VINCENT D'ONOFRIO
Name: Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio
Born: 30 June 1959 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and producer.
He first gained attention for his role as Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence in
Full Metal Jacket, and is now best known for playing Det. Robert Goren in Law &
Order: Criminal Intent.
D'Onofrio was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Italian descent. His family
moved around in his youth, and he grew up in Hawaii, Florida, and Colorado. He
graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida in 1977 and then
attended a Colorado University for about 18 months. He then dropped out of
college to pursue acting. He was accepted for study with the American
Stanislavsky Theatre in New York City.
In 1984, D'Onofrio became a full member of the American Stanislavsky Theatre and
appeared in a number of its productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual
Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open
Admissions. Before this breakthrough, he had been acting in New York University
student films and was working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe.
In 1987, D'Onofrio entered the mainstream consciousness with two film roles that
showcased his range as an actor. Most notable was the role of the obese Private
Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket.
This was D'Onofrio's first major role, and he gained nearly 80 pounds for the
part, going from 200 to nearly 280 lbs, which still stands as the Guinness
World Record, for most weight gained for a single movie role. The other role was
that of Dawson, the owner of Dawson's Garage in Adventures in Babysitting, which
was directed by Chris Columbus. D'Onofrio only appears in one pivotal scene (near
the end of the movie), but his role was memorable in that his muscular physique
and long blonde hair cause Sara (the film's youngest character) to mistakenly
believe that he is actually Thor, the superhero she idolizes.
In the time since, D'Onofrio has continued to play a wide variety of roles,
including iconic director Orson Welles in Tim Burton's Ed Wood, farmer Edgar and
the evil "Bug" that possesses him from Men in Black, the father of a saint in
Nancy Savoca's Household Saints, Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman in Steal This
Movie, a time traveler from the distant future in Happy Accidents, and fictional
serial killer Carl Stargher in The Cell.
He also has dabbled in film production and direction, having, to date, produced
two movies, The Whole Wide World and Guy in 1996 and 1997, respectively,
executive produced two others, The Velocity of Gary in 1998 and Steal This Movie
in 2000 and directed the short Five Minutes, Mr. Welles in 2005. This last
represents a culmination of D'Onofrio's desire to improve on his performance as
Welles in Ed Wood, which reputedly left director Tim Burton underwhelmed and in
need of a voice-over artist (Maurice LaMarche) despite D'Onofrio's uncanny
physical resemblance to the late actor/director.
D'Onofrio has since moved to the small screen. He received an Emmy nomination in
1997 for his appearance as John Lange, the doomed victim in the acclaimed "Subway"
episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He currently stars as Det. Robert Goren,
a principal character, on the NBC television show Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
In 2003, it was reported that D'Onofrio and Joe Pantoliano began work on a small
film titled Little Victories about a 12-year old boy whose perceptions of the
world are forever changed when his gangster uncle comes to live with him.
According to a television interview with Pantoliano, 'Little Victories' was not
completed and went into turnaround due to a failure to raise all of the
necessary funds for production.
In November 2005, D'Onofrio won Best Actor at the Stockholm International Film
Festival for his role as Mike Cobb in the independent film Thumbsucker.
In 2006, D'Onofrio again appeared on the big screen in The Break Up, starring
Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. In it, D'Onofrio played Vaughn's somewhat
eccentric brother. The two had previously appeared together in The Cell, where
Vaughn co-starred as an FBI agent attempting to catch D'Onofrio, and Thumbsucker.
In 2008, D'Onofrio made a cameo appearance in an election-related sketch of a
Saturday Night Live episode. His entrance and exit from the skit were
punctuated by the classic Law & Order "dun-DUN" sound.
Name: Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio
Born: 30 June 1959 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor and producer.
He first gained attention for his role as Pvt. Leonard 'Gomer Pyle' Lawrence in
Full Metal Jacket, and is now best known for playing Det. Robert Goren in Law &
Order: Criminal Intent.
D'Onofrio was born in Brooklyn, New York, of Italian descent. His family
moved around in his youth, and he grew up in Hawaii, Florida, and Colorado. He
graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida in 1977 and then
attended a Colorado University for about 18 months. He then dropped out of
college to pursue acting. He was accepted for study with the American
Stanislavsky Theatre in New York City.
In 1984, D'Onofrio became a full member of the American Stanislavsky Theatre and
appeared in a number of its productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual
Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open
Admissions. Before this breakthrough, he had been acting in New York University
student films and was working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe.
In 1987, D'Onofrio entered the mainstream consciousness with two film roles that
showcased his range as an actor. Most notable was the role of the obese Private
Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket.
This was D'Onofrio's first major role, and he gained nearly 80 pounds for the
part, going from 200 to nearly 280 lbs, which still stands as the Guinness
World Record, for most weight gained for a single movie role. The other role was
that of Dawson, the owner of Dawson's Garage in Adventures in Babysitting, which
was directed by Chris Columbus. D'Onofrio only appears in one pivotal scene (near
the end of the movie), but his role was memorable in that his muscular physique
and long blonde hair cause Sara (the film's youngest character) to mistakenly
believe that he is actually Thor, the superhero she idolizes.
In the time since, D'Onofrio has continued to play a wide variety of roles,
including iconic director Orson Welles in Tim Burton's Ed Wood, farmer Edgar and
the evil "Bug" that possesses him from Men in Black, the father of a saint in
Nancy Savoca's Household Saints, Yippie founder Abbie Hoffman in Steal This
Movie, a time traveler from the distant future in Happy Accidents, and fictional
serial killer Carl Stargher in The Cell.
He also has dabbled in film production and direction, having, to date, produced
two movies, The Whole Wide World and Guy in 1996 and 1997, respectively,
executive produced two others, The Velocity of Gary in 1998 and Steal This Movie
in 2000 and directed the short Five Minutes, Mr. Welles in 2005. This last
represents a culmination of D'Onofrio's desire to improve on his performance as
Welles in Ed Wood, which reputedly left director Tim Burton underwhelmed and in
need of a voice-over artist (Maurice LaMarche) despite D'Onofrio's uncanny
physical resemblance to the late actor/director.
D'Onofrio has since moved to the small screen. He received an Emmy nomination in
1997 for his appearance as John Lange, the doomed victim in the acclaimed "Subway"
episode of Homicide: Life on the Street. He currently stars as Det. Robert Goren,
a principal character, on the NBC television show Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
In 2003, it was reported that D'Onofrio and Joe Pantoliano began work on a small
film titled Little Victories about a 12-year old boy whose perceptions of the
world are forever changed when his gangster uncle comes to live with him.
According to a television interview with Pantoliano, 'Little Victories' was not
completed and went into turnaround due to a failure to raise all of the
necessary funds for production.
In November 2005, D'Onofrio won Best Actor at the Stockholm International Film
Festival for his role as Mike Cobb in the independent film Thumbsucker.
In 2006, D'Onofrio again appeared on the big screen in The Break Up, starring
Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. In it, D'Onofrio played Vaughn's somewhat
eccentric brother. The two had previously appeared together in The Cell, where
Vaughn co-starred as an FBI agent attempting to catch D'Onofrio, and Thumbsucker.
In 2008, D'Onofrio made a cameo appearance in an election-related sketch of a
Saturday Night Live episode. His entrance and exit from the skit were
punctuated by the classic Law & Order "dun-DUN" sound.