Ben Gazzara

I was born Biagio Anthony Gazzara in New York's Lower East Side on August 28, 1930 to Sicilian immigrant parents. I was a reluctant engineering student with an itch to act who finally quit college after receiving a scholarship to study acting. I was later invited to join the prestigious Actors Studio in New York and from there went on to Broadway success in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and A Hatful of Rain.Although my early promise failed to materialize into the kind of film career critics thought I might have, the worst that can be said is that I've always remained a working actor. And as any actor will tell you, especially the thousands and thousands who are constantly out of work, to be a working actor is a feat in itself.I received critical acclaim for my stage debut as Jock de Paris in End as a Man, and had my film debut in 1957 in the filmed version, The Strange One. My next film role was in Otto Preminger's Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart and Lee Remick in 1959. I am perhaps best know for my work with maverick film director John Cassavetes in Husbands, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Opening Night. For director Peter Bogdanovich, I appeared in Saint Jack and They All Laughed. Among my many other films are Voyage of the Damned, Tales of Ordinary Madness, and Roadhouse. Newer feature films include Joel and Ethan Coen's The Big Lebowski, as well as The Spanish Prisoner which I did with David Mamet. There is also The Shadow Conspiracy, Vicious Circles, Illuminata, Happiness, Buffalo 66 and most recently I worked with the famed Danish director Lars Von Trier in his film Dogville. I'm currently living in Italy. I enjoy the climate and it's not as hectic as New York. And I get to speak Italian every day, which is especially nice.