James Russo
One of Hollywood's most prolific character actors, James Russo specializes in playing thugs, gangsters and villains in everything from straight-to-video thrillers to major studio films. Following small but memorable turns in movies like "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" (1982), Russo gained notoriety in the Eddie Murphy action-comedy, "Beverly Hills Cop" (1984), and the adaptation of the off-Broadway play "Extremities" (1986) opposite Farrah Fawcett. Following character parts in "My Own Private Idaho" (1991) and "Bad Girls, he gained well-deserved critical acclaim for his role as the vicious, street-wizened gangster Paulie in the award-winning film "Donnie Brasco" (1997) starring Al Pacino and Johnny Depp, while increasingly making more appearances on popular TV shows like "Without a Trace" (CBS, 2002-09) and "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS, 2000-15). After joining Kevin Costner for "Open Range" (2003) and Robert Duvall for "Broken Trail" (AMC, 2006), Russo reunited with Depp in the epic gangster movie "Public Enemies" (2009), in which he had a small but pivotal role in the movie's jarring opening sequence. While Russo did not gain the mainstream recognition that other supporting players received, his reputation as a dependable tough guy performer was well known within the industry for the duration of his long and venerable career.
Photos
James Russo
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
51% |
|
Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 | Abel Naughton (Character) | $29.0M | 2024 |
67% |
|
Condition of Return | Mike Stafford (Character) | - | 2023 |
100% |
|
The Allnighter | Walter (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Murder Motel | Joe (Character) | - | 2023 |
No Score Yet |
|
MobKing | The Don Dominic Sasso (Character) | - | 2022 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Starf*cker |
'Daddy' / |
- | 2022 |
20% |
|
Take Back | Schmidt (Character) | - | 2021 |
No Score Yet |
|
Cerebrum | Kirk Davis (Character) | - | 2021 |
83% |
|
Woe | Uncle Pete (Character) | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Penitent Thief | Castor (Character) | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet |
|
Chronicle of a Serial Killer | Peter Brown (Character) | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet |
|
Final Kill | Bob (Character) | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Bullet Ride | Mr. Langdon (Character) | - | 2020 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Fifth Borough | Det. Ricci (Character) | - | 2019 |
50% |
|
Badland | Fred Quaid (Character) | - | 2019 |
20% |
|
The Great Alaskan Race | Wild Bill (Character) | - | 2019 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Possession Diaries | Father Brien (Character) | - | 2019 |
No Score Yet |
|
Desolate | Duke Stone (Character) | - | 2018 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Broken Ones | Joe Murphy (Character) | - | 2018 |
14% |
|
Living Among Us | Aaron (Character) | - | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Dog and Pony Show | Banker Pete Melnick (Character) | - | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Disorder | Unknown (Character) | - | 2018 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Actor | Agent Bradley Scott (Character) | - | 2017 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Not a Stranger |
Bob Madden (Character), Director, Executive Producer |
- | 2016 |
No Score Yet |
|
Voiceless | Pastor Gil (Character) | $412.5K | 2016 |
17% |
|
Vigilante Diaries | Mr. Hanover (Character) | - | 2016 |
No Score Yet |
|
Code of Honor | Romano (Character) | - | 2016 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Paid in Full | John Desmond (Character) | - | 2016 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Bronx Bull | Rocky Graziano (Character) | - | 2015 |
No Score Yet |
|
American Justice | Agent Cobb (Character) | - | 2014 |
25% |
|
Perfect Sisters | Bowman (Character) | - | 2014 |
No Score Yet |
|
Chavez: Cage of Glory | Tony (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet |
|
7E |
Sam (Character), Executive Producer |
- | 2013 |
No Score Yet |
|
Five Thirteen | Agent Acevedo (Character) | - | 2013 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Dragon Warrior | Claudius (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
|
Samuel Bleak | Charles Bleak (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
|
Yellow Rock | Max Dietrich (Character) | - | 2011 |
88% |
|
Miss Bala | Jimmy (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet |
|
1 in the Gun | Jimmy (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Good God Bad Dog | Peter Elias (Character) | - | 2011 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Dreams and Shadows | John Brunette (Character) | - | 2010 |
57% |
|
Boy Wonder | Larry Childs (Character) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dark Woods | Sheriff Demming (Character) | - | 2010 |
No Score Yet |
|
Charlie Valentine | Rocco (Character) | - | 2009 |
68% |
|
Public Enemies | Walter Dietrich (Character) | $97.0M | 2009 |
No Score Yet |
|
Never Surrender | Jimmy (Character) | - | 2009 |
No Score Yet |
|
Break | The Father (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Little Red Devil | Mr. Trundell (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Born of Earth | Tom Reeser (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Shoot First and Pray You Live (Because Luck Has Nothing to Do With It) | McGurk (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Stiletto | Engelhart (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Dark World | Charlie (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
On the Doll | Janitor (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet |
|
Deadwater | Commander Combs (Character) | - | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Blue Lake Massacre | Sheriff Jack (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
Machine | Butch (Character) | - | 2007 |
73% |
|
Kings of the Evening | Ramsey (Character) | $98.7K | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Pink Conspiracy | Cox (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
Chill | Detective Defazio (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
All In | Dr. Pennington (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Hit | Mr. Santucci (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Hit | Unknown (Character) | - | 2007 |
No Score Yet |
|
Satanic | Eddie (Character) | - | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Blackwater Valley Exorcism | Unknown (Character) | - | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Cut Off | Gonzo (Character) | - | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Shut Up and Shoot! | David Sanchez (Character) | - | 2006 |
No Score Yet |
|
Come As You Are | Benny (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet |
|
Confessions of a Pit Fighter | Sharkey (Character) | - | 2005 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Target | Donovan (Character) | - | 2004 |
No Score Yet |
|
Paris | Leon King (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
A Good Night to Die | Roy (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
Stealing Sinatra | Frank Sinatra (Character) | - | 2003 |
79% |
|
Open Range | Sheriff (Character) | $58.3M | 2003 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Box | Frank Miles (Character) | - | 2003 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | First Degree | Unknown (Character) | - | 2002 |
20% |
|
Pendulum | Edward Mills (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet |
|
The House Next Door | Carl Schmidt (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Against All Evidence | Mr. Quinn (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Shattered Lies | Smiler (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet |
|
Redemption | Capt. Grill (Character) | - | 2002 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Double Deception | Snake (Character) | - | 2001 |
No Score Yet |
|
Sonic Impact | Agent Nick Halton (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
Deep Core | Darryl Simmons (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Unscarred | Mickey Vernon (Character) | - | 2000 |
No Score Yet |
|
BitterSweet | Joe Massa (Character) | - | 1999 |
43% |
|
The Ninth Gate | Bernie (Character) | $18.7M | 1999 |
No Score Yet |
|
Jimmy Zip | Otis Campbell (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Paper Bullets | John Rourke (Character) | - | 1999 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Felons | Max Targenville (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Detour | Ziggy Rotella (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Fait Accompli | Luc (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | My Husband's Secret Life | Sal Bianculli (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet |
|
Laws of Deception | Gino Carlucci (Character) | - | 1998 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Girl Gets Moe | Brannagin (Character) | - | 1997 |
14% |
|
The Postman | Idaho (Character) | $17.6M | 1997 |
88% |
|
Donnie Brasco | Paulie (Character) | $42.0M | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Heist | Nick the Stick (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Under Oath | Warren Erickson (Character) | - | 1997 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Smalltime | Jerry (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
American Strays | Eddie (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
No Way Home | Tommy (Character) | - | 1996 |
No Score Yet |
|
Condition Red | Dan Cappelli (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Set Up | Kliff (Character) | - | 1995 |
25% |
|
Panther | Rodgers (Character) | $6.3M | 1995 |
No Score Yet |
|
The Secretary | Ted Burke (Character) | - | 1995 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Livers Ain't Cheap | Rupert Little (Character) | - | 1995 |
13% |
|
Bad Girls | Kid Jarrett (Character) | $15.2M | 1994 |
50% |
|
Trauma | Capt. Travis (Character) | - | 1993 |
31% |
|
Snake Eyes | Francis Burns (Character) | $121.8K | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Desperate Rescue: The Cathy Mahone Story | Don Feeney (Character) | - | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | DaVinci's War | Mintz (Character) | - | 1993 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Double Deception | Jon Kane (Character) | - | 1993 |
60% |
|
Cold Heaven | Daniel Corvin (Character) | $17.2K | 1992 |
No Score Yet |
|
Illicit Behavior | Bill Tanner (Character) | - | 1991 |
36% |
|
A Kiss Before Dying | Dan Corelli (Character) | $14.7M | 1991 |
80% |
|
My Own Private Idaho | Richard Waters (Character) | $6.4M | 1991 |
No Score Yet |
|
Intimate Stranger | Nick Ciccini (Character) | - | 1991 |
48% |
|
We're No Angels | Bobby (Character) | $10.0M | 1989 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | La cintura | Unknown (Character) | - | 1989 |
0% |
|
The Blue Iguana | Reno (Character) | $114.9K | 1988 |
No Score Yet |
|
Freeway | Frank Quinn (Character) | $106.0K | 1988 |
No Score Yet |
|
China Girl | Alby (Character) | $918.1K | 1987 |
36% |
|
Extremities | Joe (Character) | $12.2M | 1986 |
82% |
|
Beverly Hills Cop | Mikey Tandino (Character) | - | 1984 |
No Score Yet |
|
Exposed | Nick (Character) | - | 1983 |
No Score Yet |
|
A Stranger Is Watching | Ronald Thompson (Character) | - | 1982 |
78% |
|
Fast Times at Ridgemont High | Robber (Character) | - | 1982 |
TV
Credit | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
No Score Yet | 59% | Gravesend | Crazy Chris (Character) | 2020 2023 |
No Score Yet | 88% | Chicago Fire | Papa Lullo (Guest Star) | 2014-2015 |
67% | 62% | Vegas | Anthony 'Red' Cervelli (Guest Star) | 2012-2013 |
No Score Yet | 69% | Hawaii Five-0 | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2010 |
38% | No Score Yet | Dark Blue | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 93% | Numb3ers | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2009 |
No Score Yet | 65% | CSI: Miami | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2006 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Capture of the Green River Killer | Unknown (Character) | 2008 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Las Vegas | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2006 |
96% | 73% | Joan of Arcadia | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2005 |
No Score Yet | 75% | Without a Trace | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2004 |
No Score Yet | 81% | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Sinclair (Guest Star) | 2004 |
59% | No Score Yet | Falcone | Unknown (Guest Star) | 2000 |
43% | No Score Yet | C-16 | Frank Saretti (Guest Star) | 1997 |
0% | No Score Yet | Dellaventura | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1997 |
No Score Yet | 70% | Friday the 13th: The Series | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1988 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Equalizer | Police Detective (Guest Star) | 1985 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Chicago Story | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1982 |