Anthony M. LaPaglia is an Australian actor.
He is known for his role as FBI agent Jack Malone on the American TV series Without a
Trace, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Drama,
and for his portrayal of Simon Moon on the TV show Frasier, for which he won a Primetime
Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
He is also known for his role as Barry "The Blade" Muldano in The Client.
Early life LaPaglia was born in Adelaide, South Australia,
the son of Maria Johannes, a secretary, and Gedio "Eddie" LaPaglia, an auto mechanic and
car dealer.
LaPaglia's mother was Dutch, and his Italian father immigrated from Bovalino, Calabria,
at the age of eighteen.
His younger brother, Jonathan LaPaglia, is also an actor, and his other brother, Michael,
is a car wholesaler in Los Angeles.
LaPaglia attended Rostrevor College.
LaPaglia first began his venture into dramatic art in his late teens, when he enrolled in
an acting course at the South Australian Castings Agency in Adelaide.
The two and half year course was to be supplemented with a further three months, which would have
included a "boot camp" and a trial listing with SA Castings.
After completing one and half years of the course, LaPaglia left Adelaide for Los Angeles.
Career LaPaglia's earliest credit was a 1985 part
in an episode of the television series Steven Spielberg's Amazing Stories.
His first feature film was Cold Steel in 1987, followed that same year by the title role
of Frank Nitti in the telemovie Nitti: The Enforcer.
LaPaglia had a supporting role as a mobster in the minor hit Betsy's Wedding.
This was followed by roles in the vampire/Mafia story Innocent Blood, the comedy thriller
So I Married an Axe Murderer, the legal thriller The Client, and the comedy Empire Records
in 1995.
That same year, LaPaglia took over the role of Jimmy Wyler, lead character in the TV series
Murder One, during its second and final season.
During 1997–98, LaPaglia appeared in a Broadway production of Arthur Miller's A View From
the Bridge with the Roundabout Theatre Company and later received a Tony Award for his portrayal
of the protagonist, Eddie Carbone.
Before the show opened, LaPaglia was sent a script for the pilot of The Sopranos and
met its creator, David Chase, to discuss the role of protagonist Tony Soprano.
However, various factors, including his Broadway role, prevented LaPaglia obtaining the monumental
role.
LaPaglia also played Tito Merelli in Ken Ludwig's Lend Me a Tenor on Broadway.
"'The Sopranos' thing didn't work out...and of course it did work out perfectly, because
the right person ended up with the role.
You can't imagine that show without James Gandolfini."
LaPaglia did, however, later play an actor in a Sopranos-style TV show-within-a-film,
in the comedy movie Analyze That.
Spike Lee cast LaPaglia as a New York police detective in Summer of Sam.
During 2000–04, LaPaglia appeared in eight episodes of the sitcom Frasier, including
the finale, playing Daphne Moon's brother Simon.
The role won him an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series".
LaPaglia made his debut in an Australian production with Looking for Alibrandi, followed by a
role as a Sydney police detective in the critically acclaimed Ray Lawrence film Lantana.
In 2002, LaPaglia co-starred as a fire captain opposite Sigourney Weaver in The Guys, a film
about New York firemen who died in the World Trade Center.
He also played the role onstage, rotating with Bill Murray and others.
"We did it as a tribute to the men," said LaPaglia.
"I've been so lucky to do it, to be part of this experience.
But I can't go back to that morning or watch the video.
It's too painful."
He also played fictional Australian actor Anthony Bella in the comedy movie Analyze
That, but was uncredited in his role.
In addition to playing the central character in Without a Trace during 2002–09, LaPaglia
co-wrote an episode entitled "Deep Water".
In 2009, LaPaglia played the part of Roger East, a real life Australian journalist, in
the political thriller Balibo, about the killing in 1975 of five Australian journalists by
the Indonesian Army in the town of Balibo, East Timor.
The opening scene depicts East's own summary execution, during the Indonesian invasion.
In October 2011 it was announced that LaPaglia would join the cast of Quentin Tarantino's
new film Django Unchained, in which he would portray an Australian character once again.
However, he eventually left the project, calling the production "out of control."
In February 18, 2012, it was announced that LaPaglia would star in the ABC drama pilot
Americana.
The show was not picked up.
It was announced in May 2013 that LaPaglia signed on in the feature adaptation of Stephen
King’s A Good Marriage with Joan Allen.
In March 2014, LaPaglia joined a new CBS terrorism drama pilot titled Red Zone starring as a
retired CIA operative and current high school football coach who returns to active duty
after a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C.
It was renamed Field of Play and not picked up for the 2014 season.
Personal life LaPaglia currently lives in Santa Monica,
California, USA.
He has said that he adopted an American accent to help him get acting work after moving to
the US.
His current accent is neither distinctly American nor is it Australian, but rather a combination
of both.
According to an offhand remark by LaPaglia, he has employed an American accent since 1982.
LaPaglia's first marriage was to actress Cherie Michan.
He is currently married to actress Gia Carides, whom he met at a party; the two starred in
the 1994 Australian movie Paperback Romance and married in 1998.
Their daughter Bridget was born in January 2003.
Association football In the 1980s, LaPaglia was a goalkeeper in
the National Soccer League, playing for Adelaide City and West Adelaide.
LaPaglia was part owner of A-League club Sydney FC until 2008; flying from California to Sydney
to attend their matches since their inception in 2005.
He was the narrator and executive producer of The Away Game, a critically acclaimed television
documentary exploring the experiences of Australian footballers in Europe.
LaPaglia underwent a hip replacement in the summer of 2004, a result of his days playing
soccer.
He has fully recovered and has even played for a couple of amateur clubs in California.
He plays occasionally with Hollywood United, an amateur organization of which he is club
president, with other luminaries such as Frank Leboeuf, Vinnie Jones, Steve Jones and others.
LaPaglia has a minority shareholding in the International Goalkeepers Academy.
The Academy was founded and is operated by James Fraser, who represented the Australian
national team leading up to the 1974 FIFA World Cup.
LaPaglia has volunteered as an actor with the Young Storytellers Program.
He played in a charity football match in 2007 to raise funds for Southern California wildfire
relief.
Filmography References
External links Anthony LaPaglia at the Internet Movie Database
Anthony LaPaglia at the Internet Broadway Database
Anthony LaPaglia at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
Anthony LaPaglia at the TCM Movie Database Anthony LaPaglia Bio at CBS – Without a
Trace ABC TV Enough Rope Interview with Andrew Denton
Anthony LaPaglia speaks to The Riviera Times