
Acting
Mar 9, 1937
New York, USA
Joe Viterelli
Acting
Biography
Joseph "Joe" Viterelli (March 10, 1937 – January 28, 2004) was an Italian American actor known for his mafioso-orientated character roles. Joe Viterelli was born to Italian immigrants in Bronx, New York. Before Viterelli became an actor, he was a successful businessman in New York City. He had befriended director Leo Penn (actor Sean Penn's father), who initially tried but failed to persuade Viterelli to pursue acting because of his unique and typically Italian looks. Some years later, Sean Penn approached Viterelli and asked him to try out for a part as a favor: Viterelli did and went on to appear in State of Grace and then in over 40 movies. Joe Viterelli became an icon of Mafia-Movies. Viterelli died on January 28, 2004 in Las Vegas, Nevada due to a severe stomach hemorrhage, a complication of just-completed heart surgery. He was 66 years old. His last role was as a mobster in a 2004 Super Bowl ad for Staples, Inc. and his last movie role was as Jelly in Harold Ramis’ Analyze That.
Feature Films (27)

Hell's Kitchen, New York. Terry Noonan returns home after a ten-year absence. He soon reconnects with Jackie, a childhood friend and member of the Irish mob, and rekindles his love affair with Jackie's sister Kathleen.
State of Grace

A tragic love story set against the turbulent backdrop of the 1920's Chicago jazz clubs. Georgia, a beautiful black singer catches the eye of mobster Johnny Varona. But Johnny is betrothed to the daughter of mob boss Costanza, a man you don't say no to... and live! Can Johnny and Georgia find a way to fulfill their love -and- stay alive? Or will the mob prove to be an insurmountable force.
Black Rose of Harlem

After young playwright, David Shayne obtains funding for his play from gangster Nick Valenti, Nick's girlfriend Olive miraculously lands the role of a psychiatrist—but not only is she a bimbo who could never pass for a psychiatrist—she's a dreadful actress. David puts up with the leading man who is a compulsive eater, the grand dame who wants her part jazzed up, and Olive's interfering hitman/bodyguard—but, eventually he must decide whether art or life is more important.
Bullets Over Broadway

Eraser, an elite federal marshal who "erases" the pasts of jeopardized informers and relocates them into safe anonymity, must protect a moving target who stands to uncover a conspiracy that could shift the balance of power in the world forever.
Eraser

Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.
Analyze This

The mafia's Paul Vitti is back in prison and will need some serious counseling when he gets out. Naturally, he returns to his analyst Dr. Ben Sobel for help and finds that Sobel needs some serious help himself as he has inherited the family practice, as well as an excess stock of stress.
Analyze That

Unable to move on from the loss of his daughter, Freddy, now a shell of the person he was before, swears to kill the man responsible for her death.
The Crossing Guard

After taking his dying father's advice, Hal dates only the embodiments of female physical perfection. But that all changes after Hal has an unexpected run-in with self-help guru Tony Robbins. Intrigued by Hal's shallowness, Robbins hypnotizes him into seeing the beauty that exists even in the least physically appealing women. Hal soon falls for Rosemary, but he doesn't realize that his gorgeous girlfriend is actually a 300-pound-not-so-hottie.
Shallow Hal

A hardened New Orleans cop, Dave Robicheaux, finally tosses in the badge and settles into life on the bayou with his wife. But a bizarre plane crash draws him back into the fray when his family is viciously threatened.
Heaven's Prisoners

A drug sniffing agent canine is a target for an assassin boss so the FBI calls Witness Protection to send him somewhere else. Meanwhile a single Mom puts her 6 year old boy James in the care of her irresponsible, mailman, neighbor, Gordon, when the babysitter bails on her. Meanwhile, an assassin mob boss hires 2 goons to kill Agent 11. But when 11 escapes from the van when they tried to kill him, he hides in Gordon's Mailtruck that James is in too. And guess what they name him. Spot.
See Spot Run

Fact and fiction are combined in this story about Jack Ruby and a stripper, Candy Cane, and how they become involved in a conspiracy to kill J.F.K.
Ruby

Somewhere on the fringe of society, ten dangerous strangers are on a road to Red's Desert Oasis Diner. Packing more fire power than the LA police force, two hitmen, two hoods, two outlaws, and a mixed bag of other quirky characters hilariously converge for the showdown of a lifetime.
American Strays
Television & Series (4)

Tony Scali is a former Brooklyn cop now the Police Commissioner of a small upstate city. But for Scali, this is no desk job. He's a tough yet compassionate boss, a loving husband and father, and a hands-on law enforcer with an unorthodox style of bending the rules. From parenthood to politics, from sex crimes to murder cases, one man takes it day-to-day with offbeat humor and street- smart skill.
The Commish

The Strip is a short-lived American action drama series which aired on the UPN television network during the 1999-2000 season.
The Strip

Palace Guard is the story of a reformed jewel thief and cat burglar, Tommy Logan, who, after serving three years in prison, is released on parole and accepts an offer to become the head of security for the posh Palace Hotel chain. There were two reasons for this somewhat unusual job offer. One was that Logan had previously enjoyed great success in stealing from the high-class clientele of the Palace chain, and hence it was thought that he'd understand how to prevent others from doing so. And the other was that Tommy was the illegitimate son of the chain's owner, Arturo Taft, though Taft did not reveal this to Logan. The show centered primarily around the working relationship between Logan and his new boss, Christy Cooper, the hotel chain's Vice-President of Public Relations. In each episode, Logan and Cooper travelled to a hotel in a different city where Logan would help avert some disaster using quirky and questionable methods, leaving Cooper to sweep up the fallout.
Palace Guard

A neo-noir anthology television series, set in somber Los Angeles right after World War II and before the election of American President John F. Kennedy. The episodes, although filmed in color, mimicked what had been done by Hollywood filmmakers during the film noir era of the 1940s and 1950s in terms of tone, look, and story content.
