Personal life

Assante was born in New York City, and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist, and Katherine (née Healy), a music teacher and poet. His father was Italian American, his mother was Irish American, and he was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family. Assante was married to Karen McArn from 1982 to 1994, and has two daughters, Anya and Alesandra.

Career

During the 1970s, Assante was a regular on two NBC soap operas, How to Survive a Marriage as Johnny McGee and The Doctors as Dr. 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. His first on-screen role was playing Sylvester Stallone's brother in Paradise Alley and 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.

Assante's somewhat sinister look has made him a popular choice for tough-guy heroes, as in his starring role as private eye Mike Hammer in the film I, the Jury (1982) or 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, and the following year he portrayed the notorious 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 his Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.

In addition to mafia and "tough-guy" roles, Assante has distinguished himself in historic dramas, such as Napoleon Bonaparte in 1987's Napoleon and Josephine, a Love Story opposite Jacqueline Bisset, the heroic 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 notable 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. In 2007 he appeared in American Gangster (2007) 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. Outside of the U.S., he has participated in several film projects and humanitarian endeavors in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Macedonia, Turkey, Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Romania and Bulgaria.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974-1975	How to Survive a Marriage	Johnny McGee	Unknown episodes
1974	The Lords of Flatbush	Wedding guest
1975	First Ladies Diaries: Rachel Jackson	Robards	Television movie
1975-1977	The Doctors	Dr. Mike Powers #6	Unknown episodes
1977	Kojak	Tom Ryan	Episode: "Caper on a Quiet Street"
1978	Paradise Alley	Lenny Carboni
	Human Feelings	Johnny Turner	Television movie
	Lady of the House	Ernest	Television movie
	The Pirate	Ahmed	Television movie
1979	Prophecy	John Hawks
	Mrs. Columbo	Freddie Faust	Episode: "A Chilling Surprise"
1980	Little Darlings	Gary Callahan
	Private Benjamin	Henri Alan Tremont
	Sophia Loren: Her Own Story	Riccardo Scicolone
1982	Love and Money	Lorenzo Prado
	I, the Jury	Mike Hammer
1983	Rage of Angels	Michael Moretti	Television movie
1984	Unfaithfully Yours	Maximillian Stein
	Why Me?	Dr. James Stalling	Television movie, directed by Fielder Cook, starring Glynnis O'Connor
1985	Evergreen	Joseph Friedman
1986	Belizaire the Cajun	Beliaire Breaux
	A Deadly Business	Charles Macaluso	Television movie
1987	Stranger in My Bed	Hal Slater	Television movie
	Hands of a Stranger	Joe Hearn	Television movie
	Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story	Napoleon Bonaparte	3 episodes
1988	The Penitent	Juan Mateo
	Jack the Ripper	Richard Mansfield	Television movie Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1989	Eternity	Romi
	Passion and Paradise	Alfred de Marigny	Television movie
	Animal Behavior	Mark Mathias
1990	Q&A	Roberto Texador	Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture
1991	The Marrying Man	Bugsy Siegel
	Fever	Ray	Television movie
1992	The Mambo Kings	Caesar Castillo
	1492: Conquest of Paradise	Sanchez
	Hoffa	Carol "Dally" D'Allesandro
1993	Fatal Instinct	Ned Ravine
1994	Blind Justice	Canaan	Television movie
1995	Judge Dredd	Rico
	Kidnapped	Alan Breck Stewart	Television movie Note: Assante replaced Christopher Reeve in this role due to Reeve's spinal cord injury from a horse-riding accident.
1996	Striptease	Lt. Al Garcia
	Gotti	John Gotti	Television movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
1997	The Odyssey	Odysseus	Television movie Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film
1998	Looking for an Echo	Vince "Vinnie" Pirelli
1999	The Hunley	Lt. George E. Dixon	Television movie
2000	The Road to El Dorado	Tzekal-Kan	Nominated—Annie Award Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
	On the Beach	Cmdr. Dwight Towers	Television movie
2001	Last Run	Frank Banner
	After the Storm	Jean-Pierre	Television movie
	One Eyed King	Holly
	Federal Protection	Frank Carbone
2002	Partners in Action	Jack Cunningham
	Push, Nevada	Unknown	Episode: "The Amount"
2003	Citizen Verdict	Sam Patterson
	Consequence	Sam Tyler
2005	Casanova's Last Stand	Sebastian Marr
	Children of Wax	Kemal
	Dot.Kill	Charlie Daines
	The Third Wish	Benefactor
	Mirror Wars	York
	Two for the Money	Novian
	Confessions of a Pit Fighter	Argento
2006	Funny Money	Genero
	ER	Richard Elliot	4 episodes
	Dead Lenny	Tony Thick
	Soul's Midnight	Simon
	Surveillance	Harley
2007	Mexican Sunrise	Salvidar
	California Dreamin'	Cpt. Doug Jones
	When Nietzsche Wept	Nietzsche
	American Gangster	Dominic Cottano	Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
	NCIS	La Grenouille	5 episodes
2008	Shark Swarm	Hamilton Lux	Television movie
	La Linea	Padre Antonio
	The Man Who Came Back	Amos
	October Road	Gabriel Diaz	2 episodes
2009	The Lost	Kevin	Television movie
	Smile	Tollinger
	The Steam Experiment	Detective Mancini
	Chicago Overcoat	Stefano D'Agnostino
	Breaking Point	Marty Berlin
	Magic Man	Taper
	The Bleeding	Jake Plummer
2010	Shadows in Paradise	Cpt. John 'Ghost' Santo
	Killer by Nature	Eugene Branch
	Chuck	Premier Alejandro Goya	2 episodes
	Human Target	Joubert	Episode: "Christopher Chance"
2013	Dead Man Down	Lon Gordon
	Assumed Killer	Aaron Banfield
	Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn	Joseph Baldano Sr.
2014	Montevideo, vidimo se!	Hotchkins
2015	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Nicolas Amaro	Episode: "Padre Sandunguero"
	Kids vs Monsters	Damian
	Sicilian Vampire	Vince

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

• 1989: Nominated Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Richard Mansfield in Jack the Ripper
• 1996: Won Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor - Miniseries or a Movie for his portrayal of Mafia Don John Gotti

Golden Globe Awards

• 1989: Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Jack the Ripper
• 1991: Nominated Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture for Q&A
• 1997: Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for Gotti
• 1998: Nominated Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for The Odyssey

Screen Actors Guild Awards

• 1997: Nominated Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie for Gotti

In 2010, Assante received a star on the Italian Walk of Fame in Toronto, Canada.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]