Stanley Tucci, Jr. was born on 11 November 1960 in Peekskill, New York, USA. He is a Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning Screen Actors Guild and Tony Award-nominated American actor, writer, film producer and film director.

Like many another contemporary movie and TV favorite, Stanley Tucci is a graduate of the drama department at SUNY-Purchase. Tucci made his film bow in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, after which he specialized in playing lowlifes and scuzzbags, despite his offscreen credentials as a loyal friend and loving family man. Some of his more memorable appearances were as Rick Pinzolo in TV's Wiseguy (1987-1989), a minor-league thug named Vernon in Beethoven (1992), and a Middle-Eastern assassin in The Pelican Brief (1993). Tucci acquired a fan following of sorts for his slimy year-long role of Richard Cross on the weekly TV series Murder One (1995).

In 1996, Tucci broke loose from his established screen persona by playing an ambitious Italian-American restaurateur in Big Night, the most delightfully "gastronomic" film since Like Water for Chocolate. The art-house favorite was a sheer labor of love for Tucci, who served as its producer, co-wrote its script with his cousin Joe Tropiano, and shared directorial duties with his friend Campbell Scott. Tucci again directed two years later with The Impostors, a farcical comedy that cast him and longtime friend Oliver Platt as two stowaways on an ocean liner. Unlike Big Night, however, the film did not do well with audiences or critics. After starring in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1998) as Puck and In Too Deep (1999) as a police supervisor, Tucci again stepped behind the camera, this time to direct Joe Gould's Secret (2000).

A historical drama about an eccentric man (Ian Holm) living on the streets of Greenwich Village, it received a very enthusiastic reception at the 2000 Sundance Festival, where it premiered. The early 2000s seemed to be a winning period for the versatile actor, with Tucci also taking home the Best Supporting Actor in a television movie award for his role in Conspiracy (2001). That same year he appeared in America's Sweethearts as an intense movie mogul. He continued doing solid work even when the finished films were sometimes lacking. He played in the Jennifer Lopez hit Maid in Manhattan, Sam Mendes' Road to Perdition, the American remake of Shall We Dance?, and landed his largest role in a major Hollywood production when Steven Spielberg cast him as the ambitious, officious manager of The Terminal. Tucci lent his voice to the animated film The Robots in 2005, and the next year earned solid notices for his work opposite as a fashion magazine editor loyal to the diva editor in chief Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

Tucci lives in Westchester County, New York with his wife, Kate, and their three children, twins Isabel and Nicolo, and Camilla. In addition to acting, Tucci is co-owner of the Finch Tavern restaurant in Croton Falls, New York.

Credits by Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Filmography

• Cat Tale (2008)
• The Lovely Bones (2008)
• The Tale of Despereaux (2008)
• Space Chimps (2008)
• Swing Vote (2008)
• Kit Kittredge: An American Girl Mystery (2008)
• What Just Happened? (2008)
• Blind Date (2007)
• "ER" (4 episodes, 2007)
• Four Last Songs (2007)
• "3 lbs." (5 episodes, 2006)
• The Hoax (2006)
• "Monk" (1 episode, 2006)
• The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
• Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
• Robots (2005)
• Shall We Dance (2004)
• The Terminal (2004)
• The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004)
• "Frasier" (1 episode, 2004)
• Spin (2003)
• The Core (2003)
• Maid in Manhattan (2002)
• Road to Perdition (2002)
• Big Trouble (2002)
• The Whole Shebang (2001)
• America's Sweethearts (2001)
• Conspiracy (2001)
• Sidewalks of New York (2001)
• "Bull" (5 episodes, 2000)
• Joe Gould's Secret (2000)
• In Too Deep (1999)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
• Winchell (1998)
• The Impostors (1998)
• Montana (1998)
• The Eighteenth Angel (1998)
• A Life Less Ordinary (1997)
• Life During Wartime (1997)
• Deconstructing Harry (1997)
• "Murder One" (22 episodes, 1995-1996)
• Big Night (1996)
• The Daytrippers (1996)
• A Modern Affair (1995)
• Sex & the Other Man (1995)
• Kiss of Death (1995)
• Jury Duty (1995)
• Somebody to Love (1994)
• Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)
• It Could Happen to You (1994)
• The Pelican Brief (1993)
• Undercover Blues (1993)
• The Public Eye (1992)
• The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag (1992)
• Prelude to a Kiss (1992)
• Beethoven (1992)
• In the Soup (1992)
• Billy Bathgate (1991)
• "Equal Justice" (3 episodes, 1991)
• Men of Respect (1991)
• "Lifestories" (1 episode, 1990)
• Quick Change (1990)
• Revealing Evidence: Stalking the Honolulu Strangler (1990)
• The Feud (1990)
• "thirtysomething" (2 episodes, 1989-1990)
• Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989)
• Slaves of New York (1989)
• "Wiseguy" (5 episodes, 1988-1989)
• "The Equalizer" (1 episode, 1988)
• Monkey Shines (1988)
• "Miami Vice" (3 episodes, 1986-1988)
• "The Street" (1988)
• Who's That Girl? (1987)
• Kojak: The Price of Justice (1987)
• "Crime Story" (1 episode, 1987)
• Prizzi's Honor (1985)

Awards

• Golden Globe Award Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television "Conspiracy" 2001
• Emmy Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie "Winchell" 1998 - 99
• Golden Globe Award Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television "Winchell" 1998
• Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Screenplay "Big Night" 1996
• Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best New Director "Big Night" 1996
• Golden Satellite Best Supporting Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television "Murder One" 1996
• Independent Spirit Award Best First Screenplay "Big Night" 1996
• New York Film Critics Circle Award Best First Film "Big Night" 1996
• Sundance Film Festival Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award "Big Night" 1996