Dennis Farina
Birth name	Dennis Farina
Born	February 29, 1944 (1944-02-29) (age 63) Chicago, Illinois, United States

Dennis Farina[1] (born February 29, 1944) is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police.

Biography

Personal life

Farina was born in Chicago, Illinois to Italian American parents Yolanda, a homemaker, and Joseph Farina, a doctor.[2][3] He was raised in a large family and had three brothers and three sisters. He is father of three sons: Dennis, Joseph and Michael, from his first marriage. Farina was an officer of the Chicago Police Department serving from 1967 to 1985. When Farina quit the force, he was a detective. He has one granddaughter, Bryona.

Career

Farina began his work in show business working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant on Mann's early works. This led to an interest in acting when Mann cast him in a small role in the 1981 film Thief. Farina proceeded to moonlight as an actor in the Chicago theater scene before Mann chose him for his Crime Story series. Farina played the mobster Albert Lombard in Michael Mann's other television show Miami Vice.

One of his most well-known movie characters is Jimmy Serrano, the mob boss from Midnight Run. Other movies in Farina's filmography include Manhunter, Striking Distance, Another Stakeout, Get Shorty, Saving Private Ryan, Big Trouble, Snatch, The Mod Squad and Out of Sight. He has also acted opposite Bette Midler in the romantic comedy That Old Feeling. In early 2005 Farina provided the voice of aging boxer-turned-superhero Wildcat on Justice League Unlimited.

Farina starred as Det. Joe Fontana on NBC's long-running television series Law & Order from 2004 to 2006. In May 2006, it was announced that Farina was leaving Law & Order to pursue other projects.

His role of Lt. Mike Torello on Crime Story was as a Chicago police officer. Farina's Law & Order character, Joe Fontana, worked for Chicago Homicide before his transfer to the NYPD. As is common on Law & Order, Fontana shares a number of other characteristics with the actor who plays him: they hail from the same Chicago neighborhood, attended the same parochial school, and have the same tastes in both clothes and music (Dean Martin).

Filmography

Film

• Thief (1981) - Carl
• Code of Silence (1985) - Dorato
• Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) - Freddy
• Manhunter (1986) - Jack Crawford
• Midnight Run (1988) - Jimmy Serrano
• Men of Respect (1991) - Bankie Como
• We're Talking Serious Money (1992) - Sal
• Mac (1992) - Mr. Stunder
• Another Stakeout (1993) - Brian O'Hara
• Romeo Is Bleeding (1993) - Nick Gazzara
• Striking Distance (1993) - Capt. Nick Detillo
• Little Big League (1994) - George O'Farrell
• Get Shorty (1995) - Ray 'Bones' Barboni
• Eddie (1996) - Coach John Bailey
• That Old Feeling (1997) - Dan De Mora
• Out of Sight (1998) - Marshall Sisco
• Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Lieutenant Colonel Anderson
• The Mod Squad (1999) - Captain Adam Greer
• Reindeer Games(2000) - Jack Bangs
• Preston Tylk (2000) - Dick Muller
• Snatch (2000) - Abraham 'Cousin Avi' Denovitz
• Sidewalks of New York (2001) - Carpo
• Big Trouble (2002) - Henry Desalvo
• Stealing Harvard (2002) - Mr. Warner
• Paparazzi (2004) - Detective Burton
• Scrambled Eggs (2004) - Dr. Carlson
• You Kill Me (2007) - Edward O'Leary
• Purple Violets (2007) - Gilmore
• The Grand (2007) - L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks
• National Lampoon's Bag Boy (2007) - Marty Engstrom

Television

• Thief (1981) - Carl
• Through Naked Eyes (1983) - Patrolman
• Hard Knox (1984)
• The Killing Floor (1985) - Supervisor
• Hardcastle and McCormick (1985) - Ed Coley
• Hunter (1985) - Vic Terranova
• Remington Steele (1985) - Cop
• Final Jeopardy (1985) - Policeman#2
• The Birthday Boy(1986)
• Lady Blue (1986) - Joe Kaufman
• Triplecross (1986) - Veteran Cop, Ernie
• Crime Story (1986-1988) - Lt. Mike Torello
• Six Against The Rock (1987) - Robert Stroud
• Open Admissions (1988) - Fred
• China Beach (1989) - Lt. Col. Edward Edward Vincent
• The Case of the Hillside Strangers (1989) - Angelo Bruno
• Miami Vice (1984-1985, 1989) - Albert Lombard
• Blind Faith (1990) - Prosecutor Kelly
• People Like Us (1990) - Elias Renthall
• Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel (1992) - Mike Cerone
• Cruel Doubt (1992) - Tom Brereton
• Street Crimes (1992) - Brian
• Tales from the Crypt (1992) - Antoine
• The Disappearance of Nora (1993) - Denton
• A Stranger In The Mirror (1993)
• One Woman's Courage (1994) - Craig McKenna
• The Corpse Had A Familiar Face (1994) - Detective Harry Lindstrom
• Out of Annie's Past (1995) - Charlie Ingle
• Bonanza: Under Attack (1995) - Charley Siringo
• Perfect Crimes (1995) - Armand Zarro
• Bella Mafia (1997) - Don Roberto Luciano
• Buddy Faro (1998) - Buddy Faro
• In-Laws (2002) - Victor Pellet
• Justice League (2005) - Wildcat
• Law & Order: Trial By Jury (2005) - Det. Joe Fontana
• Empire Falls (2005) - Walt Comeau
• Law & Order (2006) - Detective Joe Fontana

References

External links

• Dennis Farina at the Internet Movie Database
• Dennis Farina at Yahoo! Movies
• Dennis Farina - Hollywood.com