Biography for
John Turturro More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

28 February 1957, Brooklyn, New York, USA

Birth Name

John Michael Turturro

Height

6' 0½" (1.84 m)

Mini Biography

Highly talented, lightly built Italian American actor who always looks unsettled and jumpy has become a favourite of cult/arthouse film aficionados with his compelling performances in a broad range of cinematic vehicles. Has become a regular in the thought provoking films of Spike Lee and the off the wall comedies of Joel Coen & Ethan Coen. His wonderful performances include as the highly agitated "Pino" in Do the Right Thing (1989), as an intellectual playwright in Barton Fink (1991), a pedophile tenpin bowler in The Big Lebowski (1998), a confused boyfriend in Jungle Fever (1991) and as the voice of Harvey the dog in Summer of Sam (1999).

Turturro has continued to appeal to audiences despite his unconventional looks and the often annoying onscreen mannerisms of his characters which he used to great effect in films such as his blue collar tale of warring brothers in the construction business, Mac (1992), as the irate, dumped game show contestant, Herbie Stempel, in Robert Redford's dynamic Quiz Show (1994). One of modern American cinema's gems of acting, Turturro remains in strong demand for his high calibre thespian talents.

IMDb Mini Biography By: firehouse44

Spouse

Katherine Borowitz

(1985 - present) 2 children

Trivia

Brother of Nicholas Turturro and Ralph Turturro.

Cousin of Aida Turturro.

Graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz.

The Turturro family originates from Sicily, Italy.

Son, Amedeo Turturro, was born in 1990.

Son, Diego Turturro, was born in 2000.

Has appeared in more films directed by Spike Lee than any other actor. They first worked together in Do the Right Thing (1989) and as of Miracle at St. Anna (2008) has appeared in nine of Lee's films.

Graduated from Yale Drama School.

A native of Brooklyn.

Is a big fan of Big Trouble in Little China (1986).

Has his own production company called Humperdink Productions.

Is the second of three brothers.

Sicilian mother was a professional singer.

Based his character Bernie Bernbaum in Miller's Crossing (1990) on the real- life personae of Director Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty (1995), Men in Black (1997)), the film's cinematographer.

Has starred in six movies with his former acting professor from SUNY New Paltz, Joe Paparone. In the film Mac (1992), he plays his deceased father.

Does an accurate impression of Burt Lancaster.

Had himself diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder after seeing the independent film "Billy The Kid.".

Personal Quotes

"I mean usually with movies, if you're dark, you're a bad guy. That's it. I turned down a million bad guy things."

I didn't want to be an actor who played Italian thugs. I'm not even interested in those guys really, unless it's a great part. And I knew that movies were predicated on how you look. But a few people gave me the opportunities to do other things, and I just took it and ran with it.

Where Are They Now

(March 2003) Now appearing in Yasmina Reza's play, Life (x) 3 at the Circle in the Square theatre.

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