John Turturro

John Michael Turturro (Template:IPAc-en<ref>Template:YouTube</ref> {{#invoke:IPA|main}}; 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.

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.<ref name="ref1">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=fdr1>Stated on Finding Your Roots, October 31, 2017</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name="Moth">Template:Cite AV media</ref>

Turturro was raised as a Catholic and moved to the Rosedale section of Queens, New York, with his family when he was 6.<ref name="religion"/> 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

File:John Turturro 2009 a.jpg

Turturro at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009

Turturro's first film appearance was a non-speaking extra role in Raging Bull (1980).<ref name="Cat"/> 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 filmsTemplate:Mdashmore than any other actor in the Lee oeuvre<ref name=NYO>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Mdashincluding 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).<ref name="imdb"/>

Turturro has appeared in both comedy and drama films, and engaged in an extended collaboration with the Coen BrothersTemplate:Mdashhe 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.<ref name="imdb">[https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 1806

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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.<ref name="imdb" />

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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref name=NYO/>

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".<ref name="Cat">Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref>Sabbath's Theater</ref><ref>Alexis Soloski, "'Sabbath’s Theater' Review: John Turturro Embodies a Life and a Libido", The New York Times, November 3, 2023.</ref> 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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Turturro's younger brother is actor Nicholas Turturro. Composer and film director Richard Termini and actress Aida Turturro are his cousins.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He has two children with his wife, actress Katherine Borowitz, who moved on to a social work career in 2016.<ref name="religion">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Turturro's older brother, Ralph, resided at the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center from the early 2000s until his death in 2022.<ref name="Moth" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Turturro holds dual Italian and American citizenship as of January 2011.<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: {{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref>

He has lived in Park Slope in Brooklyn, New York since 1988.<ref name="amny">Template:Cite news</ref>

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)	citation	CitationClass=web }} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
	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	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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)	<ref name="btva" />
	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	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Hair	John Turturro	Short film; also director and writer
	Transformers: The Last Knight	Seymour Simmons
2018	Gloria Bell	Arnold	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2019	The True Adventures of Wolfboy	Mr. Silk	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	The Jesus Rolls	Jesus Quintana	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2022	The Batman	Carmine Falcone
	Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio	Dottore (voice)	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="btva" />
	Forty Winks	Milo	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2024	The Room Next Door	Damian Cunningham	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
	The Cut	Boz
TBA	The Only Living Pickpocket In New York	Harry	Filming

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"<ref name="btva" />
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<ref name="btva" />
2020	The Plot Against America	Rabbi Lionel Bengelsdorf	6 episodes
2022–present	Severance	Irving Bailiff	Main role<ref>‘Severance’: John Turturro To Star In Apple Drama Series</ref>
2024	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Eric Shane	Episode: "Second Date"<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

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	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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	<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Template:Abbr
1989	Independent Spirit Award	Best Supporting Actor	Five Corners	Template:Nom
1990	New York Film Critics Circle	Best Supporting Actor	Miller's Crossing	Template:Nom
1991	National Society of Film Critics	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Nom
	Cannes Film Festival	Best Actor	Barton Fink	Template:Won
	Gotham Awards	Best Actor	Himself	Template:Won
1992	Sundance Film Festival	Vision Award	Himself	Template:Won
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Actor	Barton Fink	Template:Nom
	Cannes Film Festival	Caméra d'Or	Mac	Template:Won
1994	Independent Spirit Award	Best First Feature		Template:Nom
		Best Director		Template:Nom
1995	Screen Actors Guild Award	Best Supporting Actor	Quiz Show	Template:Nom
	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture		Template:Nom
	Chicago Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Nom
1998	Cannes Film Festival	Palme d'Or	Illuminata	Template:Nom
	Independent Spirit Award	Best Male	Box of Moonlight	Template:Nom
2003	Screen Actors Guild Award	Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie	Monday Night Mayhem	Template:Nom
2004	Primetime Emmy Award	Guest Actor in a Comedy Series	Monk: "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies"	Template:Won
2005	Drama Desk Award	Best Actor in a Play	The Sound of Naples	Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Venice Film Festival	Golden Lion	Romance and Cigarettes	Template:Nom
2007	Berlin Film Festival	Silver Berlin Bear	The Good Shepherd	Template:Won
	Gotham Awards	Best Ensemble Performance	Margot at the Wedding	Template:Nom
2010	Venice Film Festival	Award of the City of Rome	Passione	Template:Won
2017	Primetime Emmy Award	Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie	The Night Of	Template:Nom
	Golden Globe Award	Best Actor – Miniseries or TV Movie		Template:Nom
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie		Template:Nom
2021	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries	The Plot Against America	Template:Nom
2022	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Severance	Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Streaming Television Series		Template:Nom	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2023	Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actor - Television Series		Template:Nominated	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Template:Nominated
2024	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series	Mr. & Mrs. Smith	Template:Nominated	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>
2024	Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award	For exceptional contributions to the film industry	Himself	Template:Win	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref>

External links

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