Joe Mantegna

Joe Mantegna Bio

Joseph Anthony Mantegna (born November 13, 1947) is an American actor and producer whose career spans Chicago theatre, Broadway, Hollywood film, prime-time television, and voice-over work. He is best known for his long-running role on CBS’s Criminal Minds as FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi, and for voicing mob boss Fat Tony on The Simpsons. Over five decades, Mantegna has built a reputation as a versatile character actor, a Tony Award winner, and a frequent collaborator with writer-director David Mamet.

Beyond acting, Mantegna has worked as a producer and director on stage and screen, and he has served as a narrator for the National Memorial Day Concert on the National Mall. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011 and has been honored with lifetime achievement awards from several film festivals. He remains active in film, television, and theatre.

Early Life and Background

Joseph Anthony Mantegna was born on November 13, 1947, in Chicago, Illinois, to Italian American parents. His mother, Mary Ann Novelli (1916–2017), was a shipping clerk who had emigrated from Acquaviva delle Fonti in Apulia, Italy. His father, Joseph Henry Mantegna (1913–1971), was an insurance salesman from Calascibetta, Sicily, who passed away in 1971 from tuberculosis. Mantegna was raised Catholic and grew up in the Chicago area.

He attended J. Sterling Morton High School East in Cicero, Illinois, before continuing his education at Morton College and the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago, which later became part of DePaul University. Mantegna left the program just before graduation in 1969. As a young man in Chicago, he played bass in a band called The Apocryphals, which performed alongside a local group, The Missing Links, whose members went on to form the band Chicago. Before stepping fully into acting, Mantegna worked briefly in the film industry as a photographer, taking head shots.

Path to Acting

Mantegna made his stage debut in 1969 in the Chicago production of the musical Hair, beginning a long association with the city’s vibrant theatre scene. He co-wrote Bleacher Bums, an award-winning play first staged at Chicago’s Organic Theater Company, where he was also a member of the original cast. His work in Chicago theatre led to his Broadway debut in the musical Working in 1978 and set the foundation for his later collaborations with David Mamet.

His film debut came with a small role in Medusa Challenger (1977), followed by a part in the 1980 film Xanadu that was ultimately cut, although his name remained in the credits. Mantegna began attracting wider attention in the mid-1980s with supporting parts in films such as Compromising Positions (1985), The Money Pit (1986), and Suspect (1987). These early roles established his screen presence and led to higher-profile projects.

Joe Mantegna Career

Early Career (1969–1986)

Mantegna’s first notable professional milestone came in the Chicago theatre world, where he performed with the Organic Theater Company and helped develop new American plays. He earned acclaim for his portrayal of Richard Roma in the first American production of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Glengarry Glen Ross. The performance brought him a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1984 and a Joseph Jefferson Award.

During this period, Mantegna also began working on camera, with roles in Medusa Challenger, a small part in Xanadu, and the Twilight Zone episode “Shelter Skelter” in 1985. He played the womanizing dentist Bruce Fleckstein in Compromising Positions and appeared in the comedies Three Amigos (1986) and Top Gun (1986), the latter featuring him as a pilot. These projects marked his transition from the stage to a working film and television career.

Breakthrough (1987–2007)

Mantegna’s breakthrough on screen came through his ongoing partnership with David Mamet. He starred in Mamet’s House of Games (1987) and Things Change (1988), winning the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for the latter. He continued to collaborate with Mamet in Homicide (1991) and later in Redbelt (2008). His dramatic range expanded with high-profile roles, including the treacherous mobster Joey Zasa in The Godfather Part III (1990) and comedic turns in Airheads (1994) and Baby’s Day Out (1994).

On television, Mantegna earned three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, for his work in The Last Don (1997), The Rat Pack (1998), and The Starter Wife (2007). His portrayal of singer Dean Martin in The Rat Pack was particularly well received. He also played the fictional detective Spenser in three made-for-TV movies between 1999 and 2001 and narrated audiobook readings of the Spenser novels.

In 1991, Mantegna began voicing the recurring character of mob boss Anthony “Fat Tony” D’Amico on The Simpsons, a role he has continued to reprise, including in The Simpsons Movie (2007). He starred as Associate Justice Joseph Novelli on the CBS drama First Monday (2002) and as a leading character in Joan of Arcadia from 2003 to 2005. In 2007, he joined the cast of CBS’s Criminal Minds as David Rossi, replacing departing star Mandy Patinkin.

Notable Works and Milestones

Mantegna’s signature works include the role of David Rossi on Criminal Minds, the voice of Fat Tony on The Simpsons, his Tony Award-winning performance in Glengarry Glen Ross, and his film roles in The Godfather Part III, House of Games, and Things Change. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival in 2004 and was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011. His hometown of Cicero, Illinois, named a street Joe Mantegna Boulevard in his honor, and Chicago dedicated Joe Mantegna Way along Armitage Avenue in 2017.

Joe Mantegna Award Nominations

Joe Mantegna has earned multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations throughout his television career. He received three nominations in the category of Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, for his performances in The Last Don (1997), The Rat Pack (1998), and The Starter Wife (2007). These nominations reflect his consistent work in high-profile television movies and miniseries across two decades.

Joe Mantegna Awards Won

Mantegna has been recognized with several major awards across theatre and film. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1984 for his portrayal of Richard Roma in Glengarry Glen Ross. He also received the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Things Change (1988), as well as a Joseph Jefferson Award for his Chicago theatre work. Additional honors include lifetime achievement awards from the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival in 2004 and the Riverside International Film Festival in 2015.

Joe Mantegna Family

Mantegna married Arlene Vrhel on October 3, 1975, and the couple has two daughters, Mia and Gia Mantegna. Gia was born in 1990 as Gina and later changed her name at age 18. Mia is autistic and has worked as an actress, writer, and makeup artist, and has appeared with her father on KCAL-TV in support of Autism Awareness Month.

Mantegna’s father, Joseph Henry Mantegna, was an insurance salesman from Sicily who died in 1971. His mother, Mary Ann Novelli, emigrated from Apulia, Italy, and worked as a shipping clerk. Mantegna was raised Catholic and has long honored his Italian American heritage through his work and public appearances.

Personal Life

Mantegna and his wife Arlene have been married since 1975 and have remained closely connected to Chicago, where Arlene once owned a Chicago-themed restaurant named Taste Chicago in Burbank, California. Mantegna is a well-known Chicago Cubs fan and has led the singing of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh-inning stretch on multiple occasions. His Criminal Minds character David Rossi’s office was decorated with Cubs gear as a tribute to this interest.

Since 2006, Mantegna has co-narrated the National Memorial Day Concert on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., alongside actor Gary Sinise. He is also a firearms enthusiast and hosts Gun Stories on the Outdoor Channel. In 1988, during the Broadway run of Speed-the-Plow, Mantegna was stricken with Bell’s palsy, and he has spoken openly about its lasting effects.