Vincent D'Onofrio

Infobox actor


imagesize = 220px
caption = D'Onofrio at the Tribeca Film Festival, May 2008
birthname = Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio
birthdate = birth date and age|1959|6|30
birthplace = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
deathdate =
othername = Vincent Philip D'Onofrio, Vince D'Onofrio
yearsactive = 1983–present
homepage =
spouse = Carin van der Donk (1997–present)
Greta Scacchi (1991 - 1993)
awards = Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1997" Men in Black" Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He first gained attention for his role as Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence in "Full Metal Jacket", and more currently for his role as Det. Robert Goren in "".

Biography

Early life

D'Onofrio was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Sicilian/Italian descent.cite news |last=Mason |first=Dave |title='Criminal Intent' detective to face personal trauma |work=Ventura County Star |date=2007-10-01 5'11" looks taller though |url=http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/oct/01/criminal-intent-detective-face-personal-trauma/ |accessdate=2007-10-01] His family moved frequently during his youth, and he grew up in Hawaii, Florida, and Colorado. He graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida in 1977 and attended The University of Colorado at Boulder for about 18 months. He then dropped out of college to pursue acting. He was accepted for study with the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York City. [http://nbcumv.com/entertainment/bio_detail.nbc/lawordercriminalintent-6-vincent-donofrio.html "Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Vincent D'Onofrio"] . NBC Universal Media Village.]

Career

In 1984, D'Onofrio became a full member of the American Stanislavsky Theatre, appearing in a number of its productions, including "Of Mice and Men" and "Sexual Perversity in Chicago". He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in "Open Admissions". [ibdb title|id=4332|title=Open Admissions] Before this breakthrough, he had been acting in New York University student films and was working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe.

In 1987, D'Onofrio entered the mainstream consciousness with two film roles that demonstrated his range as an actor. His first major film role was as the obese Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film, "Full Metal Jacket", a part for which he gained nearly 80 pounds, going from 200 to nearly 280 lbs,imdb name|0000352] which still stands as the Guinness World Record for most weight gained for a single movie role.Fact|date=April 2008 The other role was that of Dawson, the owner of Dawson's Garage in "Adventures in Babysitting", directed by Chris Columbus. D'Onofrio appears in only one pivotal scene near the end of the film, but his role brought attention because of his muscular physique and long blond hair, which cause the film's youngest character to mistakenly believe that he is actually Thor, the superhero she idolizes.

Since then, D'Onofrio has continued to play a wide variety of roles, including iconic director Orson Welles in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood", farmer Edgar and the evil "Bug" that possesses him from "Men in Black", the father of a saint in Nancy Savoca's "Household Saints", Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman in "Steal This Movie", a time traveler from the distant future in "Happy Accidents", and fictional serial killer Carl Stargher in "The Cell", and as a bankrobber in "the Newton brothers".

He has dabbled in film production and direction, having produced two films, "The Whole Wide World" and "Guy", in 1996 and 1997, respectively, executive produced two others, "The Velocity of Gary" in 1998 and "Steal This Movie" in 2000 and directed the short "Five Minutes, Mr. Welles" in 2005. This last represents a culmination of D'Onofrio's desire to improve on his performance as Welles in "Ed Wood", which reportedly left director Tim Burton underwhelmed and in need of a voice-over artist (Maurice LaMarche) despite D'Onofrio's uncanny physical resemblance to the late actor/director.

D'Onofrio has since moved to the small screen. He received an Emmy nomination in 1997 for his appearance as John Lange, the doomed victim in the "Subway" episode of '. He currently stars as Det. Robert Goren, a principal character, on the NBC television show '.

In 2003, it was reported that D'Onofrio and Joe Pantoliano began work on a small film entitled "Little Victories", about a 12-year old boy whose perceptions of the world are forever changed when his gangster uncle comes to live with him. [Gardner, Chris. [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1891609 "Pantoliano, D'Onofrio in 'Little' film."] "The Hollywood Reporter". 21 May 2003.] According to a television interview with Pantoliano, "Little Victories" was not completed and went into turnaround because of a failure to raise the funds necessary for production.Fact|date=August 2007

In November 2005, D'Onofrio won Best Actor at the Stockholm International Film Festival for his role as Mike Cobb in the independent film "Thumbsucker".

In 2006, D'Onofrio appeared on the big screen in "The Break Up", starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. In it, he played Vaughn's somewhat eccentric brother. They had appeared together on two previous films, in "The Cell", when Vaughn played an FBI agent attempting to catch D'Onofrio, and "Thumbsucker".

In 2008, D'Onofrio made a cameo appearance in an election-related sketch of a "Saturday Night Live" episode as his character Det. Robert Goren. [Itzkoff, Dave. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/arts/television/03down.html?_r=1&oref=slogin "‘SNL’ Writer Narrows the Gap Between Politics and Farce."] "New York Times". 3 March 2008.] In this sketch he interrogates Hillary Clinton (played by Amy Poehler). His entrance and exit from the skit were punctuated by the classic "Law & Order" "dun-DUN" sound.

Personal life

D'Onofrio has two older sisters, Toni who owns a restaurant with her husband in Utah, and actress Elizabeth D'Onofrio, who has taught acting in Asheville, North Carolina and now teaches and works with the Purple Heart Theater in Fort Myers, FL. D'Onofrio, his sister Elizabeth, and his father Gennaro D'Onofrio are founders of the River Run International Film Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, which began in 1998. [ [http://www.riverrunfilm.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=11 "RiverRun International Film Festival history".] ]

D'Onofrio has a daughter, Leila George D'Onofrio, born in 1992 in Australia. Her mother is actress Greta Scacchi, with whom D'Onofrio made several movies in the late '80s and early '90s (including "The Player" and "Fires Within"). The couple were married from 1991 until 1993. After that relationship ended, D'Onofrio married Carin van der Donk on March 22, 1997. The couple have a son, Elias, born in late 1999. D'Onofrio and van der Donk separated in October 2003 [ [http://entertainment.myway.com/celebgossip/lizsmith/id/11_16_2003.html My Way - Liz Smith November 16, 2003] ] but reconciled. Carin gave birth to their second son, Luca, on February 14, 2008. [ [http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20179202,00.html "Criminal Intent's Vincent D'Onofrio Welcomes a Son"] . People.com. October 15, 2007] ] D'Onofrio and his family reside in New York, where "" is filmed. [ [http://www.nbc.com/Law_&_Order:_Criminal_Intent/bios/donofrio.shtml "Vincent D'Onofrio Biography"] . NBC.com.]

In late 2004, D'Onofrio experienced a health issue when he collapsed on the set of "" on November 10. He collapsed again at home a few days later and was taken back to the hospital for more thorough testing, where he was diagnosed with exhaustion. [ [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117914004.html?categoryid=2&cs=1 "D'Onofrio returns to 'Law and Order'."] Variety.com. 24 November 2004.]

Partial filmography

*"The First Turn-On!" (1983)
*"It Don't Pay to Be an Honest Citizen" (1984)
*"Full Metal Jacket" (1987)
*"Adventures in Babysitting" (1987)
*"Mystic Pizza" (1988)
*"Signs of Life" (1989)
*"The Blood of Heroes" (1989) - also known as "Salute of the Jugger"
*"Crooked Hearts" (1991)
*"Dying Young" (1991)
*"Fires Within" (1991)
*"Naked Tango" (1991)
*"JFK" (1991)
*"The Player" (1992)
*"Salt on Our Skin" (1992) - also known as "Desire"
*"Being Human" (1993)
*"Household Saints" (1993)
*"Mr. Wonderful" (1993)
*"Ed Wood" (1994)
*"The Investigator" (1994)
*"Imaginary Crimes" (1994)
*"Nunzio's Second Cousin" [1994)
*"Stuart Saves His Family" (1995)
*"Strange Days" (1995)
*"Hotel Paradise" (1995)
*"The Whole Wide World" (1996)
*"The Winner" (1996)
*"Feeling Minnesota" (1996)
*"Good Luck" (1996)
*"Boys Life 2" (1997)
*"Men in Black" (1997)
*"Guy" (1997)
*"The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" (1998) - TV remake of the 1974 film
*"The Newton Boys" (1998)
*"Claire Dolan" (1998)
*"The Velocity of Gary" (1998)
*"Spanish Judges" (1999)
*"The Thirteenth Floor" (1999)
*"That Championship Season" (1999)
*"Happy Accidents" (2000)
*"Steal This Movie" (2000)
*"The Cell" (2000)
*"Chelsea Walls" (2001)
*"Imposter" (2002)
*"Bark!" (2002)
*"The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" (2002)
*"The Red Sneakers" (2002)
*"The Salton Sea" (2002)
*"Case of Evil" (2002)
*"Thumbsucker" (2005)
*"Five Minutes, Mr Welles" (2005)
*"The Break Up" (2006)
*"The Narrows" (2008)

Television (including notable guest appearances)

*"" (2001—) as Det. Robert Goren
*"" as Bugs (voice) in "The Big Bad Bug Syndrome" (Episode 2.5)
*"" as John Lange in "The Subway" (Episode 6.7)
*"The Equalizer" as Davy Baylor in "Suspicion of Innocence" (Episode 3.3) and as Thomas Marley in "Counterfire" (Episode 2.7)
*"Miami Vice" as Leon Wolf in "The Afternoon Plane" (Episode 3.17)
*"Spanish Judges (1999)"

Documentaries

*"Anatomy of a Homicide", PBS (1998) [ [http://interactive.wgbh.org/wgbh/tv/homicide/factsheet.html Anatomy of a Homicide: Fact Sheet ] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.nbc.com/Law_&_Order:_Criminal_Intent/bios/Vincent_DOnofrio.shtml Official NBC Biography of Vincent D'Onofrio]
*imdb name|id=0000352|name=Vincent D'Onofrio