| Vincent D'Onofrio | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth name | Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio | |||||
| Born | June 30 1959 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
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| Other name(s) | Vincent Philip D'Onofrio | |||||
| Years active | 1983–present | |||||
| Spouse(s) | Carin van der Donk (1997–present) Greta Scacchi (1991 - 1993) |
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Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and producer. He first gained attention for his role as Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence in Full Metal Jacket, and is now best known for playing Det. Robert Goren in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
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Biography
Early life
D'Onofrio was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Italian descent.[1] His family moved around in his youth, and he grew up in Hawaii, Florida, and Colorado. He graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida in 1977 and then attended a Colorado University for about 18 months. He then dropped out of college to pursue acting. He was accepted for study with the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York City.[2]
Career
In 1984, D'Onofrio became a full member of the American Stanislavsky Theatre and appeared in a number of its productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open Admissions. Before this breakthrough, he had been acting in New York University student films and was working as a bouncer.[2] In 1987, D'Onofrio entered the mainstream consciousness with two film roles that showcased his range as an actor. Most notable was the role of the obese Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket. This was D'Onofrio's first major role, and he gained 70 pounds (32 kg) for the part,[3] which still stands as the Guinness World Record, for most weight gained for a single movie role. The other role was that of Dawson, the owner of Dawson's Garage in Adventures in Babysitting, which was directed by Chris Columbus. D'Onofrio only appears in one pivotal scene (near the end of the movie), but his role was memorable in that his muscular physique and long blonde hair cause Sara (the film's youngest character) to mistakenly believe that he is actually Thor, the superhero she idolizes. In the time since, D'Onofrio has continued to play a wide variety of roles, including iconic director Orson Welles in Tim Burton's Ed Wood, farmer Edgar and the evil "Bug" from Men in Black, the father of a saint in Nancy Savoca's Household Saints, Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman in Steal This Movie, time traveler from the distant future in Happy Accidents, and fictional serial killer Carl Stargher in The Cell. He also has dabbled in film production and direction, having, to date, produced two movies, The Whole Wide World and Guy in 1996 and 1997, respectively, executive produced two others, The Velocity of Gary in 1998 and Steal This Movie in 2000 and directed the short Five Minutes, Mr. Welles in 2005. This last represents a culmination of D'Onofrio's desire to improve on his performance as Welles in Ed Wood, which reputedly left director Tim Burton underwhelmed and in need of a voice-over artist (Maurice LaMarche) despite D'Onofrio's uncanny physical resemblance to the late actor/director. D'Onofrio has since moved to the small screen. He received an Emmy nomination in 1997 for his appearance as John Lange, the doomed victim in the acclaimed "Subway" episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He currently stars as Det. Robert Goren, a principal character, on the NBC television show Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In 2003, it was reported that D'Onofrio and Joe Pantoliano began work on a small film titled Little Victories about a 12-year old boy whose perceptions of the world are forever changed when his gangster uncle comes to live with him.[4] According to a television interview with Pantoliano, 'Little Victories' was not completed and went into turnaround due to a failure to raise all of the necessary funds for production. In November 2005, D'Onofrio won Best Actor at the Stockholm International Film Festival for his role as Mike Cobb in the independent film Thumbsucker. In 2006, D'Onofrio again appeared on the big screen in The Break Up, starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. In it, D'Onofrio played Vaughn's somewhat eccentric brother. The two had previously appeared together in The Cell, where Vaughn co-starred as an FBI agent attempting to catch D'Onofrio, and Thumbsucker.
Personal life
D'Onofrio's older sister, actress Elizabeth D'Onofrio, teaches acting in Asheville, North Carolina and he is one of the founders of the River Run International Film Festival (Winston-Salem, North Carolina), along with his sister and their father Gene D'Onofrio[5]. He has a brother named William but not much is known of him. D'Onofrio has a daughter, Leila George D'Onofrio, born 1992 in Australia. Leila's mother is actress Greta Scacchi, with whom D'Onofrio made several movies in the late '80s and early '90s (including The Player and Fires Within). After that relationship ended, D'Onofrio married Carin van der Donk on March 22, 1997. The couple have a son Elias, born late 1999. D'Onofrio and van der Donk separated in October 2003,[6] and have since reconciled and are expecting a baby. [7][8] In late 2004, D'Onofrio experienced a health scare when he collapsed on the set of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on November 10. He collapsed again at home a few days later and was taken back to the hospital for more thorough testing, where he was diagnosed with exhaustion.[9] Subsequently, the series' producers introduced a second team of detectives in 2005, Mike Logan (Chris Noth) and Carolyn Barek (Annabella Sciorra), later replacing Sciorra with Julianne Nicholson playing Det. Megan Wheeler.[10] Now with the start of the new 2007-2008 season, Logan's partner is played by Alicia Witt.
Confusion
In 2004, another actor by the same name, Vincent D'Onofrio, sued Madonna and her director-husband, Guy Ritchie, alleging they stole the idea for the 2002 film remake of Swept Away.
Partial filmography
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Television (including notable guest appearances)
- Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001—) as Det. Robert Goren
- Men in Black: The Series as Bugs (voice) in "The Big Bad Bug Syndrome" (Episode 2.5)
- Homicide: Life on the Street as John Lange in "The Subway" (Episode 6.7)
- The Equalizer as Davy Baylor in "Suspicion of Innocence" (Episode 3.3) and as Thomas Marley in "Counterfire" (Episode 2.7)
- Miami Vice as Leon Wolf in "The Afternoon Plane" (Episode 3.17)
Documentaries
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Seattle International Film Festival | ||
| Preceded by Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects |
Best Actor for The Whole Wide World 1996 |
Succeeded by Brendan Fraser for Still Breathing |
| Saturn Awards | ||
| Preceded by Brent Spiner for Star Trek: First Contact |
Best Supporting Actor for Men in Black 1997 |
Succeeded by Ian McKellen for Apt Pupil |
References
- ^ Mason, Dave. "'Criminal Intent' detective to face personal trauma", Ventura County Star, 2007-10-01. Retrieved on 2007-10-01.
- ^ a b NBC Universal Media Village: Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Vincent D'Onofrio
- ^ IMDB Vincent D'Onofrio (I) - Biography
- ^ The Hollywood Reporter: Pantoliano, D'Onofrio in 'Little' film
- ^ http://www.riverrunfilm.com/2007/about_history.asp
- ^ My Way - Liz Smith November 16, 2003
- ^ people.com/October 15, 2007 D'Onofrio and his family reside in New York where Law & Order: Criminal Intent is filmed.
- ^ Vincent D'Onofrio Biography on NBC
- ^ Variety.com - D'Onofrio returns to 'Law and Order'
- ^ NBC Universal Media Village: Law & Order: Criminal Intent
- ^ http://interactive.wgbh.org/wgbh/tv/homicide/factsheet.html
