---
name: "Chazz Palminteri"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/chazz-palminteri"
fi1m_id: "chazz-palminteri"
imdb_id: "nm0001590"
tmdb_id: 9046
wikidata_id: "Q338812"
roles: ["Actor","Director"]
born: "15 May 1952"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 5
average_fi1m_score: 71
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 4
updated: "2026-10-05T01:34:27.312077+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Chazz Palminteri

## Identity

Chazz Palminteri

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/chazz-palminteri
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** chazz-palminteri
- **IMDb ID:** nm0001590
- **TMDB ID:** 9046
- **Wikidata ID:** Q338812
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chazz_Palminteri, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q338812, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001590/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9046

Actor and director. Born 15 May 1952 in The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor, Director
- **Born:** 15 May 1952, The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
- **Active:** 1994–2015
- **Also known as:** Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 5: 4 acting, 1 directing
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Average Fi1m score:** 71, as actor, over 4 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 77 (4), 2010s 57 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 71 to 67 across 4 titles
- **Score spread:** 2 at 80+, 1 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 1 of 4 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Crime 3, Comedy 2, Thriller 2, Adventure 1, Drama 1, Family 1
- **Screen time:** 7 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $404m across 4 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chazz_Palminteri, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q338812, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001590/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/9046

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*The Usual Suspects*](https://film.one/film/the-usual-suspects.md) (82), [*Oz*](https://film.one/tv/oz.md) (80)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Bullets Over Broadway*](https://film.one/film/bullets-over-broadway.md) (80)
- **Netflix:** [*Stuart Little*](https://film.one/film/stuart-little.md) (66)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Chazz Palminteri

> Chazz Palminteri can make a dangerous man funny without making him safe. We rate him most when a part gives that threat something to do beyond establishing that he is playing another gangster.

In *Bullets Over Broadway* (1994), Chazz Palminteri's Cheech is a gangster's bodyguard among theatre people, and he does not become harmless just because the company is ridiculous. We laughed at Cheech and remained wary of him, because Palminteri keeps the threat of criminal behaviour alive inside the jokes about art. That is the performance's particular pleasure. He can be funny without asking us to decide that Cheech is secretly a nice man. The comedy needs that discomfort, and he supplies it without making a separate business of being menacing.

His early screen breakthrough came from a part he had written himself: Sonny in *A Bronx Tale* (1993). Robert De Niro directed the film, for which Palminteri wrote the screenplay, adapting his own 1989 autobiographical one-man play. The familiar tough-guy casting therefore tells only part of the story of his work. We would not confuse that authorship with merely being well cast, however often subsequent films have returned him to similar roles.

Woody Allen gives him something similarly useful in *Bullets Over Broadway*: a reason to matter to the people around him. Allen and McGrath's writing lets Cheech challenge the theatre people's assumptions about talent, rather than merely interrupt their work with gangster business. Palminteri makes that challenge convincing while refusing to soften the man making it. The film still has theatrical clichés and stretches of stiff staging, neither of which a supporting actor can put right. But his presence gives the backstage comedy an edge it would be poorer without.

*The Usual Suspects* (1995), as Dave Kujan, and *Analyze This* (1999), as Primo Sidone, kept him in crime stories, the latter reuniting him with De Niro. Television and voice work have widened the list of jobs, including appearances as Shorty in *Modern Family* between 2010 and 2019. Yet the repeated tough-guy casting remains a limitation, even when he is good at it. Start with *Bullets Over Broadway*, where the actor is allowed to be more interesting than the casting shorthand.

## Biography

Chazz Palminteri is an American actor, screenwriter and playwright. Born Calogero Lorenzo Palminteri on 15 May 1952 in the Bronx, New York City, he studied acting at the Actors Studio and began his career in off-Broadway productions while working as a nightclub doorman.

He wrote and performed the one-man play *A Bronx Tale* in the late 1980s, later adapting it into the 1993 film in which he starred opposite Robert De Niro, who also directed. In 1994 he played the mob henchman Cheech in Woody Allen's *Bullets Over Broadway*, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He is also known for his role as Dave Kujan in *The Usual Suspects* (1995) and a recurring part as Shorty in the television series *Modern Family*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (5)

### Performed in (4) — the average rests on these

- *Legend* (2015), Fi1m 57, as Angelo Bruno — [page](https://film.one/film/legend-2015.md)
- *Stuart Little* (1999), Fi1m 66, as Smokey (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/stuart-little.md)
- *The Usual Suspects* (1995), Fi1m 82, as Dave Kujan — [page](https://film.one/film/the-usual-suspects.md)
- *Bullets Over Broadway* (1994), Fi1m 80, as Cheech — [page](https://film.one/film/bullets-over-broadway.md)

### Directed (1)

- *Oz* (1997), Fi1m 80, Director — [page](https://film.one/tv/oz.md)

## Complete filmography (76)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *A Bronx Tale: One Man Show* (2025), as Various roles · Director, Writer, Executive Producer
- *Mafia States of America* (2021), series, as Narrator (voice)
- *Law & Order: Organized Crime* (2021), series, as Manfredi Sinatra
- *Clover* (2020), as Tony
- *Gravesend* (2020), series, Actor
- *Vault* (2019), as Raymond
- *Kevin Can Wait* (2016), series, as Vincent Cellucci
- *Legend* (2015), as Angelo Bruno — Fi1m 57, [page](https://film.one/film/legend-2015.md)
- *Henry & Me* (2014), as Babe Ruth
- *Final Recourse* (2013), as Jerry
- *Last I Heard* (2013), as Ben Rose
- *The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure* (2012), as Milky Marvin
- *Mighty Fine* (2012), as Joe Fine · Executive Producer
- *Hollywood & Wine* (2011), as Geno Scarpacci
- *Bubble Guppies* (2011), series, as Tiny the Slug (voice)
- *Jolene* (2010), as Sal Fontaine
- *Blue Bloods* (2010), series, as Angelo Gallo
- *Rizzoli & Isles* (2010), series, as Frank Rizzoli Sr.
- *Modern Family* (2009), series, as Shorty — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/tv/modern-family.md)
- *Once More With Feeling* (2009), as Frank Gregorio
- *Yonkers Joe* (2008), as Yonkers Joe · Executive Producer
- *Beyond Wiseguys: Italian Americans & the Movies* (2008), Actor
- *The Dukes* (2007), as George Zucco
- *Body Armour* (2007), as Lee Maxwell
- *Arthur and the Invisibles* (2006), as Travel Agent (voice)
- *A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints* (2006), as Monty
- *Little Man* (2006), as Walken
- *Push* (2006), as Vince
- *One Last Ride* (2006), as Tweat
- *Running Scared* (2006), as Detective Rydell
- *Hoodwinked!* (2005), as Woolworth (voice)
- *Gangland: Bullets over Hollywood* (2005), Actor
- *In The Mix* (2005), as Frank Pacelli
- *Animal* (2005), as Kassada
- *Kojak* (2005), series, as Frank McNeil
- *Noel* (2004), as Arizona · Director
- *Dr. Vegas* (2004), series, Actor
- *Women vs. Men* (2002), Director
- *Poolhall Junkies* (2002), as Joe
- *One Eyed King* (2001), as Eddie Dugan
- *Boss of Bosses* (2001), as Paul Castellano
- *Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure* (2001), as Buster (voice)
- *Down to Earth* (2001), as King
- *The Book That Wrote Itself* (2000), as Chazz Palminteri
- *Stuart Little* (1999), as Smokey (voice) — Fi1m 66, [page](https://film.one/film/stuart-little.md)
- *Excellent Cadavers* (1999), as Giovanni Falcone
- *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit* (1999), series, as Perry Cannavaro
- *Analyze This* (1999), as Primo Sidone
- *Dilbert* (1999), series, as Leonardo da Vinci (voice)
- *Hurlyburly* (1998), as Phil
- *A Night at the Roxbury* (1998), as Benny Zadir
- *Scarred City* (1998), as Lt. Laine Devon
- *Oz* (1997), series, Director — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/tv/oz.md)
- *Mulholland Falls* (1996), as Elleroy Coolidge
- *Faithful* (1996), as Tony · Screenplay, Theatre Play
- *Diabolique* (1996), as Guy Baran
- *Jade* (1995), as Matt Gavin
- *The Last Word* (1995), as Ricky
- *The Usual Suspects* (1995), as Dave Kujan — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/film/the-usual-suspects.md)
- *The Perez Family* (1995), as Officer Pirelli
- *Bullets Over Broadway* (1994), as Cheech — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/bullets-over-broadway.md)
- *A Bronx Tale* (1993), as Sonny LoSpecchio · Screenplay, Theatre Play
- *There Goes the Neighborhood* (1992), as Lyle Corrente
- *Innocent Blood* (1992), as Tony
- *Oscar* (1991), as Connie
- *Sydney* (1990), series, Actor
- *Peter Gunn* (1989), as Soldier
- *Wiseguy* (1987), series, Actor
- *Matlock* (1986), series, as Marcy
- *The Last Dragon* (1985), as Hood #2
- *Home Again* (1985), Actor
- *Fine Line* (1984), as Angelo
- *Home Free All* (1984), as Truck Hijacker
- *Dallas* (1978), series, as Frank
- *That's Amore!*, Actor
- *Bad News on the Doorstep*, as Sneaks

## Gallery

- ![Chazz Palminteri](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-001fffe6e66a.jpg) Chazz Palminteri — David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Chazz_Palminteri_2011_Shankbone.JPG/1280px-Chazz_Palminteri_2011_Shankbone.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chazz Palminteri at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-a471981fd85c.jpg) Chazz Palminteri at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. — David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/49/Chazz_Palminteri_Shankbone_2010_NYC.jpg/1280px-Chazz_Palminteri_Shankbone_2010_NYC.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Gianna and Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (wife and husband) (2007)](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-f79ab505edd0.jpg) Gianna and Calogero Lorenzo "Chazz" Palminteri (wife and husband) (2007) — David Shankbone, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/50/Chazz_Palminteri_and_wife_by_David_Shankbone.jpg/1280px-Chazz_Palminteri_and_wife_by_David_Shankbone.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chazz Palminteri at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Baby Mama.](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-c4272f85f2ff.jpg) Chazz Palminteri at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Baby Mama. — David Shankbone, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/22/Chazz_Palminteri_at_the_2008_Tribeca_Film_Festival.JPG/1280px-Chazz_Palminteri_at_the_2008_Tribeca_Film_Festival.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Chazz Palminteri](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-d46d0cdfc17a.jpg) Chazz Palminteri — Image via TMDB
- ![Chazz Palminteri](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-936c12bc9d93.jpg) Chazz Palminteri — Image via TMDB
- ![Chazz Palminteri at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on March 5th, 2010](https://film.one/media/person/84878/gallery-f06a7b1242c8.jpg) Chazz Palminteri at the Independent Spirit Awards in Los Angeles on March 5th, 2010 — Tomdog, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Chazz_Palminteri_at_the_2010_Independent_Spirit_Awards.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1995: Best Supporting Actor (nominated), for *Bullets Over Broadway*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/chazz-palminteri