Joseph R. Gannascoli

Joseph R. Gannascoli
Gannascoli in 2011
Born	(1959-02-15) February 15, 1959 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actor, chef
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Diana Gannascoli ​ ​ (m. 2005)​
Children	1

Joseph R. Gannascoli (born February 15, 1959) is an American actor and chef. He is best known for his portrayal of Vito Spatafore on the HBO series The Sopranos.

Early life

Gannascoli was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1980s, he attended St. John's University for two years, majoring in communications.

Career

Gannascoli received his "big break" in acting from Benicio del Toro, whom he met on the set on Money for Nothing. After appearing in Ed Wood, Del Toro later cast Gannascoli in his directorial debut, Submission. He also introduced him to Sheila Jaffe and Georgianne Walken, who did casting work for the HBO TV series The Sopranos.

Gannascoli appeared in films including Mickey Blue Eyes and television shows including Law and Order before appearing on The Sopranos as a pastry shop patron named "Gino" in the season one episode "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti". He later secured a recurring role as the nephew of Richie Aprile, Vito Spatafore, in the season two episode "The Happy Wanderer". Along with Dan Grimaldi playing identical twins Patsy and Phillip "Philly Spoons" Parisi and Saundra Santiago playing identical twins Jeannie and Joannie Cusamano, it was one of the three times that the show used a single actor for separate roles. Prior to the start of Season 6, Gannascoli was promoted to series regular. Gannascoli brought the idea to the writers of making his character gay from a true story of the Gambino crime family, in a book called Murder Machine.

Gannascoli later appeared in other films including Men in Black III. He stars in the 2015 movie An Act of War.

In 2019, he appeared on an episode of the cannabis-themed competition cooking show, Bong Appétit: Cook Off. He appeared with Vincent Pastore on Gordon Ramsay's 24 Hours to Hell and Back on January 21, 2020.

Gannascoli appeared in the pilot episode of Bring on the Dancing Horses with Kate Bosworth.

Novel

In January 2006, Gannascoli published a crime novel called A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime.

Culinary career

Before beginning his acting career, Gannascoli had worked for decades in the food service industry, working at restaurants in New York City and New Orleans, and founding one in Brooklyn, which he cashed out of in 1990 due to gambling debt.

Since around 2017, Gannascoli has offered catering services for small parties, often Sopranos-themed, doing most of the cooking himself.

Filmography

Film

Years	Title	Role	Notes
1993	Money for Nothing	Charlie DiSalvio
1994	Ed Wood	Security Guard
1995	Never Talk to Strangers	Carnival Attendant
	Submission	Eddie	Short
1996	Basquiat	Guard at Hospital
	The Funeral	Rocco
1997	976-WISH	Frankle	Short
	Blowfish	Gino Calbrese
1998	Blunt	Paramedic
1999	On the Run	Burly Guy
	Mickey Blue Eyes	Jimmy, Gina's Doorman
2000	Two Family House	Counter Guy
2004	The Kings of Brooklyn	Trader the Hut
	Never in Our Town	Barber	Short
2005	Meet the Mobsters	Abner Hunnicutt
2006	Beer League	Giusuppe Primavera
	Dog's Life	Manager	Video
2008	College Road Trip	Mr. Arcara
	The Egg	Ralph	Short
2009	Reality Horror Night	Himself
	Situation	Goat	Short
2010	Corrado	Frankie D'Onofrio
	Circus Maximus	Uncle Vic
2011	The Reunion	David Bass
	Delsin	Himself
2012	Men in Black 3	New York Mets Fan #2
	Desperate Endeavors	Neil Bates
2013	Chasing Taste	Murphy
	Fratello	Tony
	Pray for Us Sinners	Angelo	Short
	My Cross to Bear	Danny's Boxing Trainer	Short
2014	Rob the Mob	Dom
	Leaving Circadia	Nat
	Gilgamesh	Senator Higgins
	Other Plans	Gus
2015	An Act of War	Frank
2017	Crossed Lines	Cop
	Jason's Letter	Principal (Pratt) Prattoli
2019	The Brawler	John
	Gabriella	Carlo	Short
2020	The One	Frankie
2021	Last Call	Charlie
	Burn	-	Short
2022	White Hot Fury	Charlie	Short
	King Lahiri	Frabizio Vitelli

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	The Sopranos	Bakery Customer	Episode: "The Legend of Tennessee Moltisanti"
2000–06	The Sopranos	Vito Spatafore	Recurring Cast: Seasons 2-6
2004	Law & Order	Artie Baldo	Episode: "Everybody Loves Raimondo's"
2011	White Collar	Salvatore	Episode: "On the Fence"
2018	John the Thief	Richard Moon	Recurring Cast
2022-23	Bring on the Dancing Horses	Sal	Main Cast

Video Game

Year	Title	Role
2006	The Sopranos: Road to Respect	Vito Spatafore (voice)

External links

• Joseph R. Gannascoli at IMDb
• Joe Gannascoli In-Depth Profile at AventuraUSA.com
• Joe Gannascoli Interview on World Talk LIVE!