John turturro was born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 28, 1957, the son of Nicholas, a worker who emigrated from Giovinazzo, Italy to the United States and participated in D-Day; his mother, also of Italian origin, Katherine, was a jazz singer.
John He is the second of three brothers, between Nicholas turturro Y Ralph; Nicholas He is also an actor and they are cousins of the actress Aida turturro.
John He spent part of his childhood in Hollis until his family moved to the Rosedale neighborhood in Queens, New York, when he was six years old. He grew up watching boxing and old movies on television, and was largely inspired by Kirk douglas Y Burt lancaster.
He graduated from the “State University of New York at New Paltz “, and studied fine arts in “Yale School of Drama”. He worked as a waiter, a laborer with his father, and even taught history.
His film debut was in 1980, working as an extra in the film “Wild bull” from Martin Scorsese; John wrote his own scene with his friend Michael Badalucco, then they went to the audition where Scorsese and the actor Robert De Niro, they were both hired as extras, not appearing in the credits.
He later made brief appearances in blockbuster movies like “Exterminator 2” (1984); “The Flamingo Kid” (1984); “Desperately looking for Susan“(1985), starring Madonna; “Live and Die in LA“(1985), with Willem dafoe; the winner of three awards Oscar, directed by Woody Allen “Hannah and her sisters“(1986) and the drama of Martin Scorsese“The color of money“(1986), starring Paul newman Y Tom cruise.
In 1987, he worked on “Five corners“, a very low-budget film, in which he worked alongside Tim robbins Y Jodie foster.
His performance served to attract the attention of the director Spike lee, who really liked his performance, hiring him two years later as part of the cast of “Do what you have to“(1989), a successful production, in which he played the role of”Pine tree” a racist, and in which he worked alongside Danny Aiello and the same Spike lee among others.
This film was the first of the collaborations between the famous director and John turturro, then they would follow “The more the better” (1990), “Wild fever“(1991),”Clockers: camels” (nineteen ninety five), “Girl 6” (nineteen ninety six), “A bad play“(1998),”Summer of sam“(1999) and”She Hate Me“(2004).
Turturro He is a versatile actor, both in comedies and dramas and also has an extensive list of collaborations with the brothers Coen, the first in “Death among the flowers “ (1990), and the following year in “Barton Fink”.
His starring role as “Barton Fink“It was one of the most memorable of his career, earning him the Award for the male performance of the Cannes Film Festival. The movie turned out to be a success, with actors like John goodman, Jon polito Y Steve Buscemi. Then it would appear in “The big lebowski“(1998) and more recently in”Or Brother?“(2000), co-starring George Clooney.
In the ’90s, in addition to the aforementioned collaborations with Spike lee and the brothers Coen, John I participate in “The Clan of the Irish“(1990), together with Sean Penn Y Gary Oldman; was the protagonist of the thriller “Men of respect“(1991); wrote and directed”Mac “ (1992 “a drama in which his brother also acted Nicholas turturro; starred in the film directed by Robert Redford “Quiz Show“(1994) and”Down the curtain“(1999), directed by Tim robbins, among other.
Already in the new millennium, he starred alongside Christina Ricci “Sneaky lives“(2000); “Lives told” (2001) with Matthew McConaughey; the thriller “Collateral damage” (2002) together with Arnold schwarzenegger; “Aggressive executive “ (2003) and “The secret Window” (2004) with Johnny depp;
Occasionally he participates as a guest star in the series “Monk”, As the egocentric brother of Adrian, Ambrose monk; role that in 2004 earned him an Award Emmy.
Turturro in addition to acting, he is also dedicated to film direction and production, in the film “Illuminata “ (1999), in which his wife also acts, Katherine borowitz. He also wrote and directed Romance & Cigarettes”(2005), a film that had a great cast and was produced by the brothers Coen.
Most recently, he worked at “The Good Shepherd”, a blockbuster directed and produced by Robert De Niro and nominated for the Oscars, playing the role of the companion of Edward wilson (Matt Damon), CIA agent
He was in the recently released dramatic comedy “Margot at the Wedding“(2007), starring Nicole Kidman; was the Agent Simmons on “Transformers “ (2007); starred in Dick bell in the film produced and starred by Robert De Niro and directed by Barry levinson, “What Just Happened?“(2008), together with Bruce Willis Y Stanley tucci, and went The Phantom in the new comedy of Adam Sandler “Do not play with Zohan“.
Among his next works is the latest film by Spike lee, “Miracle at St. Anna“(2008), set in World War II;”The Taking of Pelham 123 “ (2009), a thriller starring Denzel Washington Y John Travolta; “Nutcracker: The Untold Story“(2009), the last production of Andrei Konchalovsky; Y “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ” (2009) the sequel to Transformers “ (2009), all in different stages of production or filming.
In his personal life, John he married the actress in 1985 “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen “ (2009) Katherine borowitz and has two children: Amedeo Y Diego.