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Joe Viterelli
| Biography |
Joe Viterelli has appeared in more than 40 films, most recently Face to Face, Shallow Hal, and Serving Sara.
Equally effective in drama or comedy, Viterelli's feature film credits include See Spot Run, Analyze This, Mickey Blue Eyes, American Strays, Eraser, Heaven's Prisoners, The Crossing Guard, The Firm, Ruby and State of Grace. He also starred as Nick Valenti in Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway and as Clamato in the spoof Mafia!
Among his television work are the telefilms What She Doesn't Know, In the Shadow of a Killer and Palace Guard. He starred in the Las Vegas-based drama The Strip, and guest-starred on the series Fallen Angels, The Commish and Equal Justice.
Viterelli was a late bloomer in his acting career. For more than 25 years he turned down numerous acting opportunities offered by producers, directors and casting directors, including his longtime friend, filmmaker Leo Penn, to whom he stated, 'I lived my whole life keeping a low profile, now you want me to put this mug on a 40-foot screen?'
Then, in 1981, Sean Penn (Leo Penn's son) called to say that they were having difficulty casting a character from the Lower East Side in a film currently shooting on location in Viterelli's old neighborhood on Mott Street. The resulting screen test led to Viterelli's motion picture debut in Phil Joanou's State of Grace, and the rest is history.
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