Nicholas Turturro

Early life

Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York. His mother, Katherine, was an amateur jazz singer who worked in a Navy yard during World War II, and was of Sicilian descent. His father, Nicholas Turturro, Sr., was a carpenter and shoemaker who emigrated from Giovinazzo, Italy at the age of six and fought as a Navy serviceman on D-Day. In 1983, Turturro, then a struggling actor, was employed as a doorman for the apartment building where Billy Joel resided at the time. Turturro would rank all the women Joel brought home by holding up his fingers; Joel's soon-to-be wife, Christie Brinkley, was the only one to get ten fingers twice.

Career

He garnered an Emmy Award nomination for playing Officer/Det./Sgt. James Martinez on the television series NYPD Blue and was on the series for its first seven seasons. He also was a guest ring announcer at Wrestlemania XI for the main event of Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel. His list of credits include portraying Al Capone on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and playing the role of Brucie in The Longest Yard and Renaldo in I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry. In July 2009, Turturro began co-starring in the comedy web series Dusty Peacock on Crackle.