Misplaced Pages

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Dominic Chianese" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Dominic Chianese
Chianese in November 2011
Born	(1931-02-24) February 24, 1931 (age 93) New York City, U.S.
Occupations	Actor singer musician
Years active	1952–present

Dominic Chianese (/kiːəˈneɪsiː/; kee-ə-NAY-see; born February 24, 1931) is an American actor, singer, and musician. He is best known for his roles as Junior Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos (1999–2007), Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II (1974), and Leander Whitlock in Boardwalk Empire (2011–2013).

Early life

Chianese was born in the Bronx borough of New York City on February 24, 1931. His father was a bricklayer. His paternal grandfather was Italian and left Afragola for New York in 1904. Chianese graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1948. He first attended Champlain College in Plattsburgh, New York, but the university was closed due to the start of the Korean War. He later graduated from Brooklyn College in 1961 with a bachelor's degree in speech and theater.

Career

After a decade of attending college and appearing in off-Broadway theatre, Chianese attended his first professional acting class at HB Studio in Manhattan with renowned teacher Walt Witcover. His first Broadway show was Oliver! in 1965. He has continued to perform on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theatre. To supplement income during the periods where he struggled to find roles, he played rhythm guitar and sang in taverns and restaurants while hosting open mic nights at Gerdes Folk City in Greenwich Village.

Chianese's first television role came when George C. Scott recommended him for the series East Side/West Side. In 1974, filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola cast him as Johnny Ola in The Godfather Part II, beginning a film career that would see him appear several times alongside Al Pacino in films such as Dog Day Afternoon (1975), ...And Justice For All (1979), and Looking for Richard (1996). He also co-starred with Pacino onstage. Before being cast in The Godfather Part II, he worked for the Drug Commission of New York as a recreational worker in rehab, where he gave guitar lessons to women who were serving time for drug crimes.

In terms of singing, Chianese is a tenor. He released an album titled Hits in 2000, featuring him singing American and Italian songs. He performed Salvatore Cardillo's sentimental classic "Core 'ngrato" ("Ungrateful Heart") on the third season finale of The Sopranos, "Army of One." In 2003, along with AOL Music, he released a second album titled Ungrateful Heart, which features 16 classic Neapolitan songs. In the 2000s, he played in a mandolin quartet every week at the Hotel Edison.

Chianese appeared as a guest actor on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire for three seasons as Leander Whitlock, a retired lawyer and power broker. In December 2018, he and co-author Matthew Sargent published his biography Twelve Angels: The Women Who Taught Me How to Act, Live, and Love.

Personal life

In 2010, Chianese received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor in recognition of his humanitarian efforts.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

1. "Dominic Chianese Biography (1934?-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
2. Chianese, Dominic Fordham Research Commons
3. "Jon Favreau & E.L. Doctorow At Bronx Science Gala". Bronx.com. April 25, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
4. "Bronx High School Of Science Celebrates 75 Years With Gala". Looktothestars.org. March 29, 2013. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
5. "Dominic Chianese - SouthJersey.com". www.southjersey.com. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
6. "Dominic Chianese". Edge Magazine. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
7. "Musicians Recall Dylan's First Big Gig and 25 Years of Music History at Gerde's Folk City". Bedfordandbowery.com. September 29, 2017. Retrieved August 5, 2020.
8. "News: "Dominic Chianese Scores A Hit With 'Hits'"". BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.). September 18, 2001. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
9. "Country Beat: Alecia Elliott, Dominic Chianese, Chet Atkins ..." MTV. Archived from the original on September 14, 2022. Retrieved September 14, 2022.
10. Angell, Roger. "This Old Man". The New Yorker. Retrieved September 20, 2020.
11. "Twelve Angels | Book by Dominic Chianese, Matthew Sargent | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster". Archived from the original on November 28, 2018. Retrieved March 15, 2019.

External links

• Dominic Chianese at IMDb
• Dominic Chianese at the Internet Broadway Database
• A conversation with Dominic Chianese, The Sopranos' Uncle Junior in Lavery, David; Howard, Douglas L.; Levinson, Paul (eds.) (July 29, 2011). The Essential Sopranos Reader. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 339–362. ISBN 978-0-8131-3012-5. {{cite book}}: |first3= has generic name (help)
• Dominic Chianese - Downstage Center interview at American Theatre Wing.org

• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American male stage actors
• 1931 births
• Living people
• American tenors
• Singers from New York City
• Brooklyn College alumni
• American rhythm guitarists
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• Male actors from the Bronx
• American people of Italian descent
• Activists from New York (state)
• Guitarists from New York City
• American male guitarists
• 20th-century American guitarists
• 20th-century American male musicians
• The Bronx High School of Science alumni
• American mandolinists