John Turturro (1957)

 early life

Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Katherine, an amateur jazz singer who worked in a Navy yard during World War II, and Nicholas Turturro, a carpenter and construction worker who fought as a Navy sailor in D-Day. Turturro's mother was Sicilian and his father emigrated from Giovinazzo, Bari, Italy at the age of six. Turturro was raised a Roman Catholic and moved to the Rosedale section of Queens, New York with his family when he was six. He majored in drama at the State University of New York at New Paltz, and completed his MFA at the Yale School of Drama. He first appeared on film working as an extra in Martin Scorsese's critically acclaimed Raging Bull .

 career

Turturro 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. Spike Lee liked Turturro's performance in Five Corners so much that he chose to cast him in Do the Right Thing. This movie was the first of a long-standing collaboration between the famous director and Turturro, which includes work together on a total of nine films--more than any other actor in the Lee oeuvre-- including Mo' Better Blues , Jungle Fever , Clockers , Girl 6 , He Got Game , Summer of Sam , She Hate Me , and Miracle at St. Anna .
A versatile actor comfortable with both comedy and drama, Turturro also had an extended collaboration with the Coen Brothers, appearing in their films Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , The Big Lebowski , and O Brother, Where Art Thou? . He has also appeared in several of Adam Sandler's movies, such as Mr. Deeds and You Don't Mess with the Zohan . He played a severely disturbed patient of Jack Nicholson's in the comedy Anger Management and played Johnny Depp's antagonist in Secret Window. Turturro hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994, where he spoofed his recent 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 was actually backstage to witness Turturro's test.

He won an Emmy award for his portrayal of Adrian Monk's brother Ambrose Monk in the USA Network series Monk, and has 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.

Turturro produced and directed, as well as acted in, the film Illuminata , which also starred his wife Katherine Borowitz. He wrote and directed the film Romance and Cigarettes . In 2006 he appeared in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd, and as the Sector 7 agent Simmons in three 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.

As a stage director, his Broadway debut is set for October 2011 with "Relatively Speaking," in which he will guide 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 includes Julie Kavner, Marlo Thomas, Mark Linn-Baker and Steve Guttenberg.

 personal life

Turturro's brother is actor Nicholas Turturro. Actress Aida Turturro and artist Ralph Turturro are his cousins. He has two children, Amedeo and Diego , with his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz.

Turturro participates as a member of the Jury for the NYICFF, a local New York City Film Festival dedicated to screening films for children between the ages of 3 and 18. He and his brother Nicholas are avid New York Yankees fans.