Celebrating the contributions of italian americans to the entertainment industry
Since Italians started immigrating to the United States, they’ve brought great contributions to the entertainment industry. Many of the great bands, shows, and artists we know of today have used these contributions our ancestors brought with them and influenced American society.
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Richard Crenna – Italian American Actor
Richard Crenna was born November 30, 1926, in Los Angeles, the only child of Edith Pollette, who was a hotel manager in Los Angeles, and Dominick Anthony Crenna, a pharmacist. His parents were both of Italian descent. Following high school, Crenna served in the...
Danny Devito – Italian American Actor
Daniel Michael DeVito Jr. was born in Neptune Township, New Jersey, the son of Daniel DeVito Sr., a small business owner, and Julia Moccello. He grew up in a family of five, with his parents and two older sisters. He is of Italian descent; his family is originally...
Guy Williams – Italian American Actor
Guy Williams was born of Sicilian parentage on January 14, 1924, as Armando Joseph Catalano in the Washington Heights area of New York City. His parents, insurance broker Attilio Catalano and Clara Arcara, were from the island of Sicily, and were by then living in...
Anthony Caruso – Italian American Actor
Anthony Caruso was born in Frankfort, Indiana, the son of Italian immigrants Anthony Bagarelli Caruso and Augustina Taormina Caruso. When he was ten years old, Anthony and his family moved to Long Beach, California, where he grew up. While acting at the Pasadena...
Connie Stevens – Italian American Actress & Singer
Connie Stevens was born Concetta Rosalie Ann Ingolia in Brooklyn, New York City, the daughter of musician Peter Ingolia (known as Teddy Stevens) and singer Eleanor McGinley. She adopted her father's stage name of Stevens as her own. Her parents divorced and she lived...
Jason Biggs – Italian American Actor
Jason Matthew Biggs was born in the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock Township, New Jersey, to Angela Zocco, a nurse, and Gary Louis Biggs, a shipping company manager. Biggs' father is of English and Italian descent, as his paternal grandmother, Assunta Furno, was...
Joe Manganiello – Italian American Actor
Manganiello was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Susan and Charles John Manganiello. His father, born and raised outside of Boston, MA, is of Italian descent, from Naples. Manganiello was raised in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania. He was a student at St. Bernard School,...
Joe Pesci – Italian American Actor
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...
Jackie Vernon – Italian American Comedian
Jackie Vernon was born Ralph Verrone on March 29, 1924, in New York City to Italian American parents. Vernon was known for his gentle, low-key delivery and self-deprecating humor. He has been hailed as "The King of Deadpan." His signature opening line was, "To look at...
Ralph Macchio – Italian American Actor
Ralph George Macchio Jr. was born in Huntington, New York in 1961. He is the son of Rosalie DeSantis and Ralph Macchio, Sr., both of Italian ancestry. Macchio began tap dancing lessons at the age of 3 and was discovered when he was 16. He was then cast as Jeremy...