American actor Joe Mantegna is one of Hollywood’s living legends. The veteran actor has had a successful career in theater, television, and film. Mantegna’s acting career spans over five decades, in which he has starred in over 150 productions across television and film.
The Chicago-born actor is often known for his weathered-down Chicago accent. Over the years, he has also earned a reputation for playing mobsters or law enforcement officers. As he returns to play FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi in 2024, here’s everything to know about the Criminal Minds star, Joe Mantegna.
Joe Mantegna’s Parents Were Italian Americans
Joe Mantegna’s penchant for playing Italian characters/mobsters and doing so incredibly well comes from his natural understanding of the culture. His father, Joseph Henry Mantegna, was an insurance salesman from Calascibetta, Sicily. His mother, Mary Ann (née Novelli), was a shipping clerk from Acquaviva delle Fonti, Apulia, Italy. Mantegna lost his father to tuberculosis in 1971, while his mother died in 2017. Joe Mantegna was born in Chicago, Illinois, on November 13, 1947.
Joe Mantegna Has Always Been Attracted to the Performing Arts
While he was still young, Joe Mantegna loved drama and music. He learned to play bass and was part of a local band called The Apocryphals. As the band’s popularity grew, they joined forces with another local band, The Missing Links, performing together. Both bands later merged to form the rock band Chicago. Mantegna attended the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago (now at DePaul University) to pursue his acting career. However, Joe Mantegna never graduated as he dropped out in 1969, just before graduation.
He Made His Acting Debut In 1969
As much as he appreciated drama school, Joe Mantegna dropped out to focus on kick-starting/establishing the acting career he had always wanted when the opportunity presented itself. Mantegna made his professional acting debut in 1969, the same year he dropped out of the Goodman School of Drama. He was one of the performers in the Chicago production of the stage musical Hair.
His next notable stage performance was his Broadway debut in 1978. Mantegna played Emilio Hernandez/Dave McCormick in the musical play Working. The Broadway production was directed by Stephen Schwartz and opened on May 14, 1978, at the 46th Street Theatre. Working ran for 24 performances and 12 previews. Joe Mantegna’s last stage performances were in the mid and late 1980s, where he played Richard Roma and Bobby Gould in Glengarry Glen Ross (1984–1985) and Speed-the-Plow (1988), respectively.
Joe Mantegna’s Screen Debut Was In 1977
Joe Mantegna’s screen debut was in film. He was cast as Joey in the dramatic short film Medusa Challenger. Mantegna plays a mentally challenged character in the movie alongside Jack Wallace, who plays his uncle. Both characters sell flowers on downtown Chicago’s busy Lake Shore Drive bridge. They get separated when the freight-carrying vessel, SS Medusa Challenger, passes through the river, causing the drawbridge to be raised. Mantegna received praise for his performance.
Two years later, Mantegna made his television debut in the TV movie Elvis (1979). It was a biographical film about the late singer, with Kurt Russell portraying Elvis Presley. Mantegna portrayed Elvis’s road manager and close friend, Joe Esposito. The ABC made-for-television biopic was a critical success. It received a nomination for Best Motion Picture Made for Television at the 1980 Golden Globe Awards.
Joe Mantegna Has Played Several Iconic Characters In Movies And TV Shows
Besides the two longest-running characters of his career, Joe Mantegna Has several credits portraying iconic figures. His biggest role in movies (arguably his breakthrough role) was playing Joey Zasa in Francis Ford Coppola’s final installment in The Godfather trilogy, The Godfather Part III (1990). He played the movie’s antagonist, challenging Michael Corleone’s (Al Pacino) authority. He’s subsequently gunned down by Vincent Mancini (Andy García).
The next year, Mantegna portrayed American film actor and dancer George Raft in the biographical crime drama Bugsy (1991). In 1993, he portrayed American novelist and writer Fred Waitzkin in Steven Zaillian’s directorial debut movie Searching for Bobby Fischer. Over two decades later, he portrayed American mobster Bugsy Siegel in the historical fiction neo-noir black comedy Kill Me, Deadly. Between the decades, Mantegna portrayed American singer, actor, and comedian Dean Martin in the TV movie The Rat Pack (1998). He also portrayed Robert B. Parker’s fictional private investigator, Spenser, in the 1999 TV movie Spenser: Small Vices.
Joe Mantegna’s Longest-Running Characters/Roles
Most television audiences know and recognize Joe Mantegna for playing FBI Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi in the CBS Jeff Davis-created police procedural crime-drama Criminal Minds. As one of its main cast, Mantegna appeared in all 16 seasons of the show, from 2007 to 2020. Joe Mantegna also reprised the role in 2 episodes of its spin-off show, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, from 2016 to 2017. Mantegna currently plays the character in Criminal Minds: Evolution.
However, although the Criminal Minds franchise is his most famous project, it isn’t his longest-running role. Joe Mantegna voices the recurring character Fat Tony in the longest-running American animated and scripted primetime television series The Simpsons. It is a character he has voiced since 1991. Unsurprisingly, Mantegna’s Fat Tony’s character is a mobster and the underboss of the Springfield Mafia. The character first appeared in season 3, episode 4 (“Bart the Murderer”) of the show.
Joe Mantegna originated the character in what was initially planned as a one-time guest appearance. However, the audience loved the character, and it has been written since then. Mantegna has long expressed his love for the character, commitment, and availability whenever he’s called to voice Fat Tony. Besides the late Canadian-born American actor and comedian Phil Hartman, who voiced the character in season 7, episode 19 (“A Fish Called Selma”), Joe Mantegna has been the only actor voicing Fat Tony. If you enjoyed reading about Joe Mantegna, also read about Leslie Charleson, General Hospital’s longest-running cast member.
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