Born Feb. 9, 1943, in Newark, N.J., Joseph Pesci first pursued a career as a rock-and-roll musician and vocalist; in fact, he can be spotted in 1961's Hey, Let's Twist as a guitarist for the band Joey D and the Starliters.He decided to switch to acting in the 1970s, with his first major film role in the obscure mob saga Death Collector. That performance impressed Martin Scorsese, who cast Pesci opposite Robert De Niro as Jake La Motta's estranged brother Joey in Raging Bull (1980). Suddenly, Pesci had "discovery" status and a Best Supporting Actor nomination.
As psychotic gangster Tommy DeVito ("Do I amuse you?") in Scorsese's GoodFellas (1990), Pesci won the Supporting Actor Oscar. Fans also know him as con man Leo Getz in the Lethal Weapon movies, burglar Harry Lime in Home Alone 1 and 2, David Ferrie in JFK and an inept lawyer in My Cousin Vinny.
My Cousin VinnyWhen teenage buddies Billy (Ralph Macchio) and Stan (Mitchell Whitfield) are falsely accused of croaking a convenience-store clerk in a backwoods Southern town, Billy calls on his Noo Yawk cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci), a fast-talking personal injury lawyer who's never tried a case. Vinny's crass... Read More
Love RanchInspired by the story of the couple who introduced legalized prostitution to Nevada with the opening of their Mustang Ranch brothel, this Taylor Hackford-directed drama focuses on the devastating consequences of infidelity in the land of sex for pay. Helen Mirren stars as Grace Botempo; Joe Pesci... Read More
With HonorsHarvard public-policy major Monty Kessler (Brendan Fraser) finds himself in a pinch when his thesis ends up in the hands of Simon Wilder (Joe Pesci), a resourceful vagabond living in the university library's basement. Sensing a meal ticket, Simon offers to trade pages of the essay for food and... Read More
Easy MoneyMonty (Rodney Dangerfield), the world's biggest nebbish and a man with more nasty personal habits than you can count, has one year to change his ways or he stands to lose a fortune he would otherwise inherit vis-a-vis his mother-in-law's will. Trouble is, Clive (Tom Ewell) will stop at nothing to... Read More
8 Heads in a Duffel BagMafia hit man Tommy Spinelli (Joe Pesci) is flying to San Diego with a bag that holds eight severed heads -- proof for his superiors that some troublesome rival mobsters are permanently out of the picture. Medical student Charlie Pritchett (Andy Comeau) is headed to Mexico with his fiancée,... Read More
Love Ranch (2009) | R | |
R | ||
R | ||
NR | ||
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) | R | |
Gone Fishin' (1997) | PG | |
8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997) | R | |
R | ||
With Honors (1994) | PG-13 | |
Jimmy Hollywood (1994) | R | |
A Bronx Tale (1993) | R | |
The Public Eye (1992) | R | |
My Cousin Vinny (1992) | R | |
PG | ||
Lethal Weapon 3 (1992) | R | |
R | ||
The Super (1991) | R | |
R | ||
Home Alone (1990) | PG | |
Betsy's Wedding (1990) | R | |
Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) | R | |
NR | ||
NR | ||
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) | R | |
Easy Money (1983) | R | |
Eureka (1983) | R | |
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) | R | |
PG | ||
R | ||
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