More than just Fat Tony
Monday, August 13th, 2007
When I think of Joe Mantegna, I think of the mafia…or at least mafia movies. Apparently, a lot of other people do too. He’s been in The Last Don, as Pippi De Lena, Don Clericuzio’s right hand man/hit man. He won an Emmy for that role and starred in the sequal, the aptly named The Last Don II. He also played in the third Godfather movie. He’s even a cartoon mobster.
But Joe Mantegna also starred in Joan of Arcadia, a CBS show in which the title character communicates with God. He, like Mandy Patinkin, is a Tony Award Winner (The Glengarry Glenn Ross). He portrayed Dean Martin in The Rat Pack.
He’s played a cop in Homicide, Persons Unknown, Above Suspicion, and Albino Alligator (which I’ve never heard of but my boyfriend, Kevin Spacey, directed it!) So, maybe he will be a good FBI profiler. I still have doubts about it, but I’m liking him more and more.
And one more reason why I’m coming around to Joe Mantegna. This has absolutely nothing to do with his acting ability or whether he’d make a good FBI agent, but it makes me think of him as a real person: His daughter Mia Marie was born prematurely on June 5, 1987 after doctors identified an infection in the umbilical cord. She weighed only 1 pound, 15 ounces and was reportedly one of the smallest babies born in California that year. When Mia was 2 1/2, she was diagnosed with Autism.
I see him as more than a mob character now. Since I addicted to YouTube lately, here’s a clip from the Craig Kilborn Show, in which Joe Mantegna faces Kylie Minogue in an intense game of Yambo. He’s one of those funny guys who are non-funny. Or a non-funny guy who’s funny.
