Armand Assante

Armand Anthony Assante Jr. is an American actor. He played mobster John Gotti in the 1996 HBO television film Gotti, Odysseus in the 1997 miniseries adaptation of Homer's The Odyssey, Nietzsche in When Nietzsche Wept, and Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer in 1982's I, the Jury. He has been nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards (one win for his performance in Gotti), four Golden Globe Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.

During the 1970s, Assante was a regular on two NBC soap operas, How to Survive a Marriage as Johnny McGhee and The Doctors as Mike Powers. His first film was The Lords of Flatbush (1974), although his work did not appear in the final cut of the film and the end credits misspelled his last name as Assanti. He starred in Prophecy (1979). His first on-screen role was playing Sylvester Stallone's brother in Paradise Alley. A role that brought him greater attention came in 1980's Private Benjamin, as a handsome Frenchman who becomes the love interest of a U.S. soldier played by Goldie Hawn. In 1984, he portrayed the playboy violin virtuoso Maximillian Stein in the Dudley Moore comedy vehicle Unfaithfully Yours.

Assante has played a number of tough hero characters, such as his starring role as private eye Mike Hammer in the film I, the Jury (1982) as well as mafia gangsters such as Michael Moretti in Sidney Sheldon's Rage of Angels. In 1990, his role as Roberto Texador in Sidney Lumet's film Q&A garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. The following year, he portrayed Bugsy Siegel in Neil Simon's The Marrying Man (1991).

The following year, he was seen as mafia boss Carol D'Allesandro in Hoffa (1992) starring Jack Nicholson, and crime kingpin John Gotti in the 1996 made-for-television biopic Gotti, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.

In addition to mafia and "tough-guy" roles, Assante has appeared in historical dramas, such as Napoleon Bonaparte in 1987's Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story opposite Jacqueline Bisset, Odysseus in The Odyssey, Friedrich Nietzsche in the film adaptation of Irving Yalom's novel When Nietzsche Wept, and as Sanchez, Queen Isabella's Minister of State, in 1492: Conquest of Paradise.

Other film appearances include one as a Cuban bandleader in The Mambo Kings opposite Antonio Banderas and in the adaptation of the science-fiction story Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone, his co-star in Paradise Alley. He appeared in the 2007 film American Gangster with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. He had a recurring guest star role in several episodes of NCIS, playing the international arms dealer René Benoit. He has also appeared in the 2009 horror film Smile as the mysterious Tollinger and portrayed Ernie in Sugar (marketed on Lifetime as Danger Below Deck). Outside of the U.S., he has participated in several film projects and humanitarian endeavors in Romania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

Source: Wikipedia