Bronx-born and raised, Chazz Palminteri was a natural choice to continue the long line of prominent Italian actors in the film industry.  In the tradition set forth in the 1970s by such icons as director Martin Scorsese and actors Robert DeNiro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, Palminteri has brought grit, muscle and an evocative realism to the sidewalks of his New York neighborhood, violent as they are and were.

Born in 1952, Palminteri grew up in a tough area of the Bronx and it gave young Calogero, Palminteri’s given first name, the life lessons that would later prove useful to his career. He started out pursuing his craft by studying at the Actor’s Studio with Lee Straussberg. He appeared off-Broadway in the early 1980s while paying his dues as a singer in his own band.