Joseph Frank Pesci was born on February 9, 1943 in Newark, New Jersey. His mother, Maria Mesce, worked part-time as a barber, and his father, Angelo Pesci, was a forklift driver for General Motors and a bartender. He is of Italian descent, with origins in Turin and Aquilonia in the province of Avellino. Pesci was raised in Belleville, New Jersey, and graduated from Belleville High School. By the time Pesci was five years old, he was appearing in plays in New York. At age 10, he was a regular on a television variety show called Startime Kids, which also featured Connie Francis.

In the 1960s, Pesci began working as a barber, following in his mother’s footsteps. At the same time, he tried to start a musical career, playing guitar with several bands, including Joey Dee and the Starliters who introduced the “Peppermint Twist” record, dance, and Peppermint Lounge in New York City.

In 1968, he released his debut album Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (billed as Joe Ritchie), on which he sang covers of contemporary pop hits.

Pesci later joined Frank Vincent as a comedy duo, performing as “Vincent and Pesci” from 1970 to 1976. Their act coupled Abbott and Costello-inspired double act antics with Don Rickles-style insult comedy, which proved popular with crowds.

The first film Pesci starred in was the 1976 low-budget crime film The Death Collector alongside Frank Vincent. After the film Pesci returned to The Bronx and lived above Amici’s Restaurant, where he was an employee. In 1979, Pesci received a telephone call from Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro, who were impressed with his performance in The Death Collector and asked him to co-star in Scorsese’s Raging Bull as Joey LaMotta. In 1984, he was cast in Once Upon a Time in America, again appearing alongside De Niro.

In 1990, he reunited with Scorsese and De Niro for Goodfellas, in which he played mobster Tommy DeVito, based on real-life mobster Thomas DeSimone. Pesci received the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role, which he accepted with one of the shortest speeches in Oscar history, saying simply, “It’s my privilege. Thank you” before leaving the stage.

Pesci also co-starred in the blockbuster Home Alone in 1990, playing Harry Lyme, one of two bumbling burglars who attempt to burgle the house of the young character played by Macaulay Culkin. Pesci’s use of “cartoon cursing”, or menacing gibberish, garnered comparisons to Looney Tunes character Yosemite Sam. Two years later, Pesci reprised his role in the sequel Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.

He had starring roles in several other films, including Man on Fire (1987), The Super (1991), Jimmy Hollywood (1994), With Honors (also 1994) and Gone Fishin’ (1997). 

In 1999, Pesci announced his retirement from acting to pursue a musical career and to enjoy life away from the camera. He returned to acting when he did a cameo in De Niro’s 2006 film The Good Shepherd.

In 2017, Pesci was cast alongside Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in The Irishman, a crime film directed by Martin Scorsese. Pesci was offered his role a reported 50 times before agreeing to take part, at first saying he did not want to do “the gangster thing again,” while Scorsese tried to persuade him The Irishman would be “different.”

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