Oct 19, 1936

Brooklyn, New York

Veteran actor Tony Lo Bianco is not only known for his skills as a performer, but has extended his talents into directing, writing and producing as well. The New York born-and-bred tough guy and former Golden Gloves boxer has distinguished himself over the years with a variety of Italianate blue-collar roles initially on stage and then on film and TV. Adept at playing both sides of the law -- the determined, streetwise cop and the corrupt politico and syndicate boss -- embodying them with a dark... ... (read more...) , brooding, edgy intensity. He won an off-Broadway Obie award as a waning baseball icon in "Yanks-3, Detroit-0, Top of the Seventh"; an Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony nomination in Arthur Miller's "A View from the Bridge"; and received critical kudos for his one-man show "Hizzoner!" which was based on the life of Fiorello La Guardia, a show he later took to public television and won an Emmy award. Tony's film career started off promisingly enough with the cult classic The Honeymoon Killers (1970) in which he portrayed a cold-blooded ladies' man who, paired with a heavyset nurse, sought out wealthy, lonely women to swindle and murder. Over the years he has given added weight and dimension to such films as The French Connection (1971), The Seven-Ups (1973), Bloodbrothers (1978), City of Hope (1991), Nixon (1995) and The Juror (1996). Although he never quite found the right series to make himself a household name, he scored exceptionally well with such mini-movies as Marciano (1979) (TV), as fighter Rocky Marciano, and Bella Mafia (1997) (TV). He has directed such TV programs as "Police Story" (1973) and the feature film Too Scared to Scream (1985). In a solid career that has nearly reached the four decade mark, the durable Tony has brought to life a number of interesting hard-boiled characters, particularly in crimers.