John Turturro
American actor (born 1957) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John Michael Turturro (/tərˈtʊəroʊ/ ⓘ[1] Italian pronunciation: [turˈturro]; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for three Golden Globe Awards.
John Turturro | |
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.jpg) Turturro at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born | John Michael Turturro February 28, 1957 New York City, U.S. |
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| Education | |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1980–present |
| Spouse |
Katherine Borowitz (m. 1985) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
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He achieved his career breakthrough with Five Corners (1987). He acted in Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), and Clockers (1995). He also starred in the Coens' Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), for which he won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor, The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). He also starred in Fearless (1993), Quiz Show (1994), and Gloria Bell (2018); and portrayed Seymour Simmons in the Transformers film series (2007–2017) and Carmine Falcone in The Batman (2022).
For his guest role in the USA Network comedy series Monk, Turturro received a Primetime Emmy Award. He has also starred in the HBO thriller miniseries The Night Of (2016), the HBO miniseries The Plot Against America (2020), and the Apple TV+ thriller series Severance (2022–present).
He has directed five films, Mac (1992), Illuminata (1998), Romance and Cigarettes (2005), Fading Gigolo (2013), and The Jesus Rolls (2020).
Early life and education
John Turturro was born on February 28, 1957, in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, the middle son of Katherine Florence (Incerella) and Nicholas Turturro. His mother was born in the U.S. to parents with roots in Sicily, and was an amateur jazz singer who had worked in a naval yard during World War II.[2][3][4] His maternal grandmother died of an unsuccessful at-home abortion when his mother was six, leaving his mother in an orphanage, as his grandfather was unable to provide for the children on his own.[5] His father had emigrated at age six from Giovinazzo, Italy to the United States, and later worked as a carpenter and construction worker before joining the U.S. Navy. He died from lung cancer in 1988.[6]
Turturro was raised as a Catholic and moved to the Rosedale section of Queens, New York, with his family when he was 6.[7] He graduated from the State University of New York at New Paltz in 1979 with a Bachelor of Arts in theater studies. He later did graduate study at the Yale School of Drama, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1983.
Career
Summarize
Perspective
Turturro's first film appearance was a non-speaking extra role in Raging Bull (1980).[8] He created the title role of John Patrick Shanley's Danny and the Deep Blue Sea at the Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in 1983. He repeated it the following year Off-Broadway and won an Obie Award. Turturro had a notable supporting role in William Friedkin's action film To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), as the henchman of the villainous counterfeiter played by Willem Dafoe.
Spike Lee liked Turturro's performance in Five Corners (1987) so much that he cast him in Do the Right Thing (1989). This movie was the first of a long-standing collaboration between the director and Turturro, which includes work together on a total of nine films—more than any other actor in the Lee oeuvre[9]—including Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Clockers (1995), Girl 6 (1996), He Got Game (1998), Summer of Sam (1999), She Hate Me (2004), and Miracle at St. Anna (2008).[10]
Turturro has appeared in both comedy and drama films, and engaged in an extended collaboration with the Coen Brothers—he appeared in their films Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991, in the lead role), The Big Lebowski (1998), and O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Turturro has also appeared in several of Adam Sandler's movies, such as Mr. Deeds (2002) and You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008). He played a severely disturbed patient of Jack Nicholson's character in the comedy Anger Management and played Johnny Depp's character's antagonist in Secret Window.[10]
Turturro hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994, where he spoofed his then-recently made film, Quiz Show, being told he was ineligible to host unless he answered questions in a booth and if he failed, the honor of hosting would go to Joey Buttafuoco, who witnessed Turturro's test. He won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Adrian Monk's brother Ambrose in the USA Network series Monk, and reprised the role on numerous occasions. He has also been nominated and won many awards from film organizations such as Screen Actors Guild, Cannes Film Festival, Golden Globes and others.[10]
Turturro produced and directed, as well as acted in, the film Illuminata (1999), which also starred his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz. He wrote and directed the film Romance and Cigarettes (2005). In 2006 he appeared in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd, and as the Sector 7 agent Seymour Simmons in four films of the Transformers live-action series. In 2010, he directed (and had cameo on-screen appearances in) Passione, which chronicles the rich musical heritage of Naples, Italy.[11] His stage directorial debut was in October 2011, with the Broadway play Relatively Speaking, in which he guided an ensemble of veteran actors in a production of three comedic one-act plays, written by Elaine May, Woody Allen, and Ethan Coen. The cast included Julie Kavner, Marlo Thomas, Mark Linn-Baker, and Steve Guttenberg.[9]
Turturro's fifth directorial film Fading Gigolo premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in mid-September 2013. Turturro also acts in the film alongside Woody Allen, who plays a novice pimp overseeing the sex work of Turturro's character. During a September 2013 interview, Turturro expressed his intention to draw parallels between sex work and acting, explaining that the latter is a "service business" in which actors are "acting out people's wishes or fantasies".[8] In March 2014, Turturro received the Career Achievement tribute and award at the 31st Edition of the Miami International Film Festival at the Olympia Theater in downtown Miami.[12] Turturro starred in the 2016 miniseries The Night Of and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. In 2019 Turturro played William of Baskerville in a television adaptation of Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose.
In 2022, he appeared in Matt Reeves' film The Batman based on the DC Comics character of the same name as Carmine Falcone.[13] In 2023 he starred as Mickey Sabbath in the off-Broadway adaptation of Philip Roth's novel Sabbath's Theater by The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center.[14][15] Since 2022, Turturro has portrayed Irving Bailiff on the television series Severance.
In spring 2025 he was filming The Only Living Pickpocket in New York directed by Noah Segan in New York City.[16][17][18]
Personal life
Turturro's younger brother is actor Nicholas Turturro. Composer and film director Richard Termini and actress Aida Turturro are his cousins.[19] He has two children with his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz, who moved on to a social work career in 2016.[7] Turturro's older brother, Ralph, resided at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center from the early 2000s until his death in 2022.[6][20]
John Turturro participates as a member of the Jury for the New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF), which is dedicated to screening films for children between the ages of 3 and 18.[21] Turturro holds dual Italian and American citizenship as of January 2011.[22]
He has lived in Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York since 1988.[23]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Raging Bull | Man at table | Uncredited |
| 1984 | Exterminator 2 | Guy #1 | |
| The Flamingo Kid | Ted From Pinky's | ||
| 1985 | Desperately Seeking Susan | Ray | |
| To Live and Die in L.A. | Carl Cody | ||
| 1986 | Hannah and Her Sisters | Writer | |
| The Color of Money | Julian | ||
| Gung Ho | Willie | ||
| Off Beat | Neil Pepper | ||
| 1987 | Five Corners | Heinz Zabantino | |
| The Sicilian | Pisciotta | ||
| 1989 | Do the Right Thing | Pino | |
| 1990 | Catchfire | Pinella | |
| State of Grace | Detective Nick Richardson | ||
| Mo' Better Blues | 'Moe' Flatbush | ||
| Miller's Crossing | Bernie 'The Shamata Kid' Bernbaum | ||
| 1991 | Men of Respect | Mike Battaglia | |
| Jungle Fever | Paulie Carbone | ||
| Barton Fink | Barton Fink | ||
| 1992 | Mac | Niccolò Vitelli | Also director and writer |
| Brain Donors | Roland T. Flakfizer | ||
| 1993 | Being Human | Lucinnius | |
| Fearless | Bill Pearlman | ||
| 1994 | Quiz Show | Herb Stempel | |
| The Search for One-eye Jimmy | Disco Bean | ||
| 1995 | Search and Destroy | Ron | |
| Unstrung Heroes | Sidney Lidz | ||
| Clockers | Detective Larry Mazilli | ||
| 1996 | Girl 6 | Murray | |
| Box of Moonlight | Al Fountain | ||
| Grace of My Heart | Joel Milner | ||
| 1997 | Lesser Prophets | Leon | |
| The Truce | Primo Levi | ||
| 1998 | Illuminata | Tuccio | Also director, writer and producer |
| Rounders | Joey Knish | ||
| He Got Game | Billy Sunday | ||
| OK Garage | Jonny | ||
| The Big Lebowski | Jesus Quintana | ||
| Animals | Tuxedo Man | ||
| 1999 | Summer of Sam | Harvey The Dog (voice) | |
| Cradle Will Rock | Aldo Silvana | ||
| 2000 | O Brother, Where Art Thou? | Pete | |
| The Man Who Cried | Dante Dominio | ||
| Company Man | Crocker Johnson | ||
| Two Thousand and None | Benjamin Kasparian | ||
| The Luzhin Defence | Alexander Luzhin | ||
| 2001 | Monkeybone | Monkeybone (voice) | [24] |
| Thirteen Conversations About One Thing | Walker | ||
| 2002 | Collateral Damage | Sean Armstrong | |
| Mr. Deeds | Emilio Lopez | ||
| 2003 | Fear X | Harry | |
| Anger Management | Chuck | ||
| Opopomoz | John (voice) | ||
| 2004 | Secret Passage | Paolo Zane | |
| Secret Window | John Shooter | ||
| She Hate Me | Don Angelo Bonasera | ||
| 2BPerfectlyHonest | Sal / Roberto | [25] | |
| 2005 | Romance and Cigarettes | Male Dancer & Singer | Also director, writer and producer |
| The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation | Son (voice) | Short film | |
| 2006 | The Good Shepherd | Ray Brocco | |
| A Few Days in September | William Pound | ||
| 2007 | Transformers | Agent Seymour Simmons | |
| Margot at the Wedding | Jim | ||
| Slipstream | Harvey Brickman | ||
| Joulutarina | Iisakki (voice) | English dub | |
| 2008 | What Just Happened | Dick Bell | |
| You Don't Mess With The Zohan | Fatoush 'The Phantom' Hakbarah | ||
| Miracle at St. Anna | Detective Antonio 'Tony' Ricci | ||
| 2009 | The Taking of Pelham 123 | Lieutenant Vincent Camonetti | |
| Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen | Seymour Simmons | ||
| Rehearsal for a Sicilian Tragedy | Himself | Documentary; also writer and executive producer | |
| 2010 | Passione | Himself / narrator | Documentary; also director and co-writer |
| The Nutcracker in 3D | The Rat King | ||
| 2011 | Cars 2 | Francesco Bernoulli (voice) | [24] |
| Transformers: Dark of the Moon | Seymour Simmons | ||
| Somewhere Tonight | Leroy | ||
| 2013 | Fading Gigolo | Fioravante | Also director and writer |
| Gods Behaving Badly | Hades | ||
| 2014 | God's Pocket | Arthur 'Bird' Capezio | |
| Exodus: Gods and Kings | Seti I | ||
| Rio, I Love You | Homem | Segment "Quando não há Mais Amor"; also director and writer | |
| 2015 | Mia Madre | Barry Huggins | |
| Partly Cloudy with Sunny Spells | Lombelli | ||
| The Ridiculous 6 | Abner Doubleday | ||
| 2016 | Hands of Stone | Frankie Carbo | |
| 2017 | Landline | Alan Jacobs | [26] |
| Hair | John Turturro | Short film; also director and writer | |
| Transformers: The Last Knight | Seymour Simmons | ||
| 2018 | Gloria Bell | Arnold | [27] |
| 2019 | The True Adventures of Wolfboy | Mr. Silk | [28] |
| The Jesus Rolls | Jesus Quintana | Also director and writer[29] | |
| 2022 | The Batman | Carmine Falcone | |
| Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio | Dottore (voice) | [30][24] | |
| Forty Winks | Milo | [31] | |
| 2024 | The Room Next Door | Damian Cunningham | [32] |
| The Cut | Boz |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Miami Vice | David Traynor | Episode: "Rites of Passage" |
| 1988 | The Fortunate Pilgrim | Larry | 4 episodes |
| 1994 | Saturday Night Live | Himself / host | Episode: "John Turturro/Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers" |
| 1995 | Sugartime | Sam Giancana | Television film |
| 2001 | Biography | Narrator | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Monday Night Mayhem | Howard Cosell | Television film |
| Frasier | Grant (voice) | Episode: "Don't Go Breaking My Heart"[24] | |
| 2004–08 | Monk | Ambrose Monk | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | The Bronx Is Burning | Billy Martin | 8 episodes |
| Flight of the Conchords | Credits Cop | Episode: "The Actor" | |
| 2016 | The New Yorker Presents | Patient | Episode: "#1.8" |
| The Night Of | John Stone | 8 episodes | |
| 2017 | Difficult People | Dusty | Episode: "Bernie and Blythe" |
| 2019 | The Name of the Rose | William of Baskerville | 8 episodes; also writer and executive producer |
| Green Eggs and Ham | Goat (voice) | 6 episodes[24] | |
| 2020 | The Plot Against America | Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf | 6 episodes |
| 2022–present | Severance | Irving Bailiff | Main role[33] |
| 2024 | Mr. & Mrs. Smith | Eric Shane | Episode: "Second Date"[34] |
Video games
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Cars 2 | Francesco Bernoulli |
Audiobooks
| Year | Title | Voice role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | World War Z | Serosha Garcia Alvarez |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Danny and the Deep Blue Sea | Danny | Circle in the Square Theatre, Off-Broadway | [35] |
| 1998 | Waiting for Godot | Estragon | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | |
| 2003 | Life x 3 | Henry | Circle in the Square Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2007 | A Spanish Play | Director | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | |
| 2011 | The Cherry Orchard | Yermolai Alekaseyevich Lopakhin | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | |
| 2011–12 | Relatively Speaking | Director | Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2013 | The Master Builder | Halvard Solness | Brooklyn Academy of Music, Brooklyn | |
| 2015 | Zorba! | Zorba | New York City Center, Concert Staging | |
| 2023 | Sabbath's Theater | Mickey Sabbath | Signature Theatre Company, Off-Broadway | [36] |
Awards and nominations
 | This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021) |
References
External links
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