Steven Vincent "Steve" Buscemi (; born December 13, 1957) is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actor and film director.

Early life

Buscemi (pronounced Boo-semi) was born in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Dorothy, who worked as a hostess at Howard Johnson's, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker and Korean War veteran. Buscemi's father was Italian American and his mother Irish American.Film Society of Lincoln CenterTHE THIN MAN. | The New Yorker (November, 2005)John Lahr - steve buscemi profile He has three brothers: Jon, Ken, and Michael. Buscemi was raised Catholic, but had given up on God by junior high school. He graduated in 1975 from Valley Stream Central High School in Valley Stream, New York, a school which he attended with actress Patricia Charbonneau and writer Ed Renehan. In high school, Buscemi wrestled for the varsity squad and participated in the drama troupe, at that time directed by Mr. Lynne C. Lappin. (Buscemi's 1996 film Trees Lounge, in which he not only starred but served as screenwriter and director, is set in and was largely shot in his childhood village of Valley Stream.Delatiner, Barbara. "Cinema Arts Film Festival Stresses the Independents", The New York Times, June 1, 1997. Accessed November 1, 2007.) Buscemi briefly attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to enroll in the Lee Strasberg Institute. In the early '80s Buscemi also served as a firefighter for four years with the FDNY. On March 4th 2005, Buscemi returned to his old high school where he was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award as part of the school's 75th anniversary celebration.

Career

Acting

Buscemi is an associate member of the experimental theater company The Wooster Group. Buscemi’s first appearance was in Parting Glances in 1986, where he played Nick, an AIDS stricken man.