Joe Pantoliano

Joseph Peter Pantoliano is an American actor born on September 12, 1951. Over the course of his career, he has appeared in more than 150 roles across film, television, and theater. He is widely recognized for his performance as Ralph Cifaretto on the HBO series The Sopranos, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award. His major screen projects also include notable roles in feature films such as The Goonies, The Matrix, Memento, and the Bad Boys franchise.

Pantoliano was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian-American parents whose heritage traces to Avellino, Campania. His mother worked as a seamstress and bookmaker, while his father worked as a factory foreman and hearse driver. After moving to Cliffside Park, New Jersey, he attended Cliffside Park High School. He later trained at the HB Studio and studied extensively under acting instructors Herbert Berghof and John Lehne.

He achieved early screen prominence portraying Guido in the 1983 comedy Risky Business and the antagonist Francis Fratelli in the 1985 film The Goonies. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he built a versatile feature film career with appearances in La Bamba, Empire of the Sun, Midnight Run, Baby's Day Out, and Bound. He also portrayed Deputy U.S. Marshal Cosmo Renfro in the action thriller The Fugitive and subsequently reprised the character in its sequel, U.S. Marshals.

Pantoliano reached further global audiences as Cypher in the 1999 science fiction film The Matrix and as Teddy in the 2000 psychological thriller Memento. He portrayed Captain Conrad Howard across four installments of the Bad Boys series from 1995 through 2024, played Ben Urich in the 2003 feature Daredevil, and appeared in Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. On television, he joined the cast of Sense8 from 2015 to 2018 and received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for a 2025 appearance on The Last of Us.

In addition to screen acting, Pantoliano has worked in stage productions. In 2003, he stepped into a lead role in the Broadway revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. He was later cast in the 2013 Broadway play Bronx Bombers, though he departed the production during rehearsals. Pantoliano is also the author of two published memoirs that detail his life, career, and personal background.

Pantoliano was married to Morgan Kester from 1979 until their divorce in 1985. In 1994, he married former model Nancy Sheppard, with whom he shares four children and resides in Wilton, Connecticut. After being diagnosed with clinical depression and dealing with dyslexia, he established the nonprofit foundation No Kidding, Me Too! to help eliminate public stigma surrounding mental illness. He subsequently wrote, directed, and starred in the 2009 documentary No Kidding! Me 2!!. In May 2020, Pantoliano suffered a concussion and chest trauma after being hit by a vehicle while walking.