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John Turturro at an event for Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Trivia

John Turturro

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  • John Turturro speaks fluent Italian, as amply demonstrated by his role in My Mother (2015).
  • 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.
  • A native of Brooklyn and a big fan of Big Trouble in Little China (1986), John Turturro Is the second of three brothers. Older brother of Nicholas Turturro. Cousin of Aida Turturro and Ralph Turturro. Father of Arianna Turturro and Diego Z. Turturro. The Turturro family originated in Giovinazzo, Bari, Italy.
  • His Brooklyn, New York-born mother, Katherine Florence Incerella (born March 24, 1921 - died October 12, 2005), was a professional singer.
  • As of 2014, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Raging Bull (1980), Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Quiz Show (1994).
  • Italian-American. His mother was born to Italian immigrants and his father immigrated from Italy at the age of six.
  • Graduated from the State University of New York (SUNY)-New Paltz and Yale Drama School.
  • Has his own production company called Humperdink Productions.
  • He has dual U.S. and Italian citizenship.
  • Discovered on the show Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (2012) that his maternal grandfather, Giovanni Incerella, an Italian emigrant from Naples, re-married to a black woman, John's step-grandmother Deborah M. L. Eld, in the U.S., in 1937.
  • 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.
  • He has appeared in four films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Raging Bull (1980), Desperately Seeking Susan (1985), Do the Right Thing (1989) and The Big Lebowski (1998).
  • 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.
  • Although he isn't from Jewish descent, Turturro has played several Jewish characters in his career such as in Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Quiz Show (1994), The Truce (1997) and The Plot Against America (2020).
  • Does an accurate impression of Burt Lancaster.
  • Appears in The Communards video clip "I never can say goodbye".
  • He has worked with 10 directors who have won a Best Director Oscar: Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin, Woody Allen, Ron Howard, Michael Cimino, Joel Coen, Ethan Coen, Robert Redford, Barry Levinson, and Guillermo del Toro.
  • Well known to New York audiences, in 1985 he won both a Theatre World Award and an Obie for his frighteningly real performance in 'Danny and the Deep Blue Sea.'.
  • Appeared in Yasmina Reza's play, Life (x) 3 at the Circle in the Square Theatre (NYC). (March 2003)

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