Stanley Tucci Jr. Known as a character actor , [ 1 ] [ 2 ] he has played a wide variety of roles ranging from menacing to sophisticated. Tucci made his film debut in John Huston 's Prizzi's Honor , before taking supporting roles in films such as Deconstructing Harry , Road to Perdition , and The Terminal He made his directorial debut with the comedy Big Night , which he also co-wrote and starred in. He attended John Jay High School , [ 4 ] where he played on the soccer and baseball teams, although his main interest lay in the school's drama club, where he and fellow actor and high school friend, Campbell Scott , son of actors George C.
Scott and Colleen Dewhurst , gave well-received performances at many of John Jay's drama club productions. Tucci then attended State University of New York at Purchase , where he majored in acting and graduated in It was Tucci who gave Rhames, born Irving, the Ving nickname by which he is known.
In , Tucci earned his Actors' Equity card when actress Colleen Dewhurst , the mother of Tucci's high-school friend, actor Campbell Scott , arranged for the two young men to have parts as soldiers in a Broadway play in which she was co-starring, [ 4 ] The Queen and the Rebels which premiered on September 30, Around this time, Tucci also worked as a model, with his most notable work being a television commercial for Levi's jeans.
Here Tucci portrayed mobster Lucky Luciano. The former spawned a franchise of the same name due to the success of the film. From to , Tucci starred in the television series Murder One as the mysterious Richard Cross. Tucci received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his performance in the series, specifically for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Following disappointing ratings, ABC decided to revamp the series resulting in Tucci being dismissed from the series.
In , Tucci co-wrote, co-directed the comedy-drama film Big Night. Tucci starred alongside Tony Shalhoub and co-wrote the screenplay with his cousin Joseph Tropiano and directed the film with friend Campbell Scott. The film also featured his sister Christine and their mother, who wrote a cookbook for the film.
