Jon Polito

Jon Raymond Polito (December 29, 1950 – September 1, 2016) was an American actor.<ref name="AVClub"/> In a film and television career spanning 35 years, he amassed over 220 credits.<ref name="Variety">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> His television roles included Detective Steve Crosetti in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and Phil Bartoli on the first season of Crime Story. He also appeared in several films including The Rocketeer, The Crow and Gangster Squad, as well as his work with the Coen brothers. He appeared in five of their films, including Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. Polito also portrayed hungry i nightclub impresario Enrico Banducci in a large supporting role in Tim Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.

Early life

Polito was born on December 29, 1950, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to John and Delaida "Dee" (Template:Nee) Polito. He had an older sister and brother, Rosemary Simpson and Jack Polito, an animator.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> After acting at the West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys, he studied theater at Villanova University.<ref name=":0" />

Homicide: Life on the Street

Polito was initially reluctant to audition for Homicide as he had just relocated from New York City to Los Angeles, and did not want to move to Baltimore for the series. He was initially offered a role as a Polish-American detective, but series co-creators Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana rewrote the character as an Italian named Steve Crosetti and cast him in the role. The Polish detective was also rewritten, becoming Detective Meldrick Lewis, and was played by African-American actor Clark Johnson.<ref name=GR>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The show was rating poorly and the producers were under pressure from NBC to include a new female character (Megan Russert) in the hope of gaining broader appeal. As a result, they decided to write out Polito's character at the end of Season 2. Fontana assured him that he would be brought back later in the season, but Polito was unhappy and criticized the producers publicly, an action he later said that he regretted.<ref name="GR" /> The outburst caused a rift with Fontana,<ref name="AVClub">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the Crosetti character was killed off early in Season 3, with the explanation that the detective had committed suicide. This further infuriated Polito, who again complained to the media, triggering a public dispute with Fontana. Interviewed about the situation in 2005, Polito expressed regret for his handling of the matter. He said that he and Fontana had subsequently reconciled, and as a result the Crosetti character returned to make a farewell appearance as a spirit in Homicide: The Movie.<ref name="GR" /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Coen brothers collaboration

Polito was a regular in the films of the Coen brothers, appearing in five of their films. The Coens had seen Polito in the New York stage adaptation of Death of a Salesman in 1986 playing Howard Wagner. They approached him to play the part of The Dane in Miller's Crossing (1990), but after reading the script he turned them down saying he would only play the Italian gangster Johnny Caspar. The Coens auditioned several other actors but eventually used Polito after they made him read his entire role cold.<ref name="Random">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

He was offered the role of Lou Breeze in their next film Barton Fink (1991), in a role which was written especially for him. Again he turned down the Coens' offer, saying he wanted to play the part of film producer Jack Lipnick. Actress Frances McDormand persuaded him to take the role, saying it would change his career.<ref name="Random"/> He later appeared in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994) as an eccentric businessman, The Big Lebowski (1998) as a private detective and finally in 2001 as a flirtatious salesman in The Man Who Wasn't There.<ref name="Random"/>

Awards

Polito won an Obie Award in 1980 for his theater performances off Broadway, and for his lifetime of work in film and television, he received the Maverick Spirit Award at Cinequest Film Festival in 2005.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2012, he won the award for "Best Actor in a Short Film" at Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Polito was gay and married fellow actor Darryl Armbruster on October 16, 2015, fifteen years after they first met.<ref name=":0" />

Death

Polito died from multiple myeloma on September 1, 2016,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> at the City of Hope National Medical Center, where he was being treated. He was 65 years old.

Filmography

Film

citation

CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="Allmovie">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="btva2">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|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>	Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1982	The Clairvoyant	Detective Sporaco	Also known as The Killing Hour
1984	The Princess and the Call Girl	Private Detective
	C.H.U.D.	Newscaster		<ref name="BFI"/>
1985	Compromising Positions	1st Cop	Credited as John Polito	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins	Zack		<ref name="BFI"/>
1986	Highlander	Detective Walter Bedsoe		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Dream Lover	Dr. James		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Fire with Fire	Boss		<ref name="BFI"/>
1987	Critical Condition	Kline		<ref name="Allmovie" />
1988	Homeboy	Moe "Fingers"		<ref name="BFI"/>
1990	The Freshman	Chuck Greenwald		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Miller's Crossing	Giovanni Gasparo / Johnny Caspar		<ref name="BFI"/>
1991	Barton Fink	Lou Breeze		<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Rocketeer	Bigelow		<ref name="BFI"/>
1992	Leather Jackets	Jack "Fat Jack"		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Flodders in America	Larry Rosenbaum	Flodder in Amerika! in Dutch
1993	The Contenders	Pedro Perusia
1994	The Hudsucker Proxy	Mr. Bumstead		<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Crow	Gideon		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Blankman	Michael "The Suit" Minelli		<ref name="BFI"/>
1995	Fluke	Boss		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Bushwhacked	FBI Agent Palmer		<ref name="BFI"/>
1996	Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Francisco	Ashcan	Voice	<ref name="Allmovie"/><ref name="btva2" />
	Just Your Luck	Nick	Direct-to-video
	Inside Out	Paparazzi	Short film Included in Boys Life 3
1997	The Corporate Ladder	Mr. Deacon
1998	The Big Lebowski	Private Investigator Da Fino		<ref name="BFI"/>
	With Friends Like These...	Rudy Ptak		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Tale of the Mummy	Parsons
	Music from Another Room	Lorenzo Palmieri
	Nowhere Land	Frank		<ref name="BFI"/>
1999	Angel's Dance	Vinnie "Uncle Vinnie"		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Road Kill	"Jelly"		<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Green Mile	D Block Prison Guard	Uncredited
	Stuart Little	Detective Sherman		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Carlo's Wake	Uncle Gus		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Surgeon General's Warning	The Other Guy	Short film
2000	The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle	Schoentell		<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Dancing Pumpkin		Animated short Credited as John Polito
	The Tangerine Bear: Home in Time for Christmas!	Virgil	Voice
	Boys Life 3	Paparazzi	Segment: Inside Out
2000	Flies on Cupid	Giorgio Gagantano
2001	The Tailor of Panama	Ramón Rudd, The Banker		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Frank's Last Dance	Frank	Short film
	Mimic 2	Morrie Deaver	Direct-to-video	<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Shrink Is In	Judge Bob		<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Man Who Wasn't There	Creighton Tolliver		<ref name="BFI"/>
	After Sex	Naldo	Credited as John Polito
2002	Black Mask 2: City of Masks	King
	29 Palms	The Security Guard		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
2003	Template:Sortname	Second Hood		<ref name="BFI"/>
	View from the Top	Roy Roby
	No Credits, No Peace	The Network Executive	Short film
	The Box	Michael Dickerson
2004	Charlie the Ox	Freddy Boon
	The Last Shot	Wally Kamin		<ref name="BFI"/>
2005	Short Order	Tony
	The Honeymooners	Kirby
2006	The Alibi	Jimmy, The Photographer	Released on DVD as Lies & Alibis
	Cutting Room	Sandy		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Grilled	Leon Waterman		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Flags of Our Fathers	Borough President		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Big Nothing	FBI Agent Hymes		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Happily N'Ever After	Wolf 1	Voice Credited as John Polito	<ref name="BFI"/><ref name="btva2" />
	Cleaners		Short film
2007	Cougar Club	Mr. Archibald		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	American Gangster	Rossi		<ref name="BFI"/>
2008	The Marconi Bros.	Lou Burns
	Bart Got a Room	Bob		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Animated American	Max Rabbit	Short film	<ref name="Allmovie"/>
2009	Super Capers: The Origins of Ed and the Missing Bullion	Captain Sludge		<ref name="BFI"/>
	Locker 13	Don Dillon	Short film Also known as Locker 13: Down and Out
2010	DC Showcase: The Spectre	Police Captain	Voice, short film	<ref name="btva2" />
	Burning Palms	Ned
	The Grind	HIM
	Venus & Vegas	Frank
	The Last Godfather	Don Bonfante
	Stiffs	John "The Prince" Monaco
	The Talking Head	Mr. Opportunity	Short film
2011	Son of Morning	Mr. Bordasche
	Atlas Shrugged: Part I	Orren Boyle		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	From the Head	Vinnie		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Batman: Year One	Commissioner Loeb	Voice, direct-to-video	<ref name="Allmovie"/><ref name="btva2" />
2012	Jonny Boy	Jonny Boy	Short film
	Anti-Muse	Anti-Muse	Short film
2013	Gangster Squad	Jack Dragna		<ref name="Allmovie"/>
2014	Big Eyes	Enrico Banducci		<ref name="BFI"/>
2018	The Maestro	Herbert Englehart	Final film role; posthumous

Television

Jon Polito television credits

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
1981	The Gangster Chronicles	Tommy "Three Finger Brown" Lucchese	Television miniseries
1983	Running Out	Joe Poswalsky	Television film
1984	A Good Sport	Man in Taxi	Television film
1985	Death of a Salesman	Howard	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
1986	A Deadly Business	Vitola	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Equalizer	Gianni Greco	Episode: "Unpunished Crimes"	<ref name="BFI"/>
1986–1988	Crime Story	Phil Bartoli	16 episodes	<ref name="BFI"/>
1987	The Equalizer	Gene Carmack	Episode: "Memories of Manon" (Parts 1 & 2)	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Ohara	Captain Ross	11 episodes
1988	Alone in the Neon Jungle	Brad Stakowski	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Wiseguy	Eddie Van Platt	Episode: "Player to Be Named Now"
	Miami Vice	El Gato	2 episodes	<ref name="Random"/>
1989	The Equalizer	David Pfieffer	Episode: "Silent Fury"	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Livin' Large	Sal	Television film
	Trying Times	Agent Caponello	Episode: "Death and Taxes"
1991	Tales from the Crypt	Nikos Stano	Episode: "Deadline"	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Empty Nest	Slocum	Episode: "Harry's Got a Gun"
1992	Hearts Are Wild	Leon "Pepe" Pepperman	4 episodes	<ref name="BFI"/>
1992–1994	Murder, She Wrote	Lieutenant Peter DiMartini	2 episodes
1993	Dinosaurs	Ty Warner	Voice Episode: "Swamp Music"	<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Fallen Angels	Al Reseck	Episode: "I'll Be Waiting"	<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	The Untouchables	Tommy Palumbo	2 episodes
1993–1994	Homicide: Life on the Street	Detective Steve Crosetti	13 episodes	<ref name="BFI"/>
1994	Viper	Councilman Strand	Episode: "Pilot"
	Girls in Prison	Boss Johnson	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
	The Shaggy Dog	Detective Al	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
1995	Chicago Hope	Detective Bill Ranford	Episode: "Life Support"
	Mad About You	Ralphy	Episode: "My Boyfriend's Back!"	<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	Burke's Law	Tony Renaldo	Episode: "Who Killed Cock-a-Doodle Dooley?"
	NYPD Blue	Paul Biaggi	Episode: "One Big Happy Family"	<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	The Invaders	Whitley, Metro HQ	Miniseries Uncredited
	High Society	Alvin Spalding	Episode: "We Ought to Be in Pictures"
1995–1996	Dream On	Louie	4 episodes
1996–1998	New York Undercover	John Dennis	2 episodes
1996	High Incident	Victor the Clown	Episode: "Women & Children First"
	Swift Justice	Tom Luddy	Episode: "Supernote"
	The Pretender	Ben Hansel	Episode: "A Virus Among Us"
	Roseanne	Mr. Russo	Episode: "Millions from Heaven"
1996–2000	The Pretender	Constantin Falzone / Ben Hansel	2 episodes
1997	Fired Up	Sam Harris	Episode: "Domestic Bliss" Unaired
	Over the Top	Mr. Hampstead	Episode: "The Bee Story"
	Life with Louie	Red Meat	Voice Episode: "Louie's Harrowing Halloween"
	Night Man	Al Capone	Episode: "That Ol' Gang of Mine"
	Invasion	Detective Kemper	Miniseries	<ref name="BFI"/>
1997–2000	Early Edition	Cliff Mourning / Louie DeFozio	2 episodes
1998	Players	Pappas	Episode: "Mint Condition"
	Jenny	Sid Bouchie	Episode: "A Girl's Gotta Get It"
	Seinfeld	Silvio	Episode: The Reverse Peephole"	<ref name="Allmovie"/>
	New York Undercover	Rinaldi / John Dennis	2 episodes
	The Defenders: Choice of Evils	District Attorney Al Orsini	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Money Play$	Lou Spano	Television film
	Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show	Marvin 'Marv' Fishland	Episode: "Honey, She's Like a Fish Out of Water"
	Veronica's Closet	Mr. Lehman	Episode: "Veronica's Dog Day Afternoon"
	Millennium	Eddie Scarpino Giannini	Episode: "Omerta"
1999	Nash Bridges	Roland Margolis	Episode: "Truth and Consequences"
	Good vs. Evil	Howard	Episode: "Sunday Night Evil"
	The Apartment Complex	Dr. Caligari	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
2000	Homicide: The Movie	Steve Crosetti	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Popular	Caesar Croutons	Episode: "Hard on the Outside, Soft in the Middle"
	The Invisible Man	Eddie The Mammoth	Episode: "Pilot"
	Gideon's Crossing	Lou Peda	Episode: "The Race"
	Batman Beyond	Major	Voice, episode: "Betrayal"	<ref name="btva2" />
	Oh Yeah! Cartoons	Fisherman	Voice, episode: "Tales from the Goose Lady: The Fisherman, the Fisherman's Wife, and the Fish"	<ref name="btva2" />
	Nature Boy	Mort Ruby	Television film
2001	The Chris Isaak Show	Rhonda Parks	Episode: "Our Place"
2001–2002	The Drew Carey Show	Stansfield	3 episodes
	The Chronicle	Donald Stern	22 episodes
2002	Becker	Leonard Nagle	Episode: "Piece Talks"
	Time Squad	Al Capone	Voice, episode: "The Clownfather"
	Women vs. Men	Desk Sgt.	Television film
	Push, Nevada	Silas Bodnick	Episode: "The Amount"	<ref name="BFI"/>
	She Spies	Edward Malloy	Episode: "Ice Man"
2002–2003	Gilmore Girls	Pete / Father in Kirk's Film	2 episodes
2003	Dragnet	Richard Maughm	Episode: "The Silver Slayer"	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Crossing Jordan	Dick	Episode: "Wild Card"
	Template:Sortname	Mr. Carpeggi	Episode: "Trick or Treat"
	Life on Parole	Ernie	Television film
2003–2004	Oliver Beene	Mr. Rayfield	2 episodes
2004	10-8: Officers on Duty	Enzo Fontana	Episode: "Wild and the Innocent"
	It's All Relative	Leonard	Episode: "A Long Day's Journey Into Leonard's"
	Judging Amy	District Attorney Gerald Abner	2 episodes
	The Jury	Johnny Pappas	Episode: "The Boxer"
	Scrubs	Mr. Summers	Episode: "My Female Trouble"
	My Wife and Kids	Minister	Episode: "The Wedding"
2005	Family Plan	Gold	Television film	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Desperate Housewives	Charles Skouras	Episode: "Love Is in the Air"	<ref name="BFI"/>
	Without a Trace	Jimmy 'The Tooth' Fusco	Episode: "Lone Star"
	American Dad: The New CIA	Petruchio	Animated TV short
	Gone, But Not Forgotten	Sam Oberhurst	Miniseries
	Threshold	Nicky Frost	Episode: "The Order"
	Avatar: The Last Airbender	Chief Arnook	Voice, 3 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
	Template:Sortname	New Aldrin / New Pupert	Voice, episode: "Those Pesky Roaches"
2005–2008	Ghost Whisperer	Joe Grimaldi	2 episodes
2006	Masters of Horror	Montesquino	Episode: "Haeckel's Tale"
	Handy Manny	Joe Bolotero	Voice, episode: "Supremoguy/Tool Talk"
2007	Medium	Vincent DiScala	Episode: "Better Off Dead"
2007–2008	El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera	Don Bafi Big Man	Voice, 3 episodes	<ref name="btva2" />
2008	Las Vegas	The Cleaner	Episode: "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast"
	Rock Monster	The Colonel	Television film
	Chowder	Funjl / Guy	Voice, episode: "The Moldy Touch/The Heavy Sleeper"	<ref name="btva2" />
	Do Not Disturb	R.J.	Episode: "Dosing"
	Chocolate News	Harvey Silverstein	"Episode 7"
	Two and a Half Men	Mr. Sharipa	Episode: "He Smelled the Ham, He Got Excited"
2008–2009	Raising the Bar	Judge Dominick Ventimiglia	10 episodes
2009	Monk	George Gionopolis	Episode: "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall"
	Citizen Jane	Detective Romer	Television film
2009–2010	Glenn Martin DDS	Vito Renzuli	2 episodes
2010	Template:Sortname	Duesterberg	Episode: "Red Herring"
2011	Funny or Die Presents...	Eddy	Episode #2.1 - Segment: "United States Police Department"
	Ben 10: Ultimate Alien	Mizaru	Voice, episode: "Simian Says"
	It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia	Gino Reynolds	Episode: "Frank's Brother"
	ThunderCats	Conquedor	Voice, episode: "Berbils"	<ref name="btva2" />
2012	Franklin & Bash	"Lucky" Louie Gianelli	Season 2 episode 3: "Jango and Rossi"
	Robot and Monster	Sir Cranklin	Voice, episode: "First Impressions"	<ref name="btva2" />
	Mike & Molly	Frankie Moranto	Episode: "Thanksgiving Is Canceled"
2012–2013	Bunheads	Sal Russano	2 episodes
2014	Castle	Harold Metzger	Episode: "That '70s Show"
	Murder in the First	Judge Greer / Judge Emerson Greer	3 episodes
	39 to Go	Mathis	2 episodes
	Saint Francis	Cupcake	Television film
2014–2016	Modern Family	Earl Chambers	3 episodes
2015	Broker	Ignacio Ronconi	TV short
2016	American Dad!	Dr. Kalgary	Voice, episode: "Roots"
	Comedy Bang! Bang!	Frank O'Brien	Episode: "Tony Hale Wears a Blue Flannel Shirt and Fuchsia Sneakers"
	Major Crimes	Dino Kotero	Episode: "Cashed Out"
	Ultimate Spider-Man	Hammerhead	Voice, episode: "Return to the Spider-Verse: Part 3" Posthumous release; dedicated in memory	<ref name="btva2" />
2017	The Super Man	Floyd	Episode: "Dumpster Diving" Posthumous release
	Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure	Griffon of Pittsford	Voice, episode: "Not in the Mood" Final TV role; posthumous release	<ref name="btva2" />

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Lands of Lore III	Dark Army Orc / Elliott The Guard / Viscosa	Voice
2007	Dead Head Fred	Ulysses S. Pitt	Voice
2013	Batman: Arkham Origins	G.C.P.D. Commissioner Gillian B. Loeb	Voice
2016	Batman: Arkham Underworld	Carmine Falcone	Voice

External links

• [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0689237

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