Joe Grifasi
Actor
Biography
Joseph G. "Joe" Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Born in Buffalo, New York, Grifasi joined the U.S. Army prior to studying acting. He has appeared in more than 50 feature films including Presumed Innocent, The Deer Hunter, Big Business, Beaches, Auto Focus, Matewan, Naked Gun, Dark Matter, Natural Born Killers, Chances Are, Changing Lanes, One Fine Day, F/X, Benny & Joon, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Brewster’s Millions, Batman Forever, The Flamingo Kid, Ironweed, and Splash. His television credits include The Bronx is Burning (as Yogi Berra), 61* (as Phil Rizzuto), Law & Order, ER, LA Law, Chicago Hope, Hill Street Blues, SCTV, Roseanne, and The Practice. Grifasi’s Broadway credits include Dinner at Eight, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Memory of Two Mondays, Boy Meets Girl, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The 1940’s Radio Hour and Happy End. His off-Broadway credits include Conversations in Tusculum, The Boys Next Door (Drama Desk Nomination), Once Around the City, Golden Boy, Filumena and Says I, Says He.
He has been married to jazz soprano saxophonist and composer Jane Ira Bloom, whom he met while studying at the Yale School of Drama, since 1974.
Filmography
13 Going on 30
as Mr. Flamhaff 2004
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
as Foreman 1988
The Deer Hunter
as Bandleader 1978
Natural Born Killers
as Deputy Sheriff Duncan Homolka 1994
Naked Gun 33â…“: The Final Insult
as Director 1994
Splash
as Manny 1984
Changing Lanes
as Judge Cosell 2002
The Hudsucker Proxy
as Lou 1994
Moonstruck
as Shy Waiter 1987
Money Train
as Riley 1995
Benny & Joon
as Mike 1993
Presumed Innocent
as Tommy Molto 1990
One Fine Day
as Manny Feldstein 1996
Brewster's Millions
as J.B. Donaldo 1985
F/X
as Mickey 1986
Big Business
as Desk Clerk 1988