Joe Pesci is one of the all-time great and versatile character actors.
He played Jake Lamotta's brother and manager in Raging Bull the psychopathic Tommy DeVito
in Goodfellas, and had legendary roles in Home Alone, My Cousin Vinny, and the Lethal
Weapon franchise.
Pesci was a welcome presence on the big screen for decades who could successfully handle
high drama and humor.
"But I'm funny how?
I mean, funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?"
But lately, we haven't heard much from the Oscar-winner, while his talents have been
sorely missed.
Here are some of the reasons Joe Pesci's been off the radar in recent years.
Early retirement
In 1999, when his acting career was still very much alive, Pesci announced he'd largely
retire from the biz in order to pursue his first love: music.
Now, while a lot of actors decide to record an album or take a role in a Broadway musical
just because they can, Pesci actually has some chops.
In the '60s, he was the guitarist for the band Joey Dee and the Starliters, a position
he vacated to a slightly better guitarist named Jimi Hendrix.
In 1968, he released an album called Little Joe Sure Can Sing! under the stage name of
Joe Ritchie.
He even introduced the two musicians who'd go on to form the Four Seasons — but then
his acting career took off, and music went on the back burner for 30 years.
Pesci's retirement came just after the release of a bizarre LP called Vincent LaGuardia Gambini
Sings Just for You.
Something of a novelty project, the title is derived from the name of Pesci's My Cousin
Vinny character.
Guess that whole "be a good lawyer" thing didn't work out for ol' Vinny, huh?
Just for friends
Every once in awhile, Pesci pops out of retirement for an acting gig here and there, but there's
usually a good reason for it.
For example, Pesci is still very close friends with Robert De Niro.
Over the course of four decades, they've starred in a number of movies together, among which
are the best of both actors' storied careers like Raging Bull, Casino, and Goodfellas,
the latter of which netted Pesci the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and what may
be the shortest Oscar acceptance speech in history.
"It was my privilege.
Thank you."
It's his bond with De Niro that led to Pesci's only major role of note since 2000: a cameo
in The Good Shepherd, the 2006 movie that was also Robert De Niro's directorial debut.
Other than that, Pesci's only been seen in the 2010 brothel drama Love Ranch, which combines
both boxing and the gambling scenes for which he's famed, and a 2011 Snickers commercial
in which he played himself.
"Whattya lookin at?"
"I wasn't, I mean, I'm not looking at anything."
"We're not good enough for you.
You lookin' for something else?"
Losing interest
Now that we know he's semi-retired and only comes out of hiding for a role once in awhile,
let's talk about why.
A glance at his résumé reveals very few movies after the classic Casino was released
in 1995, and what he was being offered really couldn't compete with his best films.
Remember 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag?
Or Gone Fishin'?
Pesci's last major movie was the 1998 sequel Lethal Weapon 4, which earned him a Razzie
Award nomination for Worst Supporting Actor for reprising his role as the obnoxious informant
Leo Getz.
Those movies, and his subsequent walk away from Hollywood, reflects a comment Pesci made
to the New York Times in 1992:
"I love to star in movies, but I want to have good roles.
It doesn't help to get starring roles in something that's no good.
I mean, that will just kill you."
Besides, how could any subsequent role possibly compete with what he's already done?
"What the f--- is this?
Where's this f---ing guy gonna land, the fairway?"
Gains and losses
Even after Pesci retired, he was still willing to take on a big role if it all the factors
aligned.
Around 2011, he was set for a major supporting role in a film about the Gambino crime family
with John Travolta attached to star as John Gotti, and Pesci set to portray Gotti's friend
and personal "enforcer," Angelo Ruggiero.
Ruggiero was a big guy, so Pesci dutifully gained 30 pounds for the role.
Then he was reportedly dropped into a smaller part — and offered a reduced salary.
Surely, he must have had some choice words for the execs who came to him with that.
"Without me, you, personally, every f---ing wise guy still around, will take a f---ing
piece of your *beep* ass!"
Pesci ultimately committed his ire to paper and filed suit against the production company,
ending in an undisclosed settlement in 2013.
And the Gambino movie still hasn't been filmed, with or without Pesci.
But that wasn't the only legal entanglement he's found himself in ...
The ex-wife, the hitman, and the attorney
Pesci was married to model-actress Claudia Haro from 1988 to 1992, with whom he had a
daughter.
They must have remained on good terms, because Haro's acting career started after the divorce,
and of the five movies she appeared in, four were Pesci films.
Pesci also stood by her side during a very bizarre legal matter.
After her split from Pesci, Haro married Hollywood stuntman Garrett Warren.
But things soured in 1999…and about a year later, Warren was shot by a stranger at the
front door of his home in Westlake Village, California.
It took years to figure out who shot him, but some evidence uncovered in the trunk of
a car in a drug bust — directions to Warren's house and his photograph — set police off
and running, and they eventually figured out that Haro had paid the assailant, a hitman,
to kill her ex-husband.
She later hired another hitman to finish the job.
During her 2012 trial, during which she was free on $1.25 million bail, Haro brought a
huge entourage to the courtroom each day, including a nun dressed all in white…and
her other ex-husband, Joe Pesci, dressed all in black.
Haro plead no contest and was sentenced to just over 12 years in prison.
While during a preliminary hearing, a witness strongly implied that Pesci had paid for Haro's
hit against Warren.
Police interviewed him and searched his property and found him absolutely unrelated to the
crime.
Time for a comeback?
Legal lunacy aside, there's always a chance Pesci might re-emerge.
In the summer of 2016, he made a surprise appearance at Spike TV's Guys Choice Awards
alongside De Niro to induct GoodFellas into the "Guy Movie Hall of Fame."
De Niro mentioned a long-gestating movie called The Irishman, which Martin Scorsese had been
trying to get off the ground for years, but remained stalled in part because he wanted
it to star not just De Niro, but the elusive Pesci.
"That's if Joe has any more f--- left in him, so… so far all he keeps saying is go f---
yourself."
Finally, in early 2017, Netflix paid $105 million for the global rights to the film,
and it'll supposedly be available in 2019.
Could this be the start of Pesci's return?
Well … maybe.
"You insulted me just a little bit.
Just a little bit, insulted me.
You know?
Just a little bit.
It's okay though, I'm used to it."
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