a full-time actor by 1989, when he made his feature-film debut in Slaves of New York. It was 1990, however, when the young actor earned critical recognition for his role as an exceedingly polite mobster in Betsy's Wedding.

LaPaglia continued to build his resumé throughout the early '90s, most of which he spent playing either kindly policemen or good-hearted mobsters, and was delighted to work alongside a variety of noted actors so early in his career. Among those actors were Alan Alda in Betsy's Wedding, Michael Keaton in One Good Cop (1991), and Nathan Lane, Sharon Stone, and Kevin Bacon in He Said, She Said (1992). Later in 1992, LaPaglia could be found playing his first leading role in George Gallo's gangster farce 29th Street. Though the film did not fare particularly well, audiences were nonetheless impressed with LaPaglia's intensity, and he played a more serious gangster with great success opposite Susan Sarandon in The Client (1994). The actor switched gears for his next handful of films; in Mixed Nuts (1994) he played a disillusioned Santa Claus, while Empire Records (1995) found him as a down-on-his-luck store manager, and the Australian-helmed Brilliant Lies (1996) featured him as the defendant in a sketchy sexual-harassment case.

Despite a smattering of mediocre films between 1995 and the early 2000s, LaPaglia continued to earn critical acclaim for many of his endeavors, such as Steve Buscemi's directorial debut, Trees Lounge (1996), for which LaPaglia joined a star-studded supporting cast, as well as for his role as a detective in Spike Lee's Summer of Sam (1999). Luckily for him, 2000 and 2001 proved excellent for his career, as it was during this period that he played a wealthy businessman in The House of Mirth and an adulterous police detective in Lantana. In addition to receiving international success, Lantana earned LaPaglia the prestigious Best Actor award from the Australian Film Institute, as well as a nomination from the Film Critics Circle. In the meantime, he was adding several major television credits to his resumé, including a starring role as the head of the FBI's Missing Persons Squad on CBS's Without a Trace, and a recurring role on the long-running sitcom Frasier, a performance for which he would receive an Emmy in 2002. Far removed from his fledgling days as a teacher, 2002 also found LaPaglia working with Val Kilmer for The Salton Sea; Sigourney Weaver for The Guys; Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal in Analyze That; and Eric Stoltz in Happy Hour. In 2003, after filming Manhood with Janeane Garofalo and the late John Ritter, LaPaglia agreed to star in director Josh Sternfeld's Winter Solstice (2004). ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
 
Wikipedia: Anthony LaPaglia
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Anthony LaPaglia
Born 31 January 1959 (1959-01-31) (age 50)
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Spouse(s) Gia Carides (1998-present)
Cherie Michan

Anthony M. LaPaglia[1] (pronounced /ləˈpɑːlja/; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is known for his Golden Globe Award-winning role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a Trace, and for his Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier.[2]

Contents

Biography

Early life

LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South Australia, the son of Maria Johannes (née Brendel), a secretary, and Gedio "Eddie" LaPaglia, an auto mechanic and car dealer.[1][2] LaPaglia's mother was Dutch and his Italian father immigrated from Bovalino, Calabria at the age of eighteen.[2] His younger brother, Jonathan LaPaglia, is also an actor, and his other brother, Michael, is a car wholesaler in Los Angeles.[citation needed] LaPaglia attended Rostrevor College.

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", LaPaglia completed one and half years of the course, and with one year still to complete he left Adelaide and headed to Los Angeles.[citation needed]

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 in nine episodes of the sitcom Frasier, including the series finale, playing Daphne Moon's brother Simon.[2] 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. LaPaglia 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 who has answered all ten questions asked in rapid succession by 'Mr Ten Questions' (Andrew Hansen) from The Chaser's War on Everything.

LaPaglia appeared 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 played 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.[2][3]

In addition to leading the cast of Without a Trace, LaPaglia co-wrote an episode titled "Deep Water" with Byron Belasco, the show's usual writer.[4]

Football

In the 1980s, LaPaglia was a goalkeeper in the National Soccer League, playing for Adelaide City and West Adelaide.[2] 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.[5] 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.[6]

Personal life

LaPaglia currently lives in Santa Monica, California. He has said that he adopted an American accent to help him get acting work after moving to America, and has now lost his Australian accent completely.[7] Some critics and viewers have noted his occasional dialect slips.[8]

LaPaglia's first marriage was to actress Cherie Michan. He is currently married to Australian actress Gia Carides, whom he met at a party;[2] the two starred jointly in the 1994 (Ben Lewin) Australian movie Lucky Break and married in 1998.[1] They have one daughter, Bridget.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ a b c Anthony LaPaglia Biography (1959-)
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2009
  3. ^ LaPaglia leads Balibo five thriller cast - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
  4. ^ http://www.tvguide.com/news/Exclusive-Anthony-LaPaglia-38493.aspx tvguide.com - "Exclusive! Anthony LaPaglia Reveals His Own Take on Trace" - retrieved 21-04-2009
  5. ^ Lapaglia - Lapaglia'S Limping Shame Prompted Hip-Replacement Surgery
  6. ^ "LaPaglia lines up after wildfires". Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney: Fairfax Media). October 28, 2007. http://www.smh.com.au/news/football/stars-lines-up-after-wildfires/2007/10/27/1192941398266.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-27. 
  7. ^ Davenport, Dawn Meade (October 16, 2008). Johnson City Press (Johnson City, Tennessee: Sandusky Newspapers). http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/Detail.php?Cat=ENTERTAINMENT&ID=65328. Retrieved on 2009-03-27. "Anthony LaPaglia, Australian, “Without a Trace,” CBS. After years in the movies and a memorable recurring roll as Daphne’s drunken Manchurian brother on “Frasier,” LaPaglia took the part of New York FBI agent Jack Malone on “Without a Trace.” Because American accents vary greatly from region to region, and we don’t know where Jack grew up, LaPaglia gets away with diction that sounds neither distinctly American nor Australian." 
  8. ^ Chaser gives LaPaglia a g-up - TV & Radio - Entertainment - smh.com.au

External links

v • d • e
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

John Wood (1976) · Al Pacino (1977) · Barnard Hughes (1978) · Tom Conti (1979) · John Rubinstein (1980) · Ian McKellen (1981) · Roger Rees (1982) · Harvey Fierstein (1983) · Jeremy Irons (1984) · Derek Jacobi (1985) · Judd Hirsch (1986) · James Earl Jones (1987) · Ron Silver (1988) · Philip Bosco (1989) · Robert Morse (1990) · Nigel Hawthorne (1991) · Judd Hirsch (1992) · Ron Leibman (1993) · Stephen Spinella (1994) · Ralph Fiennes (1995) · George Grizzard (1996) · Christopher Plummer (1997) · Anthony LaPaglia (1998) · Brian Dennehy (1999) · Stephen Dillane (2000)
v • d • e
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor - Comedy Series

Derek Jacobi (2001) · Anthony LaPaglia (2002) · Gene Wilder (2003) · John Turturro (2004) · Bobby Cannavale (2005) · Leslie Jordan (2006) · Stanley Tucci (2007) Tim Conway (2008)
v • d • e
Without a Trace
Characters
Cast
Episodes
Complete list · Season 1 · Season 2 · Season 3 · Season 4 · Season 5 · Season 6 · Season 7

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Answers Corporation AnswerNote. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Anthony LaPaglia".  Read more

Related answers
» More
 
Answer these
» More

Mentioned in

» More» More