His mother, Maria (Mesce) worked part time as a barber, and his father, Angelo Pesci, was a forklift truck driver for General Motors and a bartender. Pesci was born on February 9, 1943, in Newark, New Jersey. Pesci is also a musician who has recorded three studio albums: Little Joe Sure Can Sing! (1968), Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You (1998), and Pesci. He announced his retirement from acting in 1999, but has returned to act in four films since then. Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the gangster character Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas and received two other nominations in the same category for his portrayals of Joey LaMotta and Russell Bufalino in Raging Bull and The Irishman, respectively. Pesci's comedy roles include such films as the first two installments in the Home Alone franchise (1990–1992), My Cousin Vinny (1992), and the Lethal Weapon franchise (1989–1998).

He also appeared in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), Moonwalker (1988), JFK (1991), A Bronx Tale (1993), and The Good Shepherd (2006). He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), Casino (1995), and The Irishman (2019). Joseph Frank Pesci ( / ˈ p ɛ ʃ i/ PESH-ee, Italian: born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician.

Raging bull codes 2020