Curiosidades

Close friends with late actor Meshach Taylor, until his death on June 28, 2014. The pair were friends for over 40 years.

Until the age of 16, Joe had thought his birthday was November 10th. He found out it was really November 13th when he needed his birth certificate to get his drivers' license. His mother told him that because the cutoff date for starting school was the 10th, and she wanted to get back to work, she told the school (and Joe) that his birthday was November 10th.

April 26, 2004: Received the lifetime achievement award at the Los Angeles Italian Film Festival.

Owns the restaurant Taste Chicago in Burbank, California with his wife Arlene. The restaurant opened in 2003 and serves classic Chicago dishes such as deep dish pizza, Chicago hot dogs, pasta, and Italian beef sandwiches.

His mother Mary Ann (b. 1915- d. 2017) lived to the age of 101, passing away in April 2017.

He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Live Theatre at 6654 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on April 29, 2011.

His character on Os Simpsons (1989) was originally intended to be a one-time guest appearance in the episode, Bart the Murderer (1991), but it became a recurring role later on in the series' run. According to the Season Three DVD commentary track, Mantegna liked the character and wanted to voice him again.

Longtime personal friends with the late Roger Ebert, until his death on April 4, 2013.

As of February 19, 2023, he has appeared on The Simpsons (1989-) 41 times over the last 33 years.

Attended and graduated from Morton East High School in Cicero, Illinois in 1965.

Received an honorary degree in Psychology from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology on June 13, 2008. He was the commencement speaker.

1969: Made his acting debut in a production of "Hair".

His daughter, Gia Mantegna, was born in New York City during the filming of O Poderoso Chefão: Parte III (1990), five months into production.

In Snake Eyes (2012), his character Rossi mentions that he is not a huge fan of mobster movies. Mantegna has actually played mobsters in O Poderoso Chefão: Parte III (1990) and O Último Chefão (1997), and perhaps most famously, voices mob boss Fat Tony on Os Simpsons (1989).

Friends with Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, and Ringo Starr.

He was childhood friends with Walter Parazaider of the jazz rock band Chicago, which is also Mantegna's favorite band.

He was nominated for a 1974 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actor in a Principal Role for his performance in "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit", at the Organic Theater Company in Chicago, Illinois.

His character on Os Simpsons (1989), Fat Tony, has been the subject of two inside jokes. One of Fat Tony's first appearances was in the episode where Bart becomes his errand boy. At the end of the episode, the events are turned into a television movie, in which, we are told, Joe Mantegna is playing Fat Tony. On a much later episode, after a Mafia stand-off is placated by the appearance of Maggie Simpson, everyone breaks down crying. Fat Tony remarks, "I haven't cried like this since I paid to see O Poderoso Chefão: Parte III (1990).".

He was nominated for a 1977 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in "Volpone", at the Organic Theater Company with Victory Gardens in Chicago, Illinois.

Along with Elizabeth Taylor and Mark Hamill, he is one of only three actors to play both themselves and a fictional character on Os Simpsons (1989). He played himself in the Season Three episode, Bart the Murderer (1991), and portrayed Fat Tony in that and fourteen other episodes of the series.

Will Girardi, Mantegna's character on Joan of Arcadia (2003), was ranked #40 in TV Guide's list of the "50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time" [June 20, 2004 issue].

Good friends with Denis Leary.

Formerly an actor with an Chicago's Organic Theatre Company.

Has been assured by Os Simpsons (1989)' casting director that he will be the only person to voice the character Fat Tony. However, the character had a different actor for his short appearance in "A Fish Called Selma".

1984: Won the Tony Award as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for playing Richard ("Ricky") Roma in David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross". In 2005, Liev Schreiber won his own Tony Award for playing the role originated by Mantegna in a revival of the play. The third major actor to play the role of Ricky Roma (in the film version of the play, O Sucesso a Qualquer Preço (1992)) was Al Pacino.

1978: Debuted on Broadway in "Working". He also helped write the award-winning play "Bleacher Bums". The Los Angeles production of "Bleacher Bums" ran for over five years.

Attended Goodman School of Drama (now The Theatre School at DePaul University) in Chicago.

He was awarded the 1984 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Supporting Role in a Play for "Glengarry Glen Ross", at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.

He played Judy Davis's husband in two films written and directed by Woody Allen: Simplesmente Alice (1990) and Celebridades (1998).

Auctioned two of his rifles to fund the Israeli army in August 2015.