John Turturro Biography, Life, Interesting Facts

John Turturro was born on February 28th, 1957. He is an Italian American actor. He is also a writer and filmmaker. He has appeared in films such as ‘Barton Fink,’ ‘Quiz Show’ and ‘Do the Right Thing’ among others. He has also appeared in series such as ‘Transformers’ and ‘The last Knight.’

Early Life

John Michael Turturro was born on February 28th, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York, United States of America. He was born to Katherine Florence who was a jazz singer and Nicholas Turturro who served in the United States Navy during World War II. At the age of six, his family moved to Queens in New York. He was raised as a Roman Catholic. John attended the State University of New York where he majored in Theatre Arts. He later finished his MFA at the Yale School of Drama.

Career

John Turturro started his acting career in 1980 when he appeared in the film ‘Raging Bull’. Three years later, he was responsible for John Patrick Shanley’s ‘Danny and the Deep Blue Sea’ title role at the Playwright Conference at the Eugene O’Neil Theatre Centre.  In 1984, he won an Obie Award when he did the title role again Off-Broadway.  

He later became part of the cast for the movie ‘Do the Right Thing’ which was directed by Spike Lee. John later appeared Lee’s movies such as ‘Miracle at St. Anna’, ‘She Hates Me,’ ‘He Got the Game,’ ‘Clockers’ and Girl 6’ among others. He later appeared in the Coen Brothers’ films such as ‘The Big Lebowski,’ ‘Mr. Deeds’, ‘Miller’s Crossing’ and ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ among others. In 1999, he produced, directed and acted in the film ‘Illuminata’ alongside his wife, Katherine Borowitz. In 2002, he appeared in Adam Sandler’s movie ‘Mr. Deeds’. In 2008, he acted in the movie ‘You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.’

John Turturro in his acting career has also appeared in comedies and dramas such as ‘Anger Management’ and ‘Secret Window’ among others. In 2005, John wrote and directed the movie ‘Romance and Cigarettes.’ The next year, he appeared in the film ‘The Good Shepherd.’ In 2010, he directed the musical ‘Passione.’ In 2011, he directed the Broadway play ‘Relatively Speaking.' Two years later, he directed the movie ‘Fading Gigolo.’ In 2014, he was awarded the Career Achievement Tribute and Award in Miami.

From 2015 to 2018 he has appeared in films such as ‘Mia Madre,’ ‘The Ridiculous 6’, ‘Landline,’ ‘Hair,’ ‘Gloria Bell,’ ‘Hands of Stone’ and ‘Partly Cloudy with Sunny Spells’ among many others. In 2019, he is set to appear in the films ‘The True Adventures of Wolf boy’ and ‘Going Places.’  

Personal Life

In 1985, John Turturro married his wife Katherine Borowitz who is an actress. Together they have two sons, Amedeo who was born in 1990 and Diego who was born in 2000. His brother Nicholas Turturro is also an actor. He is a member of the jury for the New York International Children’s Film Festival. He is a dual citizen. John holds Italian and United States Citizenship. He received his Italian passport in 2011. He is currently sixty one years old.