Joe Pesci Net Worth, Career, Biography, Facts, Age, Life Story

Joe Pesci is an American actor and musician who has a net worth of $50 million. Known for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese, Pesci has played various roles in his career, from violent mobsters to comedic leads to quirky sidekicks. His high-profile films include “Raging Bull” (1980), “Goodfellas” (1990), “My Cousin Vinny” (1992), “Casino” (1995), and “Home Alone” (1990) as well as the “Lethal Weapon” series. Throughout Joe’s career, he has earned an Academy Award and a BAFTA award in addition to numerous other awards and nominations.

Early Life

Joe Pesci was born Joseph Frank Pesci on February 9, 1943, in Newark, New Jersey. His mother, Maria, was a barber, and his father, Angelo, was a bartender and forklift driver. Joe grew up in Belleville, New Jersey, and began acting at just 4 years old, first on radio shows, then in plays in New York. When Pesci was 10, he was cast as a regular on the “Star Time Kids” variety show. He had a music career in the 1960s, recording the album “Little Joe Sure Can Sing!” (1968) under the name Joe Ritchie, and he played guitar with Joey Dee & the Starliters. Pesci formed the comedy duo Vincent and Pesci with Frank Vincent in 1970, and they performed together until 1976, even starring in a short-lived Broadway show, “The New Vaudevillians,” together.

Career

Pesci made his film debut in 1976’s “The Death Collector.” Impressed by Joe’s performance, actor Robert De Niro told director Martin Scorsese about the film, and Scorsese cast Joe in 1980’s “Raging Bull.” Pesci broke a rib during filming (and broke it again while filming Scorsese’s “Casino” 15 years later), but he earned a BAFTA Award and Oscar nomination for the role. He followed “Raging Bull” with “Dear Mr. Wonderful” in 1982 and “Easy Money” and “Eureka” in 1983, and he teamed up with De Niro again in 1984’s “Once Upon a Time in America.” In 1985, Joe played the lead role on the TV series “Half Nelson,” a comedy about a private detective. In 1987, Pesci appeared in the “Smooth Criminal” portion of Michael Jackson’s “Moonwalker,” playing a mob boss.

In 1989, Joe played Leo Getz in “Lethal Weapon 2,” a role he would reprise in 1992’s “Lethal Weapon 3” and 1998’s “Lethal Weapon 4.” He worked with De Niro and Scorsese again in 1990’s “Goodfellas,” winning an Academy Award for his role, mobster Tommy DeVito. Also in 1990, Pesci was outsmarted by 8-year-old Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) as burglar Harry Lyme in “Home Alone,” a role he reprised in 1992’s “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York.” Joe appeared in political thriller “JFK” in 1991 and gave critically-acclaimed performances in 1992’s “My Cousin Vinny” and “The Public Eye.” He hosted ” Saturday Night Live” in 1992 and played a con man on an episode of “Tales from the Crypt.” Pesci reunited with De Niro in “A Bronx Tale” (1993) and “Casino” (1995) before appearing in “8 Heads in a Duffel Bag” (1997) with David Spade and “Gone Fishin’” (1997) with Danny Glover. In 1998, Joe released the album “Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You,” and he retired from acting the following year.

Pesci came out of retirement to film a cameo in 2006’s “The Good Shepherd,” which was directed by Robert De Niro. He then starred in “The Love Ranch” (2010) with Helen Mirren, appeared in a 2011 Snickers commercial, and voiced a mosquito in animated feature “A Warrior’s Tail” (2015). In 2017, Joe was cast in “The Irishman,” a crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese and starring De Niro and Al Pacino. Scorsese reportedly had to offer Pesci the role 50 times because Joe didn’t want to play a gangster again. “The Irishman” was released in a limited number of movie theaters in November 2019 and began streaming on Netflix later that month, and Pesci’s performance earned him rave reviews and several award nominations. Joe also released his third album, “Pesci… Still Singing” in November 2019.

Personal Life

Joe has been married three times He has a daughter, Tiffany, from his first marriage. The identities of his first and second wife are not public knowledge, but his third wife was actress Claudia Haro. The couple was married from 1988 to 1992. Claudia had a small part in Joe’s movie “Casino”. In 2012, Haro was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the attempted murder of her second ex-husband, stuntman Garrett Warren. Pesci became engaged to model Angie Everhart in 2007, but they ended their 7-year relationship 9 months later.

Joe sued Fiore Films for $3 million in 2011, saying that he had gained 30 pounds for a movie role they promised him (mobster Angelo Ruggiero in “Gotti”). Instead of casting him in that role, the filmmakers offered him a smaller part that paid less than the $3 million salary he was promised. The case was dismissed after being settled out of court in 2013, and the movie was finally filmed in 2016 with Pruitt Taylor Vince playing Ruggiero.

Awards and Honors

In 1990, Pesci won a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for his role in “Goodfellas,” and he earned the Best Film Newcomer award for “Raging Bull” at the 1982 British Academy Film Awards. He also received Oscar nominations for “Raging Bull” in 1980 and “The Irishman” in 2019. “The Irishman” earned Joe nominations from the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild, and he also received Golden Globe nominations for “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas.” In 1993, Pesci won an American Comedy Award for “My Cousin Vinny,” and he has earned awards from film critic associations in Los Angeles, New York, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, and Dallas-Fort Worth.

Real Estate

In 1994, Joe paid $850,000 for an 8-bedroom mansion on the Jersey Shore, and he put it on the market for $6.5 million in 2019. The 7,200 square foot home features glass walls, a spiral staircase, an elevator, and a deck with a heated swimming pool. He finally sold the home in October 2021 for an undisclosed price.