Jon Polito

Jon Raymond Polito (December 29, 1950 – September 1, 2016) was an American character actor whose 35 year film and television career saw him often playing policemen or criminals.

When asked about his being typecast, he said "Pray for typecasting... if you are a type, then you can work." "I don’t have a problem (with typecasting) — first of all, my theory is there are only gangsters and cops. There are also fathers, but they are really boring unless some tragedy happens to the father. ...I don’t mind typecasting, but I will not do the same thing over again."

Polito's over 220 acting credits included television roles playing Detective Steve Crosetti in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and Phil Bartoli on the first season of Crime Story. He also appeared in several films including The Rocketeer, The Crow and Gangster Squad, as well as his work with the Coen brothers. He appeared in five of their films, including Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. Polito also portrayed hungry i nightclub impresario Enrico Banducci in a large supporting role in Tim Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes.

Asked about his eclectic approach to accepting diverse acting roles, Polito said "I’m basically kind of a whore when it comes to work. Whatever comes down the pike, I’ll do it. It’s what I’ve been doing since working with the Coen Brothers for the first time... I try to do any style of show that there is."

Polito was born December 29, 1950 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the third of John and Delaida "Dee" (née Pompei) Polito's three children. He had an older sister and brother, Rosemary Simpson and animator Jack Polito.

Polito found his career in acting while attending the West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys. He explained "I was a very scared kid. No confidence, fat, strange... that was it until I found the theater." His acting roles in high school included the "Persian Peddler" in the 1967 West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Girls' production of Oklahoma!.

After high school he earned a fully paid drama scholarship at Villanova University. During that time, he was also a student of Irene Baird at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Moving to New York City in 1977, Polito's first Broadway theatre role was as an understudy in the David Mamet play American Buffalo. His theatrical career included many Broadway and off Broadway productions where he shared the stage with actors Faye Dunaway in The Curse of an Aching Heart in 1982, Sigourney Weaver as well as Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich in the acclaimed 1984 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.

In 1984 Polito played opposite Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich in a revival of Arthur Miller’s 1949 play Death of a Salesman. In the play, Polito's character Howard Wagner fires Hoffman’s Willy Loman at a critical point in the plot. Hoffman found Polito's performance overwhelming in the off-Broadway rehearsals.

Polito recalled:

"I was nearly fired from the production when we opened in Chicago... they wanted me to read for the character of Biff because they couldn’t get a commitment for one year from John Malkovich... Well, I never wanted to play a Biff a day in my life. I never liked the character. I just couldn’t do it. So in my audition, I actually went on the stage in front of [Dustin] Hoffman and said, “I don’t want to play Biff, I don’t want to read for Biff. I’m only interested in the role of Howard,” which they had already committed to someone else... So I was cast (as Biff) doing that kind of performance, but when we opened the play in Chicago, Hoffman did not get good reviews.

Basically, the problem seemed to center on that Death Of A Salesman scene. And it was about the fact that Hoffman was looking at me and he was seeing me see him as the loser he was. So he couldn’t really finish the play. He was crying a lot from that scene on... They almost fired me without telling me and then they finally brought me in for a meeting with Arthur Miller and with Dustin Hoffman and the director Michael Rudman... And I remember turning to Hoffman and saying, “What the hell…? Why are we doing this? What the hell did you cast me for? What’s the problem here? I wanted to do my performance. What the hell is the problem?” And Hoffman turned to me and said, “I can’t finish the play.” And I said, “What do you mean?” And he explained to me... he would like very much if I could adjust my performance for the previews. And I said, “For the previews?” And he said, “For the previews, out of town, so I can start to create my performance based on what I’m seeing you do as much meaner than what you’re being.” So I said, “Can I open in New York with my performance?” And he said, “Yes.”

So basically... the performance I began to give out of town was this kind of wicked, mean guy. And then, slowly, when we got to Washington, to the Kennedy Center, I remember him coming up before we started those performances and he said, “You can lighten up more.” And then when we got to New York, (Hoffman) said, “You can go back to your performance.” Hoffman was incredibly generous and he is an incredibly generous and interesting performer who was really tackling a tough role. So I was more than glad to do that."

A Washington Post review said Polito turned in "memorable performances as... (Hoffman's) cold-hearted boss." Another reviewer said "The scene with Hoffman and Polito in particular, in which the older man begs the son of his former mentor for work, is raw and uncomfortable to witness".

The Broadway production with the original cast including Polito was filmed and premiered on CBS September 15, 1985. It earned 10 nominations at the 38th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, and four Golden Globe nominations at the 43rd Golden Globe Awards ceremony, winning three and one, respectively.

In 1981 Polito made his television debut portraying the real-life mafia co-founder Tommy "Three Finger Brown" Lucchese in the NBC series The Gangster Chronicles. He was a series regular on Syfy’s The Chronicle and Steven Bochco’s Raising the Bar. He appeared on Chicago Hope, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Modern Family, N.Y.P.D. Blue, Roseanne and Two and a Half Men.

Polito's guest star appearances on television shows included Silvio the landlord on Seinfield and as Rhonda, his only appearance as a woman on The Chris Isaak Show.

In 1986 Polito portrayed mob crime boss Phil Bartoli during the first season of Michael Mann's noir Crime Story on NBC.

He said the show taught him how to be a better actor. "Crime Story was where I learned that I needed to get to know every crew member... By asking them what they did and taking an interest in them, they took an interest in me... when the scene is shooting, you then know that, for the most part, those guys are watching you act. And therefore you’ve got an audience. And that’s when my acting began to be much more, to me, natural. I was able to watch my acting and see a performance instead of being self-conscious. So that was the gift of Crime Story".

In 1988 Polito appeared in a Miami Vice episode as El Gato, a drug dealer. He said of the role "El Gato was brilliant. That was an insane role. Basically, the word I got was an offer, there was no audition. They said, 'We’ve got a gay Hispanic drug-dealing, drug-taking lunatic, and we thought of you.' I thought, 'Hey! That’s perfect'."

In 1993 Polito was offered a role as a Polish-American detective on the NBC show Homicide: Life on the Street. When the series' co-creators Barry Levinson and Tom Fontana cast Polito they changed the character to a hardened, wise-cracking Italian-American detective named Steve Crosetti.

The show initially earned lackluster viewership and low ratings. Cancellation was a continual threat. NBC pressured the producers to include a new female character (Megan Russert) hoping to gain broader appeal. In order to afford a new character, Polito's character was written out of the show for budgetary reasons at the end of Season 2.

Polito recalled Fontana saying "You have to be dropped now, but I'll bring you back — I didn't believe that because I'd been screwed by so many producers over the years... I didn't trust him. So after he said, 'NBC wants to get the girl on the show, and they have to replace somebody, and we're gonna choose you, but I'll bring you back in the fall', I instead, very stupidly, went to the newspapers... (saying) some very vicious comments". "I was wrong to jump at Fontana and all that, and not believe in Fontana and Levinson, because they're great people and would've been faithful to me, but I just didn't trust it because I'd been screwed too many times before". The outburst caused a rift with Fontana. Early in Season 3, Polito's character committed suicide and was eliminated. Polito again complained to the media, triggering a highly public dispute with Fontana. Interviewed about the situation in 2005, Polito expressed regret for his handling of the matter. He and Fontana later reconciled, and the Crosetti character returned to make a farewell appearance as a spirit in Homicide: The Movie.

In 1990 Polito was cast by the Coen brothers’ to play Italian mafioso Johnny Caspar in their neo-noir gangster film Miller's Crossing.

The Coens had seen Polito in the 1984 Broadway revival of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. They initially approached him to play the part of The Dane in Miller's Crossing but after reading the script Polito turned that part down, saying he was only interested in playing the role of gangster Johnny Caspar. The Coens auditioned several other actors but eventually chose Polito after they made him read his entire role cold.

It would be the first of five films Polito made with the brothers. He was next offered the role of Lou Breeze in their film Barton Fink (1991). They had written the role specifically for him. He again turned down the Coens' offer, saying he instead wanted to play the part of film producer Jack Lipnick. Actress Frances McDormand persuaded him to take the Lou Breeze role, saying it would change his career. He later appeared as an eccentric businessman in The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), in The Big Lebowski (1998) as a private detective and finally in 2001 as a flirtatious salesman in The Man Who Wasn't There.

Polito performed voice acting on 18 animated series, including American Dad, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Chowder, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera and ThunderCats. He was also a voice actor on video games.

Polito was gay and married fellow actor Darryl Armbruster on October 16, 2015, fifteen years after they first met.

Polito was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2010. In 2012 he was reported to be in remission. Four years later, while being treated at the City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California, he fell into a coma and was removed from life support on September 1, 2016. He was 65 years old.

• 1980: Obie Award in 1980 for his theater performances off Broadway
• 2001: Telly Awards - Voice Over, The Dancing Pumpkin animated short
• 2005: Cinequest Film Festival - Maverick Spirit Event Award "for outstanding achievement in film and television in recognition of his body of work"
• 2012: Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival - Best Actor, Short Film (Anti-Muse)
• 2018: Seattle International Film Festival - Best Ensemble in a Feature Film