Steve Buscemi has appeared in more than 80 films, but he is best remembered for playing creepy criminals such as Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs (1994, by Quentin Tarantino) and Carl the kidnapper in Fargo (1996, by the Coen brothers). Buscemi, a former New York City fireman (1980-84) broke into films with a leading role in Parting Glances (1986). During the '80s and '90s he earned a reputation as the "king of the indies" for his many appearances in small, independently produced movies. Buscemi usually plays squirrelly, "funny looking" guys and has appeared many times in movies by Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez, as well as films by the Coen brothers, including Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991) and The Big Lebowski (1998). The kind of actor who makes even small roles memorable, he has also appeared in mainstream blockbusters such as Con Air (1997, with Nicolas Cage), Armageddon (1998, with Bruce Willis) and The Island (2005, with Ewan McGregor). Buscemi has also done voice work, including Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001), Monsters, Inc. (2001, with John Goodman), Monster House (2006) and Charlotte's Web (2006, with Julia Roberts). Besides being a busy actor, Buscemi has directed television shows and feature films, including The Sopranos (2003; he also played the character Tony Blundetto) and Trees Lounge (1996). His films include Desperado (1995, starring Antonio Banderas), Airheads (1994), Tim Burton's Big Fish (2004) and Romance & Cigarettes (2005, starring James Gandolfini).
Buscemi had a co-starring role in the movie Ghost World (2000, with Scarlett Johansson) and appeared uncredited in the feature Art School Confidential (2006), both based on comics by Daniel Clowes.
Born: Dec 13, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York City, New York
Occupation: Actor, Director, Writer
Active: '90s-2000s
Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
Career Highlights: Reservoir Dogs, Ghost World, The Big Lebowski
First Major Screen Credit: Parting Glances (1986)
Biography
One of the most important character actors of the 1990s, Steve Buscemi is unmatched in his ability to combine lowlife posturing with weasely charisma. Although active in the cinema since the mid-'80s, it was not until Quentin Tarantino cast Buscemi as Mr. Pink in the 1992 Reservoir Dogs that the actor became known to most audience members. He would subsequently appear to great effect in other Tarantino films, as well as those of the Coen Brothers, where his attributes blended perfectly into the off-kilter landscape.
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 13, 1957, Buscemi was raised on Long Island. He gained an interest in acting while a senior in high school, but he had no idea of how to pursue a professional career in the field. Working as a fireman for four years, he began to perform stand-up comedy, but he eventually realized that he wanted to do more dramatic theatrical work. After moving to Manhattan's East Village, he studied drama at the Lee Strasberg Institute, and he also began writing and performing skits in various parts of the city. His talents were eventually noticed by filmmaker Bill Sherwood, who was casting his film Parting Glances. The 1986 drama was one of the first feature films to be made about AIDS (Sherwood himself died from AIDS in 1990), and it starred Buscemi as Nick, a sardonic rock singer suffering from the disease. The film, which was a critical success on the independent circuit, essentially began Buscemi's career as a respected independent actor.
Buscemi's resume was given a further boost that same year by his recurring role as a serial killer on the popular TV drama L.A. Law; he subsequently began finding steady work in such films as New York Stories and Mystery Train (both 1989). In 1990, he had another career breakthrough with his role in Miller's Crossing, which began his longtime collaboration with the Coen brothers. The Coens went on to cast Buscemi in nearly all of their films, featuring him to particularly memorable effect in Barton Fink (1991), in which he played a bell boy; Fargo (1996), which featured him as an ill-fated kidnapper; and The Big Lebowski (1998), which saw him portray a laid-back ex-surfer.
Although Buscemi has done his best work outside of the mainstream, turning in other sterling performances in Alexandre Rockwell's In the Soup (1992) and Tom Di Cillo's Living in Oblivion (1995), he has occasionally appeared in such Hollywood megaplex fare as Con Air (1997), Armageddon (1998), Big Daddy (1999), and 28 Days (2000), the last of which cast him against type as Sandra Bullock's rehab counselor. Back in indieville, Buscemi would next utilize his homely persona in a more sympathetic manner as a soulful loner with a penchant for collecting old records in director Terry Zwigoff's (Crumb) Ghost World. Despite all indicators pointing to mainstream prolifieration in the new millennium, Buscemi continued to display his dedication to independent film projects with roles in such efforts as Alaxandre Rockwell's 13 Moons and Peter Mattei's Love in the Time of Money (both 2002). Of course there are exceptions to every rule, and Buscemi's memorable appearances in such big budget efforts as Mr Deeds and both Spy Kids 2 and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over served to remind audiences that Buscemi was still indeed at the top of his game, perhaps now more than ever.
In 1996, Buscemi made his screenwriting and directorial debut with Trees Lounge, a well-received comedy drama in which he played a down-on-his-luck auto mechanic shuffling through life on Long Island. He followed up his directorial debut in 2000 with Animal Factory, a subdued prison drama starring Edward Furlong as a young inmate who finds protection from his fellow prisoners in the form of an older convict (Willem Dafoe). Moving to the small screen, Buscemi would next helm an episode of the acclaimed HBO mob drama The Sopranos. Called Pine Barrens, the episode instantly became a fan-favorite.
In 2004, Buscemi moved out from behind the camera to join the cast of The Sopranos, costarring as Tony Blundetto, a recently paroled mafioso struggling to stay straight in the face of temptation to revert back to his old ways. In 2005 Buscemi reteamed with Michael Bay for The Island in the same year that he directed another low-budget film, Lonesome Jim, with a stellar cast that included Seymour Cassel, Mary Kay Place, Liv Tyler, Casey Affleck, and Kevin Corrigan. He also played one of the leads in John Turturro's musical Romance & Cigarettes. His very busy 2006 included an amusing cameo in Terry Zwigoff's Art School Confidential, and continued to work in animated films with vocal appearances in Monster House and Charlotte's Web. That same year he signed to appear in The Full Monty director Peter Cattaneo's We're the Millers. ~ Rebecca Flint, All Movie Guide
"When I was a fireman I was in a lot of burning buildings. It was a great job, the only job I ever had that compares with the thrill of acting. Before going into a fire, there's the same surge of adrenaline you get just before the camera rolls."
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". Most recently, Buscemi provided the voice for
Dwight, a bank robber who Marge promises to visit in jail if he turns himself in to the authorities. This episode, entitled
"I Don't Wanna Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," originally
aired on October 14, 2007.
In 2004, Buscemi joined the cast of The Sopranos as Tony Soprano's cousin and childhood friend, Tony Blundetto. Buscemi
had previously contributed to the show as director of the third season episode "Pine Barrens". He appeared in the third episode
of Season 6, as a doorman in heaven (portrayed as a country club) in Tony Soprano's dream. He returned to direct the episode " Mr. and Mrs. John Sacrimoni Request", the fifth episode of Season 6. In 1995,
Buscemi played suspected cop-shooter Gordon Pratt in the episode "End Game" at the end of a three-episode arc of
Homicide: Life on the Street. He also had a role as Phil Hickle,
Ellen's father and older Pete's guidance counselor, in The Adventures of
Pete and Pete, as well as guest-starring in Miami Vice in 1986. Buscemi was
rumored to be considered for the role of The Scarecrow in Joel Schumacher's proposed fifth installment of the Batman franchise, Batman Triumphant, before
Warner Bros. cancelled the project.[4]
In 2004, Buscemi appeared in the music video for Joe Strummer's cover of the
Bob Marley track "Redemption Song". The video is
shot after Strummer's death, and Buscemi appears alongside of a graffiti portrait of Strummer.
The day after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Buscemi went to his old
firehouse to volunteer for recovery work at Ground Zero. That week, he worked 12 hour shifts digging through the rubble, while
refusing to do interviews or have his picture taken.[5]
During his profile on the show Inside the Actors Studio, director
John Waters said that 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 has agreed to star as Waters in the
film.
Buscemi has one son, Lucian, with his wife Jo Andres.
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