Joe Grifasi

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

110

Gender

Male

Birthday

1944-06-14 (81 years old)

Place of Birth

Buffalo - New York - USA

Joe Grifasi

Biography

Joseph G. "Joe" Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Born in Buffalo, New York, Grifasi joined the U.S. Army prior to studying acting. He has appeared in more than 50 feature films including Presumed Innocent, The Deer Hunter, Big Business, Beaches, Auto Focus, Matewan, Naked Gun, Dark Matter, Natural Born Killers, Chances Are, Changing Lanes, One Fine Day, F/X, Benny & Joon, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Brewster’s Millions, Batman Forever, The Flamingo Kid, Ironweed, and Splash. His television credits include The Bronx is Burning (as Yogi Berra), 61* (as Phil Rizzuto), Law & Order, ER, LA Law, Chicago Hope, Hill Street Blues, SCTV, Roseanne, and The Practice. Grifasi’s Broadway credits include Dinner at Eight, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Memory of Two Mondays, Boy Meets Girl, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The 1940’s Radio Hour and Happy End. His off-Broadway credits include Conversations in Tusculum, The Boys Next Door (Drama Desk Nomination), Once Around the City, Golden Boy, Filumena and Says I, Says He. He has been married to jazz soprano saxophonist and composer Jane Ira Bloom, whom he met while studying at the Yale School of Drama, since 1974.

Known For

  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

  • Law & Order

    Law & Order

  • Law & Order

    Law & Order

  • Elementary

    Elementary

  • The Good Wife

    The Good Wife

  • ER

    ER

  • Chicago Hope

    Chicago Hope

  • The Practice

    The Practice

  • Bull

    Bull

  • Bull

    Bull

  • Evil

    Evil

  • Great Performances

    Great Performances

  • New Amsterdam

    New Amsterdam

  • The Good Fight

    The Good Fight

  • Matlock

    Matlock

  • L.A. Law

    L.A. Law

  • Hill Street Blues

    Hill Street Blues

  • Moonlighting

    Moonlighting

  • The Equalizer

    The Equalizer

  • Early Edition

    Early Edition

  • Hope & Faith

    Hope & Faith

  • The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

    The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

  • 13 Going on 30

    13 Going on 30

  • The Deer Hunter

    The Deer Hunter

  • Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

    Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

  • Batman Forever

    Batman Forever

  • Natural Born Killers

    Natural Born Killers

  • Roseanne

    Roseanne

  • A Crime

    A Crime

  • Presumed Innocent

    Presumed Innocent

  • Remember WENN

    Remember WENN

  • Perfect Witness

    Perfect Witness

  • Endgame

    Endgame

  • Money Train

    Money Train

  • Lodge 49

    Lodge 49

  • Benny & Joon

    Benny & Joon

  • The Front

    The Front

  • Conviction

    Conviction

  • Primary Motive

    Primary Motive

  • Moonstruck

    Moonstruck

  • Splash

    Splash

  • Secret Service

    Secret Service

  • Bad Medicine

    Bad Medicine

  • I Know This Much Is True

    I Know This Much Is True

  • Slow Burn

    Slow Burn

  • Deadline

    Deadline

  • Big Business

    Big Business

  • The Beat

    The Beat

  • Kojak: Ariana

    Kojak: Ariana

  • Brewster's Millions

    Brewster's Millions

  • The Pope of Greenwich Village

    The Pope of Greenwich Village

  • Household Saints

    Household Saints

  • Tarzan

    Tarzan

  • The Hudsucker Proxy

    The Hudsucker Proxy

  • Heavy

    Heavy

  • Undue Influence

    Undue Influence

  • Matewan

    Matewan

  • Switching Goals

    Switching Goals

  • Chances Are

    Chances Are

  • F/X

    F/X

  • Changing Lanes

    Changing Lanes

  • The Feud

    The Feud

  • One Fine Day

    One Fine Day

  • Moon Over Miami

    Moon Over Miami

  • The Bronx Is Burning

    The Bronx Is Burning

  • Radium Girls

    Radium Girls

  • Capital News

    Capital News

  • Two Bits

    Two Bits

  • Still of the Night

    Still of the Night

  • Class of '96

    Class of '96

  • Baked in Brooklyn

    Baked in Brooklyn

  • Canterbury's Law

    Canterbury's Law

  • City of Hope

    City of Hope

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream

    A Midsummer Night's Dream

  • Hide in Plain Sight

    Hide in Plain Sight

  • WIOU

    WIOU

  • Sunday

    Sunday

  • Honky Tonk Freeway

    Honky Tonk Freeway

  • The Out-of-Towners

    The Out-of-Towners

  • The American Side

    The American Side

  • 61*

    61*

  • Will There Really Be a Morning?

    Will There Really Be a Morning?

  • The Flamingo Kid

    The Flamingo Kid

  • The Other Me

    The Other Me

  • Ironweed

    Ironweed

  • Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed

    Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed

  • On the Yard

    On the Yard

  • Queenie in Love

    Queenie in Love

  • Taking the Heat

    Taking the Heat

  • The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man

  • A Jersey Tale

    A Jersey Tale

  • No Pay, Nudity

    No Pay, Nudity

  • One Police Plaza

    One Police Plaza

  • The Last New Yorker

    The Last New Yorker

  • Sinatra

    Sinatra

  • Looking for an Echo

    Looking for an Echo

  • Me To Play

    Me To Play

  • The Naked Man

    The Naked Man

  • The 6th Annual Young Comedians

    The 6th Annual Young Comedians

  • The Appointments of Dennis Jennings

    The Appointments of Dennis Jennings

  • Shadow of a Doubt

    Shadow of a Doubt

  • Some of My Best Friends

    Some of My Best Friends

  • Auto Focus

    Auto Focus

  • Citizen Cohn

    Citizen Cohn

  • The Gentleman Bandit

    The Gentleman Bandit

  • Jack Reed: A Search for Justice

    Jack Reed: A Search for Justice

  • Tornado

    Tornado

  • The Deal

    The Deal

  • Something Short of Paradise

    Something Short of Paradise

  • The Dreams of Rene Sendam

    The Dreams of Rene Sendam