
Joe Grifasi
Actor · b. 1944 · Buffalo - New York - USA
Joseph G. "Joe" Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Born in Buffalo, New York, Grifasi joined the U.S. Army prior to studying acting. He has appeared in more than 50 feature films including Presumed Innocent, The Deer Hunter, Big Business, Beaches, Auto Focus, Matewan, Naked Gun, Dark Matter, Natural Born Killers, Chances Are, Changing Lanes, One Fine Day, F/X, Benny & Joon, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Brewster’s Millions, Batman Forever, The Flamingo Kid, Ironweed, and Splash. His television credits include The Bronx is Burning (as Yogi Berra), 61* (as Phil Rizzuto), Law & Order, ER, LA Law, Chicago Hope, Hill Street Blues, SCTV, Roseanne, and The Practice. Grifasi’s Broadway credits include Dinner at Eight, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, A Memory of Two Mondays, Boy Meets Girl, The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The 1940’s Radio Hour and Happy End. His off-Broadway credits include Conversations in Tusculum, The Boys Next Door (Drama Desk Nomination), Once Around the City, Golden Boy, Filumena and Says I, Says He. He has been married to jazz soprano saxophonist and composer Jane Ira Bloom, whom he met while studying at the Yale School of Drama, since 1974.
Movies24
Movie7.3ComedyCrimeWhen the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen Elizabeth II.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988 · 4.7K votes
Movie5.5ActionCrimeBatman faces off against two foes: the schizophrenic, horribly scarred former District Attorney Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face, and the Riddler, a disgruntled ex-Wayne Enterprises inventor seeking revenge against his former employer by unleashing his brain-sucking weapon on Gotham City's residents. As the caped crusader also copes with tortured memories of his parents' murder, he has a new romance, with psychologist Chase Meridian.
Batman Forever
1995 · 5.7K votes
Movie6.8ComedyFantasyAfter total humiliation at her thirteenth birthday party, Jenna Rink wants to just hide until she's thirty. Thanks to some magic wishing dust, Jenna's prayer has been answered. With a knockout body, a fabulous wardrobe, an athlete boyfriend, a dream job, and superstar friends, this can't be a better life. But soon Jenna realizes that adult life isn’t as easy as she hoped for.
13 Going on 30
2004 · 5.7K votes
Movie8.0DramaWarThree steelworkers enlist in the army and are sent to Vietnam, one leaving behind a rushed marriage, the others a shared love. What they encounter during the war changes their lives forever.
The Deer Hunter
1978 · 4.4K votes
Movie7.0CrimeThrillerTwo victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.
Natural Born Killers
1994 · 3.9K votes
Movie6.5ComedyCrimeFrank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Adding to his problems, Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.
Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994 · 2.6K votes
Movie5.9ActionComedyWhen a vengeful New York transit cop decides to steal a trainload of subway fares, his foster brother—a fellow cop—tries to protect him.
Money Train
1995 · 899 votes
Movie6.8MysteryCrimeRusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fight to clear his name becomes a whirlpool of lies and hidden passions.
Presumed Innocent
1990 · 850 votes
Movie6.8ComedyDrama37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, even though she doesn't love him. When she meets his estranged younger brother Ronny, an emotional and passionate man, she finds herself drawn to him. She tries to resist, but Ronny, who blames his brother for the loss of his hand, has no scruples about aggressively pursuing her while Johnny is out of the country. As Loretta falls for Ronny, she learns that she's not the only one in her family with a secret romance.
Moonstruck
1987 · 1.1K votes
Movie6.3ComedyRomanceA successful businessman falls in love with the girl of his dreams. There's one big complication though; he's fallen hook, line and sinker for a mermaid.
Splash
1984 · 1.5K votes
Movie6.3ThrillerDramaA rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two people's lives. But on this day, at this time, a minor collision will turn two complete strangers into vicious adversaries. Their means of destroying each other might be different, but their goals, ultimately, will be the same: Each will systematically try to dismantle the other's life in a reckless effort to reclaim something he has lost.
Changing Lanes
2002 · 1.3K votes
Movie7.1ComedyDramaA naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
The Hudsucker Proxy
1994 · 1.2K votes
Movie5.8ComedyRomanceThe adventures of married couple Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for Henry's job interview.
The Out-of-Towners
1999 · 267 votes
Movie6.6ComedyMonty Brewster, an aging minor-league baseball player, stands to inherit $300 million if he can successfully spend $30 million in 30 days without anything to show for it, and without telling anyone what he's up to... A task that's a lot harder than it sounds!
Brewster's Millions
1985 · 698 votes
Movie6.6FantasyComedyLouie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and twenty years later, fate brings Alex and Louie's daughter, Miranda, together. It's not until Alex is invited to Louie's home that he begins to remember his former life, wife and best friend. Of course, there's also the problem that he's attracted to Louie's/his own daughter.
Chances Are
1989 · 287 votes
Movie7.0ComedyDramaA mentally ill young woman finds love with an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.
Benny & Joon
1993 · 858 votes
Movie6.5RomanceComedyMelanie Parker, an architect and mother of Sammy, and Jack Taylor, a newspaper columnist and father of Maggie, are both divorced. They meet one morning when overwhelmed Jack is left unexpectedly with Maggie and forgets that Melanie was to take her to school. As a result, both children miss their school field trip and are stuck with the parents. The two adults project their negative stereotypes of ex-spouses on each other, but end up needing to rely on each other to watch the children as each must save his job. Humor is added by Sammy's propensity for lodging objects in his nose and Maggie's tendency to wander.
One Fine Day
1996 · 746 votes
Movie6.4ComedyIn the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local family and the other to a rich family just passing through. The dizzy nurse on duty accidentally mixes the twins unbeknown to the parents. Our story flashes forward to the 1980s where the mismatched sets of twins are about to cross paths.
Big Business
1988 · 311 votes
Movie6.3ActionComedyCharlie and his troublesome cousin Paulie decide to steal $150,000 in order to back a "sure thing" race horse that Paulie has inside information on. The aftermath of the robbery gets them into serious trouble with the local Mafia boss and the corrupt New York City police department.
The Pope of Greenwich Village
1984 · 167 votes
Movie6.3DramaAn alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.
Ironweed
1987 · 148 votes
Movie6.6ActionThrillerA movies special effects man is hired by a government agency to help stage the assassination of a well known gangster. When the agency double cross him, he uses his special effects to trap the gangster and the corrupt agents.
F/X
1986 · 520 votes
Movie5.7ThrillerDramaWhen one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. He's then visited by the patient's mistress, Brooke Reynolds, whom he quickly falls for despite her being a likely murder suspect. As the police pressure on him intensifies, Rice decides to attempt solving the case on his own and soon discovers that someone is trying to kill him as well.
Still of the Night
1982 · 168 votes
Movie6.4CrimeDramaA successful TV star during the 1960s, former "Hogan's Heroes" actor Bob Crane projects a wholesome family-man image, but this front masks his persona as a sex addict who records and photographs his many encounters with women, often with the help of his seedy friend, John Henry Carpenter. This biographical drama reveals how Crane's double life takes its toll on him and his family, and ultimately contributes to his death.
Auto Focus
2002 · 224 votes
Movie5.4MysteryCrimeA district attorney is involved in a 24-hour showdown with a gang leader and is, at the same time, being manipulated by an attractive assistant district attorney and a cryptic stranger.
Slow Burn
2005 · 95 votes
Series24
TV7.3CrimeDramaIn cases ripped from the headlines, police investigate serious and often deadly crimes, weighing the evidence and questioning the suspects until someone is taken into custody. The district attorney's office then builds a case to convict the perpetrator by proving the person guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Working together, these expert teams navigate all sides of the complex criminal justice system to make New York a safer place.
Law & Order
1990 · 726 votes
TV8.0CrimeDramaIn the criminal justice system, sexually-based offenses are considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Special Victims Unit. These are their stories.
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
1999 · 4.4K votes
TV7.6DramaMysteryA modern-day drama about a crime-solving duo that cracks the NYPD's most impossible cases. Following his fall from grace in London and a stint in rehab, eccentric Sherlock escapes to Manhattan where his wealthy father forces him to live with his worst nightmare - a sober companion, Dr. Watson.
Elementary
2012 · 1.9K votes
TV7.6DramaAlicia Florrick boldly assumes full responsibility for her family and re-enters the workforce after her husband's very public sex and political corruption scandal lands him in jail.
The Good Wife
2009 · 707 votes
TV7.8DramaER explores the inner workings of an urban teaching hospital and the critical issues faced by the dedicated physicians and staff of its overburdened emergency room.
ER
1994 · 968 votes
TV7.2SoapDramaChicago Hope is an American medical drama television series, created by David E. Kelley. It ran on CBS from September 18, 1994, to May 4, 2000. The series is set in a fictional private charity hospital in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago Hope
1994 · 83 votes
TV7.6DramaA provocative legal drama focused on young associates at a bare-bones Boston firm and their scrappy boss, Bobby Donnell. The show's forte is its storylines about “people who walk a moral tightrope.”
The Practice
1997 · 113 votes
TV6.1ComedyDocumentaryThe best in the performing arts from across America and around the world including a diverse programming portfolio of classical music, opera, popular song, musical theater, dance, drama, and performance documentaries.
Great Performances
1971 · 25 votes
TV7.0DramaWar & PoliticsL.A. Law is an American television legal drama series that ran for eight seasons on NBC from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. Created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher, it contained many of Bochco's trademark features including a large number of parallel storylines, social drama and off-the-wall humor. It reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s, and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot-topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights, homophobia, sexual harassment, AIDS, and domestic violence. The series often also reflected social tensions between the wealthy senior lawyer protagonists and their less well-paid junior staff. The show was popular with audiences and critics, and won 15 Emmy Awards throughout its run, four of which were for Outstanding Drama Series.
L.A. Law
1986 · 81 votes
TV7.6DramaPicking up one year after the events of the final broadcast episode of "The Good Wife", an enormous financial scam has destroyed the reputation of a young lawyer, Maia Rindell, while simultaneously wiping out her mentor and godmother Diane Lockhart's savings. Forced out of her law firm, now called "Lockhart, Deckler, Gussman, Lee, Lyman, Gilbert, Lurie, Kagan, Tannebaum & Associates", they join Lucca Quinn at one of Chicago's preeminent law firms.
The Good Fight
2017 · 353 votes
TV7.6DramaCrimeA realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
Hill Street Blues
1981 · 129 votes
TV7.1CrimeDramaDr. Jason Bull is the brilliant, brash, and charming founder of a hugely successful trial consulting firm.
Bull
2016 · 408 votes
TV7.1Action & AdventureCrimeRobert McCall is a former agent of a secret government agency who is now running his own private crime fighting operation where he fashions himself as "The Equalizer." It is a service for victims of the system who have exhausted all possible means of seeking justice and have nowhere to go. McCall promises to even out the odds for them.
The Equalizer
1985 · 69 votes
TV7.0DramaCrimeThrifty, folksy and cantankerous, Matlock charges a premium for his services but is worth every penny: This renowned attorney, always clothed in his trademark light-gray suit and driving his signature Ford Crown Victoria, has an uncanny knack for finding overlooked clues and exposing murderers in dramatic courtroom scenes.
Matlock
1986 · 143 votes
TV8.3DramaThe new medical director breaks the rules to heal the system at America's oldest public hospital. Max Goodwin sets out to tear up the bureaucracy and provide exceptional care, but the doctors and staff are not so sure he can succeed. They've heard this before. Not taking "no" for an answer, Dr. Goodwin's instinctive response to problems large and small is four simple words: "How can I help?" He has to disrupt the status quo and prove he'll stop at nothing to breathe new life into this underfunded and underappreciated hospital, returning it to the glory that put it on the map.
New Amsterdam
2018 · 1.1K votes
TV7.8CrimeDramaSkeptical forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard joins priest-in-training David Acosta and technology expert Ben Shakir as they investigate supposed miracles, demonic possessions, and other extraordinary occurrences to assess for a scientific explanation or if something truly supernatural is at work.
Evil
2019 · 1.1K votes
TV6.6DramaComedyAmerican Playhouse is an anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service in the United States.
American Playhouse
1982 · 8 votes
TV7.4Sci-Fi & FantasyDramaGary Hobson thinks he may even be losing his mind when tomorrow's newspaper mysteriously arrives today giving him a disconcerting look into the future. What will he do with tomorrow's news?
Early Edition
1996 · 173 votes
TV7.5ComedyDramaAfter being duped and going bankrupt, model Maddie is convinced by David to become a partner in a detective agency. Together they solve various cases, while getting comfortable with each other.
Moonlighting
1985 · 417 votes
TV5.4ComedyHope, a down-to-earth, happily married mother of three has her tidy world turned upside down when her celebrity sister moves in. Faith was living the Hollywood life as a soap opera star before her character was killed off.
Hope & Faith
2003 · 39 votes
TV6.0DramaCrimeA fast-paced character-oriented story, focuses on the lives and loves of the young assistant district attorneys in New York, following their career paths as these passionate but naive ADAs are confronted with tough, emotional cases that challenge their limited experience – and force them to mature quickly or be overwhelmed.
Conviction
2006 · 12 votes
TV6.7ComedyDramaDud is a deadbeat but charming ex-surfer who joins a fraternal order hoping to reclaim the simple, happy lifestyle he lost when his father died. Through the Lodge and his newfound connection with the other members, Dud will come to find the missing sense of purpose in his life and confront his deepest fears and greatest hopes.
Lodge 49
2018 · 74 votes
TV7.6DramaThe parallel lives of identical twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey in an epic story of betrayal, sacrifice and forgiveness set against the backdrop of 20th century America.
I Know This Much Is True
2020 · 295 votes
TV7.8ComedyThe personal and professional lives of the staff of fictional Pittsburgh radio station WENN in the early 1940s, before and during World War II.
Remember WENN
1996 · 6 votes