Celebrity Nooz: Nicholas Turturro

Nicholas Turturro (Actor) - NYPD Blue

Updated: 3/27/23

Name: Nicholas Turturro

Birth Name: Nicholas Turturro Jr.

Born: January 29, 1962 in Queens, New York, USA

Claim To Fame: Nicholas Turturro is an American actor best known for his role as Detective James Martinez on the critically acclaimed ABC television drama series NYPD Blue (1993-2000).

Family Life: Turturro was married to Jami Biunno from 1984 to 1995; together they have one child. In 1996, Turturro married Lissa Espinosa; together they have 2 children.

Info: His mother, Katherine Florence (Incerella), was an amateur jazz singer, who worked in a Navy yard during World War II, and was born in the U.S., to Italian parents, with roots in Sicily.

His father, Nicholas Turturro Sr., was a carpenter and shoemaker who emigrated from Giovinazzo, Apulia, Italy, at the age of six and later fought as a US Navy serviceman on D-Day.

Younger brother of actor John Turturro and musician Ralph Turturro.

Cousin of actress Aida Turturro, of The Sopranos.

Turturro is an avid New York Yankees fan and is known for his passionate social media posts supporting the team.

Trivia: He has collaborated with director Spike Lee since the late 1980s.

In 1983, Turturro was employed as a doorman for the Manhattan apartment building where Billy Joel resided at the time. Turturro would rank all the women Joel brought home by holding up his fingers.

His acting mentor was Dennis Franz, as they were job partners in NYPD Blue (1993).

He received an Emmy Award nomination for playing James Martinez on the television series NYPD Blue and was on the series for its first seven seasons.

Portrayed Al Capone on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He was quite good in the role!

He was a guest ring announcer at Wrestlemania XI for the main event of Shawn Michaels vs. Diesel.

Where Are They Now: Turturro is a busy guy these days. He has several projects in the pipeline. The completed projects are the TV series Puckheads, action film The Bouncer, and comedy-drama The Crusades. The drama Bless Me Father which he stars in, also co-wrote, and is directing, and drama The Finish Line are currently in pre-production. In post-production, there's the crime-drama Replica and the animated family-flick Leo. And just announced, the drama K-Town and the TV series MobShot. When does this guy find time to sleep? Hey, busy is always good!

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