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

    Law & Order

  • Law & Order

    Law & Order

  • Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

  • Elementary

    Elementary

  • The Good Wife

    The Good Wife

  • ER

    ER

  • Great Performances

    Great Performances

  • Evil

    Evil

  • The Practice

    The Practice

  • New Amsterdam

    New Amsterdam

  • The Good Fight

    The Good Fight

  • Bull

    Bull

  • Bull

    Bull

  • L.A. Law

    L.A. Law

  • Chicago Hope

    Chicago Hope

  • Matlock

    Matlock

  • The Equalizer

    The Equalizer

  • Hill Street Blues

    Hill Street Blues

  • Moonlighting

    Moonlighting

  • Early Edition

    Early Edition

  • Money Train

    Money Train

  • Heavy

    Heavy

  • Primary Motive

    Primary Motive

  • Sunday

    Sunday

  • Presumed Innocent

    Presumed Innocent

  • Matewan

    Matewan

  • Batman Forever

    Batman Forever

  • Endgame

    Endgame

  • Remember WENN

    Remember WENN

  • Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

    Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult

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

    The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!

  • I Know This Much Is True

    I Know This Much Is True

  • Hope & Faith

    Hope & Faith

  • Me To Play

    Me To Play

  • Kojak: Ariana

    Kojak: Ariana

  • Natural Born Killers

    Natural Born Killers

  • The Deer Hunter

    The Deer Hunter

  • The Other Me

    The Other Me

  • 13 Going on 30

    13 Going on 30

  • Queenie in Love

    Queenie in Love

  • Lodge 49

    Lodge 49

  • The Beat

    The Beat

  • Conviction

    Conviction

  • The Bronx Is Burning

    The Bronx Is Burning

  • Splash

    Splash

  • Class of '96

    Class of '96

  • The Hudsucker Proxy

    The Hudsucker Proxy

  • Moon Over Miami

    Moon Over Miami

  • Brewster's Millions

    Brewster's Millions

  • The Naked Man

    The Naked Man

  • A Jersey Tale

    A Jersey Tale

  • Moonstruck

    Moonstruck

  • Radium Girls

    Radium Girls

  • Canterbury's Law

    Canterbury's Law

  • Roseanne

    Roseanne

  • Slow Burn

    Slow Burn

  • Chances Are

    Chances Are

  • Capital News

    Capital News

  • Deadline

    Deadline

  • One Fine Day

    One Fine Day

  • Tarzan

    Tarzan

  • Changing Lanes

    Changing Lanes

  • Benny & Joon

    Benny & Joon

  • Tornado

    Tornado

  • F/X

    F/X

  • WIOU

    WIOU

  • Sinatra

    Sinatra

  • Auto Focus

    Auto Focus

  • A Crime

    A Crime

  • The Out-of-Towners

    The Out-of-Towners

  • Ironweed

    Ironweed

  • The Flamingo Kid

    The Flamingo Kid

  • 61*

    61*

  • Big Business

    Big Business

  • Still of the Night

    Still of the Night

  • The Deal

    The Deal

  • Some of My Best Friends

    Some of My Best Friends

  • The Pope of Greenwich Village

    The Pope of Greenwich Village

  • The Front

    The Front

  • Honky Tonk Freeway

    Honky Tonk Freeway

  • Two Bits

    Two Bits

  • Undue Influence

    Undue Influence

  • City of Hope

    City of Hope

  • Switching Goals

    Switching Goals

  • Looking for an Echo

    Looking for an Echo

  • Bad Medicine

    Bad Medicine

  • Citizen Cohn

    Citizen Cohn

  • On the Yard

    On the Yard

  • No Pay, Nudity

    No Pay, Nudity

  • The American Side

    The American Side

  • Baked in Brooklyn

    Baked in Brooklyn

  • Taking the Heat

    Taking the Heat

  • Hide in Plain Sight

    Hide in Plain Sight

  • The Appointments of Dennis Jennings

    The Appointments of Dennis Jennings

  • Something Short of Paradise

    Something Short of Paradise

  • The Elephant Man

    The Elephant Man

  • A Midsummer Night's Dream

    A Midsummer Night's Dream

  • Jack Reed: A Search for Justice

    Jack Reed: A Search for Justice

  • The 6th Annual Young Comedians

    The 6th Annual Young Comedians

  • Perfect Witness

    Perfect Witness

  • Secret Service

    Secret Service

  • Shadow of a Doubt

    Shadow of a Doubt

  • The Gentleman Bandit

    The Gentleman Bandit

  • Household Saints

    Household Saints

  • The Last New Yorker

    The Last New Yorker

  • Will There Really Be a Morning?

    Will There Really Be a Morning?

  • One Police Plaza

    One Police Plaza

  • The Feud

    The Feud

  • Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed

    Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed

  • The Dreams of Rene Sendam

    The Dreams of Rene Sendam