Armand Assante

Armand Assante
Armand Assante at a film screening in Chicago 2015
Born	Armand Anthony Assante, Jr. (1949-10-04) October 4, 1949 (age 71) New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1974–present
Website	armandassante.net

Armand Anthony Assante, Jr. (/ɑːˈsɑːnti/; born October 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film Gotti, as Odysseus in the 1997 mini-series adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey, as Nietzsche in When Nietzsche Wept, and as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer in 1982's I, the Jury. His performance in Gotti earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and nominations for the Golden Globe Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award.

Early life[]

Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Armand Anthony Assante Sr. (August 5, 1922 – August 25, 2017),^[1] a painter and artist, and Katharine (née Healy) (October 16, 1921 – June 29, 2011), a music teacher, English teacher and poet.^[2][3][4] He is of Italian and Irish descent.^[5]

Career[]

During the 1970s, Assante was a regular on two NBC soap operas, How to Survive a Marriage as Johnny McGee and The Doctors as Mike Powers. His first film was The Lords of Flatbush (1974), although his work did not appear in the final cut of the film and the end credits misspelled his last name as Assanti. His first on-screen role was playing Sylvester Stallone's brother in Paradise Alley and a role that brought him greater attention came in 1980's Private Benjamin as a handsome Frenchman who becomes the love interest of a U.S. soldier played by Goldie Hawn. In 1984 he portrayed the playboy violin virtuoso Maximillian Stein in the Dudley Moore comedy vehicle Unfaithfully Yours.

Assante's somewhat sinister look has made him a popular choice for tough-guy heroes, as in his acclaimed starring role as private eye Mike Hammer in the film I, the Jury (1982) or as Mafia gangsters such as Michael Moretti in Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels. In 1990 his role as Roberto Texador in Sidney Lumet's film Q&A garnered him a Golden Globe nomination, and the following year he portrayed the notorious Bugsy Siegel in Neil Simon's The Marrying Man (1991). The following year he was seen as mafia boss Carol D'Allesandro in Hoffa (1992) starring Jack Nicholson, and crime kingpin John Gotti in the 1996 made-for-television biopic Gotti, for which he won his Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.

In addition to mafia and "tough-guy" roles, Assante has distinguished himself in historical dramas, such as Napoleon Bonaparte in 1987's Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story opposite Jacqueline Bisset, the heroic Odysseus in The Odyssey, Friedrich Nietzsche in the film adaptation of Irving Yalom's novel When Nietzsche Wept, and as Sanchez, Queen Isabella's Minister of State, in 1492: Conquest of Paradise.

Other notable film appearances include one as a Cuban bandleader in The Mambo Kings opposite Antonio Banderas and in the adaptation of the science-fiction story Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone, his co-star in Paradise Alley. He appeared in the 2007 film American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. He had a recurring guest star role in several episodes of NCIS, playing the international arms dealer René Benoit. He has also appeared in the 2009 horror film Smile as the mysterious Tollinger. Outside of the U.S., he has participated in several film projects and humanitarian endeavors in Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Other work[]

In 2013, Assante became a partner in his own premium cigar brand known as Ora Vivo Cigars.^[6]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television films[]

Television series[]

Awards and nominations[]

Emmy Awards[]

• 1989: Nominated Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Richard Mansfield in Jack the Ripper
• 1996: Won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Mafia Don John Gotti

Golden Globe Awards[]

• 1989: Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Jack the Ripper
• 1991: Nominated Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Q&A
• 1997: Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Gotti
• 1998: Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for The Odyssey

Screen Actors Guild Awards[]

• 1997: Nominated Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for Gotti

Annie Awards[]

• 2000: Nominated Male Voice Acting in a Feature Production for The Road to El Dorado

In 2010, Assante received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[7]

References[]

External links[]

• Armand Assante at IMDb
• Official website
• Armand Assante at the TCM Movie Database
• Armand Assante at AllMovie