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Ben Gazzara

Highest Rated: 100% The Passionate Thief (1960)

Lowest Rated: 0% Inchon! (1981)

Birthday: Aug 28, 1930

Birthplace: New York, New York, USA

Branded the toast of Broadway for his incendiary performances in such theatrical milestones of the 1950s as Tennessee Williams' "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and Michael V. Gazzo's "A Hatful of Rain," Ben Gazzara came a long way from his upbringing in Manhattan's Gashouse District during the Great Depression, becoming in the course of only a few years of his burgeoning career, the nation's preeminent Italian-American actor, 20 years ahead of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. After making an indelible impression in Otto Preminger's "Anatomy of a Murder" (1959), he was resigned to the middling career of a jobbing actor through the Sixties, until the following decade, when his craft was revived through a partnership with filmmaker John Cassavetes on the controversial films "Husbands" (1970) and "The Killing of a Chinese Bookie" (1976). He would go on to impress audiences with his roles in "Capone" (1975), "They All Laughed" (1981), "Buffalo '66" (1998) and "Dogville" (2003). Rediscovered at the turn of the century by a new generation of indie filmmakers, Gazzara remained an in-demand character actor and a surviving link to both the Golden Age of Broadway and live television and the birth of the American independent film movement.

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Highest rated movies

100% 79% The Passionate Thief
Watchlist
100% 91% Anatomy of a Murder Watchlist 96% 90% Opening Night Watchlist
89% 80% The Spanish Prisoner
Watchlist
86% 84% Paris, je t'aime
Watchlist
85% 89% Happiness
Watchlist
83% 52% Voyage of the Damned
Watchlist
80% 93% The Big Lebowski Watchlist
79% 82% The Killing of a Chinese Bookie
Watchlist
77% 88% Buffalo 66
Watchlist

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Giuseppe Tornatore: Every Film My First Film Self - 2012
No Score Yet 9% Christopher Roth Unknown (Character) - 2011
7% 34% 13 Schlondorff (Character) - 2010
No Score Yet No Score Yet Holy Money Unknown (Character) - 2009
22% 33% Looking for Palladin Jack Palladin (Character) - 2008
No Score Yet 40% Chez Gino Unknown (Character) - 2008
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Empire State Building Murders Paulie Genovese (Character) - 2008
86% 84% Paris, je t'aime Ben (Character) $4.9M 2006
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Shore Unknown (Character) - 2005
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bonjour Michel Michele Terranova (Character) - 2004
70% 89% Dogville Jack McKay (Character) $1.5M 2003
75% 63% Hysterical Blindness Nick (Character) - 2002
No Score Yet 77% Brian's Song Coach Halas (Character) - 2001
No Score Yet No Score Yet Home Sweet Hoboken Unknown (Character) - 2001
No Score Yet No Score Yet Nobody's Heart L'avvocato Scalzi (Character) - 2001
No Score Yet 0% The List D.A. Bernard Salman (Character) - 2000
No Score Yet 47% Believe Ellicott Winslowe (Character) - 2000
No Score Yet No Score Yet Very Mean Men Gino Minetti (Character) - 2000
No Score Yet No Score Yet Out of the Blue Unknown (Character) - 2000
20% 40% Blue Moon Frank Cavallo (Character) $76.1K 2000
No Score Yet No Score Yet Poor Liza The Narrator (Character) - 2000
No Score Yet No Score Yet Out of the Blue 2 Unknown (Character) - 2000
69% 77% The Thomas Crown Affair Andrew Wallace (Character) $69.3M 1999
50% 60% Summer of Sam Luigi (Character) $19.3M 1999
No Score Yet No Score Yet Jack of Hearts Bartossa (Character) - 1999
46% 66% Illuminata Old Flavio (Character) $836.6K 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet Valentine's Day Joe Buddha (Character) - 1998
No Score Yet 54% Too Tired to Die John Sage (Character) - 1998
77% 88% Buffalo 66 Jimmy (Character) $2.4M 1998
85% 89% Happiness Lenny Jordan (Character) $3.0M 1998
89% 80% The Spanish Prisoner Mr. Klein (Character) $9.6K 1998
80% 93% The Big Lebowski Jackie Treehorn (Character) $17.4M 1998
No Score Yet 70% The Protector Unknown (Character) - 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet Il tesoro di Damasco Gregorio Kos (Character) - 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet Shark in a Bottle The Arranger (Character) - 1998
7% 20% Shadow Conspiracy Vice President Saxon (Character) $2.3M 1997
40% 38% Stag Frank Grieco (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet 29% Vicious Circles March (Character) - 1997
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Dogfighters Dick Althorp (Character) - 1996
No Score Yet No Score Yet Ladykiller Lt. Jack "Jigsaw" Lasky (Character) - 1996
No Score Yet 46% Convict Cowboy Warden (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Farmer & Chase Farmer (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bandits Amos (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fatal Vows: The Alexandra O'Hara Story Papa (Character) - 1994
No Score Yet No Score Yet Never Love a Thief Raphael de Pietro (Character) - 1994
No Score Yet 87% Parallel Lives Charlie Duke (Character) - 1994
No Score Yet No Score Yet Love, Honor & Obey: The Last Mafia Marriage Joseph Bonanno (Character) - 1993
No Score Yet 62% Blindsided Ira Gold (Character) - 1993
No Score Yet No Score Yet Lies Before Kisses Grant Sanders (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Forever Marcello Rondi (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Beyond the Ocean John Tana (Character),
Director,
Screenwriter
- 1990
No Score Yet No Score Yet Oltre l'oceano Unknown (Character),
Director
- 1990
44% 67% Road House Brad Wesley (Character) $27.4M 1989
No Score Yet No Score Yet Quicker Than the Eye Ben Norrell (Character) - 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Secret Obsession Paul Rivière (Character) - 1988
No Score Yet No Score Yet Control Mike Zella (Character) - 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Downpayment on Murder Harry Cardell (Character) - 1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Police Story: The Freeway Killings Capt. Tom Wright (Character) - 1987
No Score Yet 66% Il Camorrista Il Professore (Character) - 1986
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Letter to Three Wives Porter Holloway (Character) - 1985
No Score Yet 74% An Early Frost Nick Pierson (Character) - 1985
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Question of Honor Detective Joe DeFalco (Character) - 1982
50% 51% They All Laughed John Russo (Character) - 1981
60% 70% Tales of Ordinary Madness Charles Serking (Character) - 1981
0% 7% Inchon! Maj. Frank Hallsworth (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet 25% Bloodline Rhys Williams (Character) - 1979
72% 74% Saint Jack Jack Flowers (Character) - 1979
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Death of Richie George Werner (Character) - 1977
96% 90% Opening Night Manny Victor (Character) $10.5K 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald Anson "Kip" Roberts (Character) - 1977
No Score Yet No Score Yet Richie George Werner (Character) - 1977
No Score Yet 60% High Velocity Clifford Baumgartner (Character) - 1977
83% 52% Voyage of the Damned Morris Troper (Character) - 1976
79% 82% The Killing of a Chinese Bookie Cosmo Vitelli (Character) - 1976
No Score Yet 88% The Sicilian Connection Joseph Coppola (Character) - 1976
No Score Yet 26% Capone Al Capone (Character) - 1975
No Score Yet 57% QB VII Abe Cady (Character) - 1974
No Score Yet 14% The Neptune Factor Cmdr. Adrian Blake (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet No Score Yet Maneater Nick Baron (Character) - 1973
No Score Yet 25% Pursuit Steven Graves (Character) - 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Family Rico Eddie Rico (Character) - 1972
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fireball Forward Maj. Gen. Joe Barrett (Character) - 1972
No Score Yet 33% When Michael Calls Doremus Connelly (Character) - 1972
68% 79% Husbands Harry (Character) - 1970
20% 58% The Bridge at Remagen Sgt. Angelo (Character) - 1969
No Score Yet 55% A Rage to Live Roger Bannon (Character) - 1965
No Score Yet No Score Yet Rapture at 2:40 Paul Bryan (Character) - 1965
No Score Yet 60% Carol for Another Christmas Fred (Character) - 1964
No Score Yet No Score Yet Tell It Like It Is Narrator - 1964
No Score Yet 46% Convicts Four John Resko (Character) - 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Conquered City Capt. George Stubbs (Character) - 1962
No Score Yet 55% The Young Doctors Dr. David Coleman (Character) - 1961
100% 79% The Passionate Thief Lello (Character) $30.8K 1960
100% 91% Anatomy of a Murder Lt. Frederick Manion (Character) - 1959
No Score Yet No Score Yet You'll Never See Me Again Jim Mason (Character) - 1959
50% 61% The Strange One Jocko De Paris (Character) - 1957

TV

Credit
78% 83% Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Executive Assistant Attorney (Guest Star) 2001
No Score Yet No Score Yet People Like Us Unknown (Character) 1990
No Score Yet 80% Columbo Director 1974-1975
No Score Yet No Score Yet Run for Your Life Unknown (Character) 1965-1968
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Guest 1961
No Score Yet No Score Yet I've Got a Secret Guest 1959
No Score Yet No Score Yet The United States Steel Hour Richard Elgin Jr. (Character) 1954