Oscar Actors: Tucci, Stanley–Background, Career, Awards (Cum Advantage, Emmy Awards, Tony and Grammy Noms))

 

Stanley Tucci (born November 11, 1960) is an American actor, writer, producer, film director and former fashion model.

Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston’s Prizzi’s Honor (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in films such as Woody Allen’s Deconstructing Harry (1997), Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition (2002) and Spielberg’s The Terminal (2004).

In 1996, he made his directorial debut with the indie comedy “Big Night,” which he also wrote and starred in alongside Tony Shalhoub. He also played Stanley Kubrick in the TV film The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. Tucci is also known for his collaborations with Meryl Streep in films such as The Devil Wears Prada (2005), and Julie & Julia (2009).

Tucci gained further acclaim and success with such films as Easy A (2010), Margin Call (2011), The Hunger Games films (2012-2015), Spotlight (2015), and Beauty and the Beast (2017).

Three Emmy Awards

He has won three Emmy Awards. One for Winchell (1998); one for a guest appearance on the USA Network comedy series Monk; and one for being a producer of the web series Park Bench with Steve Buscemi.

Tucci was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in The Lovely Bones (2009).

Tony and Emmy Noms

He was also nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2003)[3], and a Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children, for The One and Only Shrek! alongside Meryl Streep.

Tucci also starred in numerous television series such as the ABC legal drama Murder One (1995–96), the CBS medical drama 3 lbs (2006), the FX docudrama Feud (2017) and the Facebook Watch drama Limetown (2018). Since 2020, Tucci has voiced Bitsy Brandenham in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series Central Park.

Tucci was born in Peekskill, New York and grew up in nearby Katonah. His parents, Joan (née Tropiano), a secretary and writer, and Stanley Tucci, Sr. an art teacher at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York, both of Italian descent, had roots in Calabria.

Tucci is the oldest of three children; his sister is actress Christine Tucci. Screenwriter Joseph Tropiano is a cousin.

During the early 1970s, the family spent a year in Florence, Italy.

He attended John Jay High School, where he played on the soccer and baseball teams, although his main interest lay in the school’s drama club, where he and fellow actor and high school friend, Campbell Scott, son of actor George C. Scott, gave well-received performances at many of John Jay’s drama club productions. Tucci then attended SUNY Purchase, where he majored in acting and graduated in 1982.[6] Among his classmates at SUNY Purchase was fellow acting student Ving Rhames. It was Tucci who gave Rhames, born Irving, the “Ving” nickname by which he is now known.

In 1982, Tucci earned his Actors’ Equity card when actress Colleen Dewhurst, the mother of Tucci’s high-school friend, actor Campbell Scott, arranged for the two young men to have parts as soldiers in a Broadway play in which she was co-starring,  The Queen and the Rebels which premiered on September 30, 1982.

Tucci also worked as a model, with his most notable work being a TV commercial for Levi’s 501 jeans.  In 1985, Tucci made his film debut was in Prizzi’s Honor. Tucci then went on to portray minor and supporting roles in a number of films including Monkey Shines (1988), Slaves of New York (1989), Fear, Anxiety & Depression (1989) and Billy Bathgate (1991).

In 1991, Tucci performed at the Yale Repertory Theatre in Molière’s Scapin. In 1992, Tucci starred in the family comedy Beethoven and the romantic fantasy Prelude to a Kiss. The former spawned a franchise of the same name due to the success of the 1992 film.

Breakthrough
From 1995 to 1996, Tucci starred in the ABC legal drama television series Murder One as the mysterious Richard Cross. Tucci received his first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his performance in the series, specifically for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Following disappointing ratings, ABC decided to revamp the series resulting in Tucci being dismissed from the series. In 1996, Tucci co-wrote, co-directed and starred in the comedy-drama film Big Night. Tucci wrote the screenplay with his cousin Joseph Tropiano and directed the film with his high-school friend Campbell Scott. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the ”Grand Jury Prize”. Tucci and Tropiano won the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for writing the screenplay of the film. The film also featured his sister Christine and their mother, who wrote a cookbook for the film.

In 1998, Tucci wrote, directed, co-produced and starred in the comedy film The Impostors. Shortly thereafter, Tucci starred in the HBO biographical television film Winchell in which Tucci portrayed columnist Walter Winchell. For his portrayal of Winchell, Tucci won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. Tucci also received a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for his performance in the film.

In 2000, Tucci directed, produced and starred in the drama film Joe Gould’s Secret, based on the book of the same name by Joseph Mitchell. In 2001, Tucci starred in the HBO television war film Conspiracy as Adolf Eichmann. For his portrayal of Eichmann, Tucci got another Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film. The film was critically acclaimed and won a Peabody Award.

Tony Award

In 2002, Tucci returned to the stage by starring in the revival of Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Tucci received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in the play. Also in 2002, starred in Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition opposite Tom Hanks. The film went on to receive $181 million at the box office and received six Academy Award nominations.

In 2004, Caedmon Audio released an audiobook of Tucci reading Kurt Vonnegut’s 1973 novel Breakfast of Champions.

In 2005, Tucci had his first voice role in the animated film Robots.

In 2006, Tucci had a major role in the comedy film The Devil Wears Prada, opposite Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway and Emily Blunt. The film was Tucci’s highest grossing-film until Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011.

Also in 2006, Tucci made an appearance on the USA Network comedy television series Monk, for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Tucci returned to broadcast television by starring in the CBS medical drama series 3 lbs.,which premiered on November 14, 2006. However, due to low ratings CBS cancelled the series. The following year, Stucci went on to recur in the NBC medical drama series ER.[19] For his performance in ER, Stucci was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series.

In 2009, Tucci portrayed George Harvey, a serial killer of young girls, in The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel, for which he received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations. To prepare for the role, he consulted with retired FBI profiler John Douglas.[20] Also in 2009, Tucci reunited with Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia. The following year, Tucci directed a revival of the Ken Ludwig play Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway, starring Tony Shalhoub.[21] Furthermore, Tucci had a supporting role in the teen comedy film Easy A. In 2011, Tucci played Dr. Abraham Erskine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain America: The First Avenger.

In the fall of 2012, Tucci released his first cookbook titled The Tucci Cookbook. Tucci was also a co-owner of the Finch Tavern restaurant in Croton Falls, New York.

From 2012 to 2015 Tucci portrayed Caesar Flickerman in The Hunger Games (2012) and its sequels, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 (2015). In 2013, Stucci played the role of the Ancient Greek God Dionysus in Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters. Also in 2013, Tucci lent his voice to an episode of the adult animated series American Dad!.

In 2014, Tucci portrayed CEO Joshua Joyce in Transformers: Age of Extinction. The same year, Tucci voiced Leonardo da Vinci in the animated comedy film Mr. Peabody & Sherman and Tucci had a cameo in Muppets Most Wanted. From 2014 to 2020, Tucci had a recurring voice role in the animated Netflix black comedy-drama series BoJack Horseman.

In 2015, Tucci portrayed Mitchell Garabedian in the biographical drama film Spotlight. The film follows The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team, the oldest continuously operating newspaper investigative journalist unit in the United States, and its investigation into cases of widespread and systemic child sex abuse in the Boston area by numerous Roman Catholic priests. The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture as well as Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Also in 2015, Tucci starred in the British Sky One drama series Fortitude as DCI Eugene Morton.

In 2017, Tucci directed and wrote the drama film Final Portrait. The same year, Tucci played the role of the composer Maestro Cadenza in the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. Tucci also returned to the Transformers film series by portraying a different character, Merlin, in Transformers: The Last Knight. Furthremore, Tucci played the husband of Dame Fiona Maye, a British High Court judge, opposite Emma Thompson in The Children Act, based on the book of the same name by Ian McEwan.

Also in 2017, Tucci starred in the FX miniseries Feud as Warner Bros. studio head Jack L. Warner. Feud received critical acclaim from critics and Tucci received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.

In 2018, Tucci starred the independent films Patient Zero, A Private War and Night Hunter. In 2019, Tucci starred in the Facebook Watch drama series Limetown, based on the podcast of the same name. Facebook cancelled the series after one season had aired. That same year, Tucci starred in the horror film The Silence.

In 2020, Tucci began voicing the character Bitsy Brandenham in the Apple TV+ animated musical comedy series Central Park. The series received a two-season order from Apple Inc., with each season set to consist of thirteen episodes each. The series premiered on May 29, 2020.[28] In the same year Tucci narrated a series for BBC Radio 4, The California Century, on notable people in the history of California told from the point of view of a screen writer.

Tucci’s first wife, Kathryn “Kate” Spath-Tucci (b. 1962), died of breast cancer in 2009. She was a social worker and former wife of actor and stage manager Alexander R. Scott, the elder son of actors Colleen Dewhurst and George C. Scott. She and Tucci married in 1995 and had three children. The couple also raised Kate’s two children from her previous marriage. Tucci left her in 2002 for actress Edie Falco, with whom he was appearing on Broadway in Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, but the affair ended, and he returned to his wife and children.

In 2011, Tucci became engaged to Felicity Blunt, an English literary agent. She is elder sister of actress Emily Blunt, who co-starred with Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada and introduced the couple years later at her own wedding. Tucci and Blunt married in in summer 2012, followed by a larger observance at Middle Temple Hall in London on September 29, 2012. The couple live in Barnes, London and have a son born in January 2015 and a daughter, born in April 2018.

UN Refugee Agency UNHCR

On September 12, 2016, Tucci, along with Cate Blanchett, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Peter Capaldi, Douglas Booth, Neil Gaiman, Keira Knightley, Juliet Stevenson, Kit Harington, and Jesse Eisenberg, appeared in a video from the United Nations’ refugee agency UNHCR to help raise awareness to the global refugee crisis. The video, titled “What They Took With Them”, has the actors reading a poem, written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR’s #WithRefugees campaign, of which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide shelter, integrating job opportunities, and education.