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Dennis Farina
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Dennis Farina (born February 29, 1944) is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer.
na was born in Chicago, Illinois to Italian American parents Yolanda, a homemaker, and Joseph Farina, a Sicilian doctor. He was raised in a large family and has three brothers and three sisters.
Farina served 18 years as a policeman on the Chicago police force before becoming an actor.
na began his work in show business working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant on Mann's early works.
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Encyclopedia
Dennis Farina (born February 29, 1944) is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer.
Biography
Early life
Farina was born in Chicago, Illinois to Italian American parents Yolanda, a homemaker, and Joseph Farina, a Sicilian doctor. He was raised in a large family and has three brothers and three sisters.
Farina served 18 years as a policeman on the Chicago police force before becoming an actor.
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 -Detective 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).
It was confirmed on April 7, 2008 that Dennis Farina would be the new host of Unsolved Mysteries when it returned to television with a new five-season, 175-episode run on Spike TV in October 2008. Farina was filling a void that the late Robert Stack left upon his death. (Stack hosted the series for its entire original 15 year run.) The series would include re-edited segments from previous incarnations on NBC, CBS, and Lifetime (all originally hosted by Stack) as well as several new original stories.
Personal life
Farina is the father of three sons, Dennis, Michael and Joseph from his marriage. His youngest son, Joseph, is also an actor. He was an officer of the Chicago Police Department from 1967 to 1985. When Farina quit the force, he became a private detective. He has one granddaughter, Brianna, and four grandsons, Michael, Tyler, Matthew and Eric. Dennis is a lifelong Chicago Cubs fan and played an avid fan alongside Dennis Franz in the play "The Bleacher Bums" for a few years.
Farina was arrested on May 11, 2008 carrying a loaded .22 caliber pistol through LAX airport security. Farina was taken to LAPD's Pacific Division, booked on suspicion of carrying a concealed weapon and bail was set at $25,000. He claimed he had simply forgotten the weapon was still in his briefcase and had never intended to take it on a plane. After police determined the weapon was unregistered, the charges were upgraded to a felony and bail was increased to $35,000.
On July 17, 2008 after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, Farina pleaded no contest and was sentenced to two years probation.
Filmography
Television
External links
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