Joe Pesci - Rotten Tomatoes

Joe Pesci
Highest Rated:   97% A Bronx Tale (1993)
Lowest Rated:   0% The Super (1991)
Birthday:  
Birthplace:   Newark, New Jersey
A consummate character actor, Joe Pesci rose to success on the strength of a series of Martin Scorsese films which took full advantage of his gift for outlandishly menacing supporting performances. Born February 9, 1943, in Newark, NJ, Pesci was a child actor who began his radio career at the age of four. Broadway beckoned just a year later, and by 1953 he was a regular on the television variety program Star Time Kids. His acting career stalled during his teen years, however, and by the mid-'60s, he mounted a musical career under the name Joe Ritchie, recording an LP titled Little Joe Sure Can Sing and later playing guitar in the pop band Joey Dee & the Starliters. He also formed a vaudeville-style nightclub comedy act with Frank Vincent. Outside of 1961's Hey, Let's Twist!, Pesci did not appear in films prior to the little-seen 1975 feature The Death Collector; the film earned virtually no notice upon its release and he dropped out of acting, dejectedly returning to New York to run an Italian restaurant.While few people saw The Death Collector, one of those who did was actor Robert De Niro, who was so impressed by Pesci's performance that he brought the film to the attention of Scorsese, who cast Pesci in his 1980 masterpiece Raging Bull. The performance earned Pesci an Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category, and he became one of the busiest character actors in the business, steadily appearing in films ranging from the 1983 Rodney Dangerfield comedy Easy Money to the 1984 Sergio Leone epic Once Upon a Time in America. After starring in a failed 1985 sitcom, Half Nelson, Pesci's onscreen visibility diminished, and over the next four years he appeared in only one film, 1987's Man on Fire. In 1989, however, he co-starred opposite Mel Gibson and Danny Glover in the hit Lethal Weapon 2, a performance which put his talent for comic relief to such fine use that he later reappeared in the third chapter of the franchise, issued in 1992.By that point, Pesci had already become a star; 1990 was his breakthrough year, as he appeared in the family comedy blockbuster Home Alone and Scorsese's brilliant GoodFellas, winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his vivid portrayal of a psychotic mobster. While his first major starring role in 1991's The Super proved disastrous, he won good notices for his supporting turn in Oliver Stone's JFK and in 1992 starred in the hit courtroom comedy My Cousin Vinny. Later, following the disappointment of 1994's Jimmy Hollywood and With Honors, he reunited with Scorsese and De Niro for the 1995 epic Casino, essaying a variation on his GoodFellas character. However, a pair of poorly received 1997 comedies -- Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag and Gone Fishin' -- again called Pesci's capabilities as a lead actor into question. He found more success reprising his supporting role in Lethal Weapon 4, released in 1998. On the heels of his second outing with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover, however, the popular character actor disappeared from the big screen for nearly a decade. It took his old friend DeNiro to get him back in front of the camera for the CIA thriller The Good Shepherd (2006), with the four year gap between that film and Pesci's next film Love Ranch hinting that the aging screen veterean was in no hurry to jump back into the fray. But the window between films seemed to start shrinking when it was announced that Pesci would be returning to the world of crime cinema in director Geo Santini's 2012 gangster drama The Irishman.

Photos

View All Photos (5)

Highest Rated Movies

Filmography

MOVIES

RATING TITLE CREDIT BOX OFFICE YEAR
95% The Irishman
  • Russell Bufalino
 — 2019
No Score Yet 'The Irishman' in Conversation
  • Actor
— 2019
13% Love Ranch
  • Charlie Bontempo
 $0.2M 2010
55% The Good Shepherd
  • Joseph Palmi
 $59.9M 2006
57% A Galaxy Far, Far Away
  • Actor
— 2001
54% Lethal Weapon 4
  • Leo
 — 1998
4% Gone Fishin'
  • Joe Waters
 $19.8M 1997
11% 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag
  • Tommy Spinelli
 — 1997
80% Casino
  • Nicky Santoro
 — 1995
17% With Honors
  • Simon
 — 1994
22% Jimmy Hollywood
  • Jimmy Alto
 — 1994
97% A Bronx Tale
  • Carmine
 — 1993
34% Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
  • Harry
 — 1992
65% The Public Eye
  • Leon `Bernzy' Bernstein
 — 1992
61% Lethal Weapon 3
  • Leo Getz
 — 1992
86% My Cousin Vinny
  • Vinny Gambini
 — 1992
84% JFK
  • David Ferrie
 — 1991
0% The Super
  • Louie Kritski
 — 1991
50% Catchfire (Backtrack)
  • Leo Carelli
 — 1990
67% Home Alone
  • Harry
 — 1990
96% GoodFellas
  • Tommy DeVito
 — 1990
50% Betsy's Wedding
  • Oscar Henner
 — 1990
82% Lethal Weapon 2
  • Leo Getz
 — 1989
No Score Yet Michael Jackson - Moonwalker
  • Actor
— 1988
No Score Yet The Legendary Life of Ernest Hemingway
  • Actor
— 1988
No Score Yet Man on Fire
  • David
 — 1987
33% Eureka
  • Mayakofsky
 — 1984
87% Once Upon a Time in America
  • Frankie
 — 1984
No Score Yet Tutti Dentro
  • Actor
— 1984
60% Easy Money
  • Nicky Cerone
 — 1983
No Score Yet Dear Mr. Wonderful (Ruby's Dream)
  • Ruby Dennis
 — 1982
33% I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can
  • Roger
 — 1982
93% Raging Bull
  • Joey
 — 1980
No Score Yet Family Enforcer
  • Actor
— 1976

TV

RATING TITLE CREDIT YEAR
No Score Yet Saturday Night Live
1975
  • Host
  • Guest
  • 1992
82% Tales from the Crypt
1989-1996
  • Actor
  • 1992

Quotes from Joe Pesci's Characters