Max Casella
Encyclopedia
Max Casella is an American
actor. He is known for his roles on the television
series The Sopranos
, Doogie Howser, M.D.
, and as the voice of Daxter
in the Jak and Daxter
video game series.
, son of David Deitch (a newspaper columnist) and Doris Casella (a social worker). He is of half Italian
and half Jew
ish descent. He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, where he attended the same school as actors Traci Bingham
and Matt Damon
.
Casella played Vincent Delpino in the television series Doogie Howser, M.D.
from 1989 to 1993 alongside Neil Patrick Harris
. In 1992, Casella played Racetrack Higgins in the movie Newsies
. The movie was based upon true events in the 1899 newsboy
s strike against Joseph Pulitzer
and William Randolph Hearst
. He appeared in Windrunner: A Spirited Journey, starring Margot Kidder
and Russell Means
as Jim Thorpe
's ghost. In 1997, Casella played Timon
in the original Broadway
production of The Lion King
; a performance for which he was awarded a Theatre World Award
and received a Drama Desk Award
nomination. In 2000-2001 he returned to Broadway as Marcellus Washburn in the revival of The Music Man
.
Casella portrayed Pvt. Dino Paparelli in Sgt. Bilko. He joined the cast of the HBO series The Sopranos
during its third season, playing the role of Benny Fazio. Casella portrayed Paul Marco
in Tim Burton
's biopic, Ed Wood
. He is also in the 1999 mob movie Analyze This
. In 2007, Casella plays Dick Howser
in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning
. He also voiced in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
as a penguin named Tip who is searching for the chance to be a hero, in the CGI film Dinosaur
as a lemur named Zini, and in Cro
, a 1993 cartoon that aired on ABC
, as the title character. In 2008, Casella also appeared in the movie Leatherheads
as Mack Steiner. He starred as one of the main characters in the 2009 film Scaring the Fish in which he played Dennis. He also has a role in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire as Leo D'Alessio.
He is married to Leona and lives in New York City
with his two children.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor. He is known for his roles on the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
, Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
, and as the voice of Daxter
Daxter
Daxter is a fictional character and a protagonist of the Jak and Daxter series. First introduced in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Daxter is Jak's best friend, and was accidentally transformed into an ottsel . Daxter is voiced by Max Casella and Richard McGonagle . Daxter stars in his own...
in the Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter
Jak and Daxter is a critically acclaimed video game franchise created by Naughty Dog for the PlayStation 2.The series consists of four main games and two spin-offs,though they are also considered to be part of the main series...
video game series.
Life and career
Casella was born in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, son of David Deitch (a newspaper columnist) and Doris Casella (a social worker). He is of half Italian
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
and half Jew
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
ish descent. He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, where he attended the same school as actors Traci Bingham
Traci Bingham
Traci Bingham is an American actress, model and television personality who is best known for playing Jordan Tate on the television series Baywatch between 1996 and 1998.-Personal life:...
and Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
.
Casella played Vincent Delpino in the television series Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Doogie Howser, M.D. is an American television comedy-drama starring Neil Patrick Harris as a 16-year-old doctor who also faces the problems of being a normal teenager. Created by Steven Bochco and David E. Kelley, ABC aired the show from 1989 to 1993 for four seasons totaling 97 episodes.-Plot:Dr....
from 1989 to 1993 alongside Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris
Neil Patrick Harris is an American actor, singer, director, and magician.Prominent roles of his career include the title role in Doogie Howser, M.D., Colonel Carl Jenkins in Starship Troopers, the womanizing Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother, a fictionalized version of himself in the Harold...
. In 1992, Casella played Racetrack Higgins in the movie Newsies
Newsies
Newsies is a 1992 Disney musical film starring Christian Bale, David Moscow, and Bill Pullman. Robert Duvall and Ann-Margret also appeared in supporting roles. The movie is widely claimed to have gained a cult following after its initial failure at the box office...
. The movie was based upon true events in the 1899 newsboy
Newsboy
-Personal nicknames:* "Newsboy", a horse-racing tipster writing in The Daily Mirror* Jeremy Wells, a television personality-Other uses:* Newsvendor model, a demand forecasting model from operations research,...
s strike against Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
and William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
. He appeared in Windrunner: A Spirited Journey, starring Margot Kidder
Margot Kidder
Margaret Ruth "Margot" Kidder is a Canadian-born American actress. She is perhaps best known for playing Lois Lane in the four Superman movies opposite Christopher Reeve, a role that brought her to widespread recognition....
and Russell Means
Russell Means
Russell Charles Means is an Oglala Sioux activist for the rights of Native American people. He became a prominent member of the American Indian Movement after joining the organisation in 1968, and helped organize notable events that attracted national and international media coverage...
as Jim Thorpe
Jim Thorpe
Jacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
's ghost. In 1997, Casella played Timon
Timon and Pumbaa
Timon and Pumbaa are an animated meerkat and warthog duo introduced in Disney's popular 1994 animated film The Lion King. Timon was portrayed through his many appearances by Nathan Lane , Max Casella , Kevin Schon , Quinton Flynn Timon and Pumbaa are an animated meerkat and warthog duo introduced...
in the original Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
production of The Lion King
The Lion King (musical)
The Lion King is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well...
; a performance for which he was awarded a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
and received a Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nomination. In 2000-2001 he returned to Broadway as Marcellus Washburn in the revival of The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
.
Casella portrayed Pvt. Dino Paparelli in Sgt. Bilko. He joined the cast of the HBO series The Sopranos
The Sopranos
The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...
during its third season, playing the role of Benny Fazio. Casella portrayed Paul Marco
Paul Marco
Paul Marco was an American actor who often appeared in movies made by Ed Wood, including the "Kelton Trilogy" of Bride of the Monster, Night of the Ghouls and Plan 9 from Outer Space, in which he played a bumbling, fearful policeman named Kelton.-Career:Born in Los Angeles, Marco started taking...
in Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
's biopic, Ed Wood
Ed Wood (film)
Ed Wood is a 1994 American comedy-drama biopic directed and produced by Tim Burton, and starring Johnny Depp as cult filmmaker Edward D. Wood, Jr. The film concerns the period in Wood's life when he made his best-known films as well as his relationship with actor Bela Lugosi, played by Martin Landau...
. He is also in the 1999 mob movie Analyze This
Analyze This
Analyze This is a 1999 gangster comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the screenplay with playwright Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The film stars Robert De Niro as a mafioso and Billy Crystal as a psychiatrist...
. In 2007, Casella plays Dick Howser
Dick Howser
Richard Dalton Howser was an American Major League Baseball shortstop, coach and manager. He is best known as the manager of the Kansas City Royals during the 1980s, and for guiding them to the franchise's only World Series title in 1985.-Playing career:A native of Miami, Florida, Howser grew up...
in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning
The Bronx Is Burning
The Bronx Is Burning is a television drama that debuted on ESPN on July 9, 2007, after the 2007 MLB Home Run Derby. It is an eight-episode mini-series adapted from Jonathan Mahler's best-selling book, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bronx Is Burning...
. He also voiced in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea
The film's official soundtrack was released on September 19, 2000. The soundtrack was released internationally on October 31, 2000 in a special edition double pack with the original film's soundtrack...
as a penguin named Tip who is searching for the chance to be a hero, in the CGI film Dinosaur
Dinosaur (film)
Dinosaur is a 2000 American computer-animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures on May 19, 2000, and is the 39th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
as a lemur named Zini, and in Cro
Cro
Cro is an American animated television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop and Film Roman. It debuted on September 18, 1993 as part of the Saturday morning line-up for fall 1993 on ABC. Cro did not do well with the viewers...
, a 1993 cartoon that aired on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, as the title character. In 2008, Casella also appeared in the movie Leatherheads
Leatherheads
Leatherheads is a 2008 American sports comedy film from Universal Pictures directed by and starring George Clooney. The film also stars Renée Zellweger, Jonathan Pryce and John Krasinski and focuses on the early years of professional American football....
as Mack Steiner. He starred as one of the main characters in the 2009 film Scaring the Fish in which he played Dennis. He also has a role in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire as Leo D'Alessio.
He is married to Leona and lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with his two children.
External links
- Max Casella at Home Box OfficeHome Box OfficeHBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
- An interview with Soprano Sue