Quick Facts
Biography
James Vincent Russo (born April 23, 1953) is an American film and television actor. He has appeared in over 150 films in three decades.
Early life
Russo was born in New York City, New York, to an Italian father and German mother. A graduate of the High School of Art and Design and New York University (NYU), he wrote and starred in the prize-winning short film The Candy Store. Before his first break in acting, he drove for a cab company, worked as a construction worker and a gravedigger. He was raised in Flushing, New York and spent his formative years on 156th street .
Career
Russo's first role in his acting career was in the 1981 made-for-television movie Chicago Story. He then went on to star in many hit films of the 1980s.
His big break (but small role) came in the 1982 classic comedy film Fast Times at Ridgemont High, as a convenience store robber. In 1984, he appeared in Beverly Hills Cop as Mikey Tandino, a friend of Axel Foley who is murdered. That same year he starred in The Cotton Club and played small-time hood Bugsy in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America. Russo's other big role was as a brutal rapist in the 1986 drama Extremities, opposite Farrah Fawcett. He starred in the 1988 drama-suspense-thriller film Freeway.
Russo's film roles in the 1990s include State of Grace (1990), A Kiss Before Dying (1991) and My Own Private Idaho (1991). Russo also had roles in the 1994 Western Bad Girls, the 1997 hit films The Postman, and Donnie Brasco. In 2009 he had a small role in Michael Mann's Public Enemies as a member of John Dillinger's gang.
In 2003, Russo was reunited with his co-star from The Postman, Kevin Costner, in the Western film Open Range. He made guest appearances in many TV dramas and movies, including The Equalizer, Miami Vice, CSI, CSI: Miami and Las Vegas.
In the summer of 2009, Russo starred in the psychological thriller 7E with Brendan Sexton III, John Savage and Natasha Lyonne. The film was released on December 10, 2013. Russo had a supporting role in Quentin Tarantino's 2012 film Django Unchained.
He appeared on Bastille's music video for "Of The Night".
Credits
Stage
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Extremities | Raul |
Music videos
| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Of the Night | Bastille |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | A Stranger Is Watching | Ronald Thompson | |
| Fast Times at Ridgemont High | Robber | ||
| Vortex | Anthony Demmer | ||
| 1983 | Exposed | Nick | |
| 1984 | Once Upon a Time in America | Bugsy | |
| Beverly Hills Cop | Mikey Tandino | ||
| The Cotton Club | Vince Hood | ||
| 1986 | Extremities | Joe | |
| 1987 | China Girl | Alby | |
| 1988 | The Blue Iguana | Reno | |
| Freeway | Frank Quinn | ||
| 1989 | The Belt | Vittorio De Simone | |
| The Vineyard | Teddy | ||
| We're No Angels | Bobby | ||
| 1990 | State of Grace | DeMarco | uncredited |
| 1991 | A Kiss Before Dying | Dan Corelli | |
| My Own Private Idaho | Richard Waters | ||
| Cold Heaven | Daniel Corvin | ||
| Intimate Stranger | Nick Ciccini | TV film | |
| 1992 | In the Shadow of a Killer | Charlie Van | TV film |
| Illicit Behavior | Bill Tanner | ||
| 1993 | Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story | Don Feeney | TV film |
| Trauma | Capt. Travis | ||
| Da Vinci's War | Mintz | ||
| Double Deception | Jon Kane | TV film | |
| Dangerous Game | Francis Burns | ||
| 1994 | Bad Girls | Kid Jarrett | |
| 1995 | The Secretary | Ted Burke | TV film |
| Panther | Rodgers | ||
| Condition Red | Dan Cappelli | ||
| The Set Up | Kliff | ||
| 1996 | Livers Ain't Cheap a.k.a. The Real Thing | Rupert Little | |
| No Way Home | Tommy | ||
| American Strays | Eddie | ||
| Small Time | Jerry | ||
| 1997 | Donnie Brasco | Paulie | |
| Laws of Deception | Gino Carlucci | ||
| The Girl Gets Moe a.k.a. Love to Kill | Brannagin | ||
| Under Oath | Warren Erickson | ||
| The Postman | Idaho | ||
| 1998 | Heist | Nick the Stick | |
| My Husband's Secret Life | Sal Bianculli | TV film | |
| Butter a.k.a. Never 2 Big | Juke Box Danny | ||
| Fait Accompli a.k.a. Voodoo Dawn | Luc | ||
| Charades a.k.a. Felons | Max Targenville | ||
| Detour | Ziggy Rotella | ||
| 1999 | BitterSweet | Joe Massa | |
| Jimmy Zip | Otis Campbell | ||
| The Ninth Gate | Bernie | ||
| Diamonds | Damian | uncredited | |
| 2000 | Sonic Impact | Agent Nick Halton | |
| The Unscarred | Mickey Vernon | ||
| Deep Core | Darryl Simmons | ||
| Paper Bullets | John Rourke | ||
| Hidden War | Matt Forman | ||
| Bad Guys | John Tykor | ||
| 2001 | Pendulum | Edward Mills | |
| Double Deception a.k.a. 24 Hours to Die | Snake | ||
| 2002 | Shattered Lies | Smiler | |
| The House Next Door | Carl Schmidt | ||
| Redemption | Capt. Grill | ||
| My Daughter's Tears | Mr. Quinn | ||
| 2003 | Stealing Sinatra | Frank Sinatra | |
| A Good Night to Die | Roy | ||
| Paris | Leon King | ||
| The Box | Frank Miles | ||
| Open Range | Sheriff Poole | ||
| 2004 | Target | Donovan | |
| Fallacy | |||
| 2005 | One Among Us | Ryan Brannigan (the Ex-Cop) | |
| Come as You Are | Benny | ||
| Confessions of a Pit Fighter | Sharkey | ||
| 2006 | All In | Dr. Pennington | |
| Broken Trail | Captain Billy Fender | TV film | |
| Satanic | Eddie | ||
| Shut Up and Shoot! | David Sanchez | ||
| Blackwater Valley Exorcism | The Bishop | ||
| Cut Off | Gonzo | ||
| 2007 | Chill | Detective Defazio | |
| Blue Lake Massacre | Sheriff Jack | ||
| Machine | Butch | ||
| The Pink Conspiracy | Cox | ||
| The Hit | Mr. Santucci | ||
| On the Doll | Janitor | ||
| 2008 | Little Red Devil | Mr. Trundell | |
| Dark World | Charlie | ||
| Kings of the Evening | Ramsey | ||
| Stiletto | Engelhart | ||
| Deadwater | Commander Combs | ||
| Born of Earth | Tom Reeser | ||
| Shoot First and Pray You Live (Because Luck Has Nothing to Do with It) | Bob McGurk | ||
| Break | The Father | ||
| 2009 | Charlie Valentine | Rocco | |
| Never Surrender | Jimmy | ||
| Public Enemies | Walter Dietrich | ||
| Dreams and Shadows | John Brunette | ||
| Taken by Force | |||
| 2010 | One in the Gun | Jimmy | |
| Dark Woods | Sheriff Demming | ||
| Boy Wonder | Larry Childs | ||
| Love Sick Diaries | Lorenzo De'mon | ||
| 2011 | Good God Bad Dog | Peter Elias | |
| Miss Bala | Jimmy | ||
| The Dragon Warrior | Claudius | ||
| Yellow Rock | Max Dietrich | ||
| 2012 | Django Unchained | Dicky Speck | |
| Revan | Stone | ||
| 2013 | Samuel Bleak | Charles Bleak | |
| Five Thirteen | Agent Acevedo | ||
| Chavez Cage of Glory | Tony | ||
| 7E | Sam | ||
| 2014 | Perfect Sisters | Steve Bowman | |
| Strike One | Paul Fairfield | ||
| The Bag Man | original screenplay | ||
| 2015 | Voiceless | Pastor Gil | |
| Black Mass | Agent Scott Gariola | uncredited | |
| An American Hero | |||
| 2016 | Vigilante Diaries | Mr. Hanover | |
| Voiceless | Pastor Gil | ||
| 2017 | Living Among Us | Aaron | |
| 2018 | Desolate | Duke Stone |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Equalizer | Police Detective | 1 episode |
| Miami Vice | Frank Sacco | 1 episode | |
| 1987 | Crime Story | Nat Martino | 1 episode |
| 1988 | Friday the 13th: The Series | Janos Korda | 1 episode |
| 1991 | Gabriel's Fire | Charles Crowley | 1 episode |
| 1997 | C-16: FBI | Frank Saretti | 1 episode |
| 2000 | Falcone | Victor Mura | 1 episode |
| 2004 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Sinclair | 1 episode |
| Without a Trace | Michael Krauss | 1 episode | |
| 2005 | Joan of Arcadia | James Karon | 1 episode |
| 2006 | Las Vegas | Warren Pemberton | 1 episode |
| 2006–2008 | CSI: Miami | Joey Salucci | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | The Capture of the Green River Killer | Jeb Dallas | 2-part miniseries |
| 2009 | Numb3rs | John Curtis | 1 episode |
| Dark Blue | Robert Franzine | 1 episode | |
| 2012-2013 | Vegas | Anthony 'Red' Cervelli | 15 episodes |
| 2014-2015 | Chicago Fire (season 3) | Papa Lullo | 3 episodes |
Awards
| Year | Association | Award | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Theatre World Award | Extremities | Won | |
| 2004 | San Diego Film Festival | Best Actor | The Box | Won |