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John Nicodemus Turturro (born February 28, 1957) is an Emmy Award winning American actor noted for his performances in To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), The Color of Money (1986), Five Corners (1987), Barton Fink (1991), Men of Respect (1991) and Monday Night Mayhem (1999). He has appeared in over sixty movies, and is well known for his ability to change both his demeanor and physique.

Early life and film career

Turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York to an Italian-American Roman Catholic family, the son of an Apulian father (emigrated from Giovinazzo, in the province of Bari, Apulia) and a mother of Sicilian origin. He majored in drama at the State University of New York College, New Paltz, and completed his MFA at the Yale School of Drama. He worked as an extra in Raging Bull (1980).

John Turturro 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.

Spike Lee liked Turturro's performance in Five Corners so much that he chose to cast him in Do the Right Thing, in which he played the explosive racist Pino. This movie initiated a long-standing collaboration between the famous director and John Turturro.

A versatile actor comfortable with both comedy and drama, Turturro also had an extended collaboration with the Coen Brothers, appearing in their films Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink, The Big Lebowski and most recently, O Brother, Where Art Thou?. He also appeared as a severely disturbed psychiatric patient of Jack Nicholson's in Anger Management and played Johnny Depp's antagonist in Secret Window. Turturro is also an occasional guest star on Monk as Adrian's eccentric brother, Ambrose Monk.

Turturro was the producer, director and actor of the film Illuminata (1999), which also starred his wife Katherine Borowitz.

He wrote and directed the film Romance and Cigarettes (2005).

John's Brother is actor Nicholas Turturro, actress Aida Turturro is John Turturro's cousin.

He has two children, Amedeo Turturro and Diego Turturro born in July 1990 and December 2000, respectively. Turturro is Catholic and his wife is Jewish.

Trivia

• Despite his many acclaimed performances, Turturro has never been nominated for an Academy Award.

• Turturro's last name is from the Italian tortora meaning "turtle-dove" (a name used in Italy in the past), a fact slyly alluded to in the Monk episode "Mr. Monk Goes Home Again" when Ambrose Monk (Turturro) tells Adrian's assistant Natalie (Traylor Howard) that their father named him Ambrose after his beloved pet turtle.

• Won an Emmy award for his portrayal of Adrian Monk's brother Ambrose Monk in the USA Network series Monk.

Selected filmography

• Transformers, 2007, as Simmons
• Quelques jours en septembre, 2006, as William Pound
• The Good Shepherd, 2006
• Secret Window, 2004, as John Shooter
• She Hate Me, 2004, as Don Angelo Bonasera
• Anger Management, 2003, as Chuck
• Fear X, 2003, as Harry
• Mr. Deeds, 2002, as Emilio
• Collateral Damage, 2002, as Armstrong
• Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, 2001, as Walker
• The Luzhin Defence, 2001, as Alexander Luzhin
• The Man Who Cried, 2000, as Dante Dominio
• O Brother, Where Art Thou?, 2000, as Pete
• Cradle Will Rock, 1999, as Aldo Silvano
• Summer of Sam, 1999, as the voice of Harvey
• Monday Night Mayhem, 1999, as Howard Cosell
• The Big Lebowski, 1998, as Jesus Quintana
• He Got Game, 1998, as Billy Sunday
• Rounders, 1998, as Joey Knish
• Box of Moon Light, 1996, as Al Fountain
• Girl 6, 1996, as Murray
• Clockers, 1995, as Det. Larry Mazilla
• Quiz Show, 1994, as Herb Stempel
• Fearless, 1993, as Bill Pearlman
• Brain Donors, 1992, as Roland T. Flakfizer
• Mac, 1992, as Niccolo Vitelli; also directed and co-written by Turturro
• Barton Fink, 1991 as Barton Fink
• Jungle Fever, 1991, as Paulie Carbone
• Men of Respect, 1991, as Mike Battaglia
• Miller's Crossing, 1990, as Bernie Bernbaum
• Mo' Better Blues, 1990, as Moe Flatbush
• State Of Grace, 1990, as Nick
• Do the Right Thing, 1989, as Pino
• The Sicilian, 1987, as Pisciotta
• Five Corners, 1987, as Heinz Sabantino
• The Color of Money, 1986, as Julian
• To Live and Die in L.A., 1985, as Carl Cody
• Desperately Seeking Susan, 1985, as Ray
• Raging Bull, 1980, uncredited extra

Television appearances

• Monk, 2004-2005, as Ambrose Monk

External link

• John Turturro Shrine

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