Childhood & Early Life
Steve Buscemiwas born Steven Vincent Buscemion December 13, 1957, in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA, to Dorothy and John Buscemi. He is of English-Dutch-Italian descent and was raised a staunch Roman Catholic.
He studied at ‘Valley Stream Central High School’ from where he graduated in 1975. When he was in school, he wrestled for the varsity group and was also a member of the drama troupe.
He studied at ‘Nassau Community College’ for a briefperiod of time before moving to Manhattan to study theatre at the ‘Lee Strasberg Institute.’ After he completed his education, he gave a civil service test in 1976. He cleared the examinations to become a New York City firefighter with ‘Engine Company No. 55.’
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Career
One of his initial films was ‘Parting Glances’ in 1986. He also appeared in an episode of the television series ‘Miami Vice’ where he portrayed the character of ‘Rickles.’
In 1987, he starred in ‘Kiss Daddy Goodnight’ and ‘Heart,’ followed by ‘Call Me’ and ‘Heart of Midnight’ the next year. His other early films include ‘Slaves of New York’ and ‘Tales from the Darkside.’
Starting from 1990, he became one of the most prominent ‘bad-boys of Hollywood’after appearing in ‘King of New York’ and ‘Miller’s Crossing.’ The latter became the first of six films in which Buscemi would work with the Coen Brothers.
In 1991, he was seen in another Coen Brothers film ‘Barton Fink’ where he played the role of a bellboy named‘Chet.’The next year, helanded lead roles in films like ‘In the Soup’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs.’
From 1993 to 1995, he starred in a string of films, including ‘Rising Sun,’‘The Adventures of Pete & Pete,’ ‘The Hudsucker Proxy,’ ‘Pulp Fiction,’ ‘Floundering,’ ‘Billy Madison,’ and ‘Desperado.’
He appeared in some of the most important films of his career in 1996 for which he received numerous award nominations. He was seen in movies, such as ‘Fargo,’ ‘Escape from L.A.,’ ‘Trees Lounge,’ and ‘Kansas City.’
From 1997 to 1999, he was seen in movies like ‘Con Air,’ ‘The Big Lebowski,’ ‘The Imposters,’ ‘The Wedding Singer,’ and ‘Big Daddy.’In most of these films, he played characters that were neurotic and paranoid.
The year 2001 proved to be momentous for the actor. He won numerous awards for his portrayal of ‘Seymour’ in ‘Ghost World,’ which is considered one of his most successful movies till date. He also starred in ‘The Grey Zone,’ ‘Double Whammy,’ and ‘Monsters, Inc.’ the same year.
In 2002, he contributed to the single ‘Broadway Song’ from Lou Reed’s album ‘The Raven.’ He also contributed to the poems, ‘Old Poe’ and ‘The Cask.’ The next year, he appeared as himself on ‘The Simpsons.’ The same year, he wasalso seen in ‘The Laramie Project,’ ‘13 Moons,’ and ‘Mr. Deeds.’
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In 2004, he joined the cast of ‘The Sopranos’ as ‘Tony Blundetto,’ a role which earned him an ‘Emmy Award’ nomination. He had previously directed an episode of the show, which went on to become one of the most critically-acclaimed episodes. He also voiced‘Wesley’ in ‘Home on the Range.’
He directed and starred in ‘Interview’ and also appeared as ‘Dwight’ in an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ in 2007. More television appearances followed as he was seen in five episodes of ‘30 Rock’ the same year. One of his films, ‘Romance & Cigarettes,’ received mixed reviews.
In 2009 and 2010, he appeared in ‘John Rabe,’ ‘The Messenger,’ ‘Handsome Harry,’ and ‘Grown Ups.’His biggest career breakthrough was his performance in the television series ‘Boardwalk Empire’ for which he won numerous awards.
From 2012 to 2013, he worked in films like ‘On the Road,’ ‘Hotel Transylvania,’ ‘The Incredible Burt Wonderstone,’ ‘Monsters University,’ ‘Grown Ups 2,’ and ‘Khumba.’
From 2014 to 2015, he directed, hosted, and produced his own web series talk show titled‘Park Benchwith Steve Buscemi.’
In 2016, Buscemistarred alongside Louis C.K. in the comedy-drama web series ‘Horace and Pete.’
In 2017, he was seen in films like ‘Lean on Pete’ and ‘The Death of Stalin.’ The following year, he played ‘Leo Lynch’ in ‘Nancy’ and then appeared as ‘Charles’ in ‘The Week Of.’
In 2019, he became part of the main cast of the American anthology comedy television series ‘Miracle Workers.’The same year, he played ‘Farmer Miller’ in Jim Jarmusch's zombie horror comedy film ‘The Dead Don't Die.’
