Steve Schirripa

Steven Ralph Schirripa (, ; born August 1, 1958) is an American actor, producer, author, and voice artist. He is best known for portraying Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos. Schirripa is a producer and host of two Investigation Discovery series Karma's A B*tch! and Nothing Personal. He was a regular cast member of The Secret Life of the American Teenager and the voice of Roberto in the Open Season franchise. Schirripa has also done commercials for Lamisil, Dick's Sporting Goods, and McDonald's.

Early life
Schirripa was born on August 1, 1958 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. His father, Ralph, was Italian American. His grandparents, Ilario Schirripa and Maria Capacci, were from Riace, Italy. His mother is of Jewish descent.

Film and television work
Schirripa got his first taste of show business in his job as entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel and Casino. In the biography page of his website, Schirripa says that he had cameo appearances in comedy specials by Drew Carey and Kevin Pollak, among other comedians. That led to a role as an uncredited extra in Martin Scorsese's Casino. In the film, he portrayed a customer at the bar in the scene when Joe Pesci's character angrily stabs a man with a pen. After this, Schirripa decided that he wanted to become an actor. He had several minor roles in movies, including The Runner (1999) and Joe Dirt. His breakthrough role was in The Sopranos (2000), playing Tony Soprano's dense but lovable mobster brother-in-law Bobby Baccalieri for five seasons.

His many television appearances include Angel, Casino Cinema, Star Trek: Enterprise, Hollywood Squares, Joey, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, My Wife and Kids, Ed, Jeopardy!, George Lopez, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and The King of Queens. Schirripa recently appeared on CBS's primetime game show Million Dollar Password. Furthering his game show enthusiasm, Schirripa appeared on the game show Pyramid. He also made an uncredited appearance along with fellow Soprano star Vincent Pastore on the 6th Season episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force entitled "She Creature".

Schirripa was a frequent guest on the Don Imus radio program. In February 2007, he began to make appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, on Spike TV, siding with Team 3D as their cousin in their ongoing battle against The Latin American Xchange. On October 30, 2007, he appeared on, The Podge and Rodge Show. He also did spots as "Steve the Judgmental Bastard" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and taped several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell, as one of the celebrity judges.

From 2008 to 2012, Schirripa had a recurring role in the ABC Family show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, as Leo Boykewick, Ben's dad.

In 2009, he made a cameo appearance alongside fellow Sopranos actor Frank Vincent in Stargate Atlantis episode "Vegas". Recently, he was in My Fake Fiancé with Melissa Joan Hart and Joey Lawrence as the Monkey.

He has appeared on the Tonight Show more than 40 times as a guest and as a correspondent.

Schirripa hosted NBC's poker game show, Face the Ace, with the premiere episode airing on August 1, 2009.

In the fall of 2010, Schirripa had a guest star role in the digital comedy short film, Lil DPC, from writer/director Michael Ratner, which also features rapper Fat Joe and Blink 182's Mark Hoppus.

In 2011 and 2012, Schirripa hosted and narrated the television true-crime series Nothing Personal, which premiered in the US on Investigation Discovery and in the UK on History. The series featured an often humorous take on true stories and reenactments of murders-for-hire. In addition to hosting the hour-long programs, Schirripa was one of the program's executive producers. The programs were filmed on location around the United States and in Ontario, Canada. Subsequently, Schirripa hosted Karma's a B*tch!, also for Investigation Discovery. This show dramatizes stories of people who seek revenge on someone they believe did them wrong. Recently, Schirripa has provided the voice for the lemon in McDonald's McCafe Strawberry Lemonade commercials. He has also guest-starred in the American version of Top Gear.

Schirripa played Sonny Rosselli in A Poet Long Ago, a short film written by Pete Hamill and directed by Bob Giraldi, which gained entry into a number of film festivals in 2013.

In 2014, Schirripa played Joey on the ABC series Black Box, did voice acting in an episode of American Dad! entitled "Stan Goes on the Pill", and played Vito in the silver screen adaptation Jersey Boys, directed by Clint Eastwood. He will play Father Ed in Chasing Yesterday, a film by writer/director Joseph Pernice, as well as be in the film Houses, by writer/director Jenner Furst, alongside Sopranos co-stars Michael Imperioli and John Ventimiglia.

Starting in 2015, Schirripa played Det. Anthony Abetemarco, an investigator who works with assistant district attorney Erin Reagan on the CBS series Blue Bloods.

In July 2017, Schirrpa appeared in a segment on John Oliver's satirical news show Last Week Tonight satirizing Boris Epshteyn and the right-wing tone of mandatory segments given to member stations by the Sinclair Broadcast Group.

Books
Schirripa's acting roles often portrayed "goombas," slang for stereotypical Italian-American tough guys and often denoting connections to the Mafia. He carried that persona over into real life but with a comedic twist, especially in appearances on talk and game shows. He expanded on that persona when he wrote a series of books starting with "A Goomba's Guide to Life" (ISBN 978-1400046393) in 2002. He followed up with The Goomba's Book of Love, co-authored with Charles Fleming in 2003 (ISBN 978-1-4000-5089-5). The series was continued by The Goomba Diet: Large and Loving It (ISBN 978-1400054633) in 2006, an in 2013 "Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look" (ISBN 978-1476706344), co-authored by Philip Lerman.

Schirripa and Fleming also collaborated on two books about Nicky Deuce, a suburban teenager who is sent to visit his grandparents in Brooklyn. Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family was followed by Nicky Deuce: Home for the Holidays, which was the basis for the 2013 Nickelodeon film Nicky Deuce starring Noah Munck. Nicky Deuce also featured supporting roles filled by James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Curatola of The Sopranos fame.

Theatre
On April 3, 2014, Steve Schirripa gave a theatrical performance in a special production of Guys and Dolls alongside Nathan Lane, Patrick Wilson, and Megan Mullally at Carnegie Hall.

Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties
In 2014, Schirripa launched a line of organic, vegan pasta sauces under the business name of Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties Group. Schirripa appeared on the Eric Andre Show to promote the sauce. The sauces do not contain any additives whatsoever and the tomatoes used in the sauces are imported from Italy.

Family/personal life
Schirrippa married Laura Lemos on April 22, 1989. They have two children, daughters Bria and Ciara.

Filmography

 * 1995: Casino as Man in Bar (uncredited)
 * 1997: Highway to Vegas as Bodyguard #1
 * 1998: Denial as Best Man
 * 1998: Chicago Hope as Security Officer
 * 1998: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as Goon
 * 1998: Welcome to Hollywood as Entertainment Director Riviera Hotel
 * 1999: The King of Queens as Maitre'd
 * 1999: Speedway Junky as Security Guard
 * 1999: Detroit Rock City as Beefy Jerk #2
 * 1999: The Runner as Host
 * 1999: The Debtors as The Crapsman
 * 1999: Pensacola: Wings of Gold as Tony (Credited as Steven Schirripa)
 * 1999: Angel as Benny
 * 1999: Play It to the Bone as Party Guest
 * 2000: Battery Park as Anthony
 * 2000: The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas as Croupier
 * 2000: Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye as Male Cop
 * 2000: Big Sound as Russell
 * 2001: See Spot Run as Arliss (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2001: Alex in Wonder as Steve
 * 2001: Joe Dirt as Hood (Credited as Steven Schirripa)
 * 2001: Black Scorpion as Collector #1
 * 2002: Monday Night Mayhem as Sal
 * 2003: Columbo as Freddie (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2003: George Lopez as Tommy Durango (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2003: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Paulie Obregano (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2003: My Wife and Kids as Insurance Salesman
 * 2003: Ed as Sandy Buckman
 * 2003: High Roller: The Stu Ungar Story as Anthony
 * 2004: Law & Order as Frederico Libretti
 * 2004: What Are the Odds as Tony
 * 2004: Star Trek: Enterprise as Carmine (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa) Episode: "Storm Front"
 * 2004: Joey as The Pit Boss (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2005: Duane Hopwood as Steve (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2005: Justice League as Cecil (voice)
 * 2005: Must Love Dogs as Vinnie (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2005: Meet the Mobsters as Tony (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2000–2007: The Sopranos as Bobby "Bacala" Baccalieri
 * 2007: ''TNA Impact! as Himself/Cousin Steve
 * 2007: The Podge and Rodge Show
 * 2008: A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa as Mobster
 * 2008: The Replacements
 * 2008: Open Season 2 as Roberto (voice)
 * 2008: Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! as Himself
 * 2008–2013: The Secret Life of the American Teenager as Leo Boykewich (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2009: Stargate: Atlantis as Poker Player #2
 * 2009: Circledrawers as Human Protecter
 * 2009: The Hungry Ghosts as Frank
 * 2009: Ugly Betty as Frankie Burrata (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2009-2012: Aqua Teen Hunger Force as Terry's Partner (voice, uncredited in "She Creature", credited in "Bookie")
 * 2009: My Fake Fiancé as The Monkey (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2009: Face the Ace
 * 2009: Jordon Saffron Taste This! as Louie
 * 2009: Brothers as Louie
 * 2010: Hereafter as Cooking Teacher "Carlo" (Credited as Steven R. Schirripa)
 * 2010: The World of Richard P. Cummings Jr. as Richard Cummings Sr.
 * 2010: Open Season 3 as Roberto (voice)
 * 2011: Kill the Irishman as Mike Frato
 * 2011: Nothing Personal - host and executive producer
 * 2013: Karma's A B*tch! - host and executive producer
 * 2013: Nicky Deuce as Uncle Frankie
 * 2013: A Poet Long Ago as Sonny Rosselli
 * 2014: American Dad! (voice)
 * 2014: Jersey Boys as Vito
 * 2015: Benders as Vito
 * 2015: The Jack and Triumph Show as Himself
 * 2015–Present: Blue Bloods as Detective Anthony Abetemarco
 * 2016: The Eric André Show as Himself
 * 2017: Wonder Wheel as Nick
 * 2017: Last Week Tonight as Himself
 * 2017: The Untitled Action Bronson Show as Himself