Richard Grieco Biography

(Actor)

Birthday: March 23, 1965 (Aries)

Born In: Watertown, New York, United States

Richard Grieco is an American actor who is most recognised as the brooding, handsome police officer in the series ’21 Jump Street’. Though he is mainly known as an actor, he is also a successful former model, painter, musician, writer and director. Grieco was born in New York and is of Irish and Italian descent. His family lived in New York and then in Massachusetts where Grieco grew up with his three siblings. In school, he excelled in sports and acting was nowhere in his mind. At one point he even considered becoming a lawyer. Athletic and blessed with good looks, he won a modelling competition during his high school days. He was soon signed on by a modelling agency and became a model for some of the world’s most prestigious fashion labels. He, however, got tired of modelling and decided to pursue acting. He spent two years in training and landed a role in his very first audition for ‘One Life to Live’. After working for a year he relocated to Los Angeles and soon he got the role that made him the heartthrob of the viewers —as police officer in 21 Jump Street. Grieco has acted in more than fifty movies. He is a gifted singer and apart from doing singing parts he had his own band and has released a music album. Grieco has had a successful run as a painter as well. He has created a unique form of painting which he calls ‘Abstract Emotionalism’.
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Quick Facts

Girlfriend: Kimber Sissons

Also Known As: Richard John Grieco Jr

Age: 59 Years, 59 Year Old Males

Family:

father: Richard Grieco Sr.

mother: Carolyn Grieco

siblings: David Grieco, Elizabeth Grieco, Laura Grieco

children: Dylan Justice Sissons

Born Country: United States

Actors American Men

Height: 5'11" (180 cm), 5'11" Males

Ancestry: Italian American

Notable Alumni: Central Connecticut State University

U.S. State: New Yorkers

More Facts

education: Central Connecticut State University

Career
Richard Grieco started his career as a model when he was signed up by the Elite Modelling Agency, New York. He moved to Manhattan where he modelled for Armani, Calvin Klein and Chanel. After some months of modelling, he decided to turn towards acting. To prepare himself he spent two years preparing himself and took lessons from greats such as Wally Strauss and Alice Spieack. He honed his skills further at the Warren Robertson Theatre workshop.
Richard Grieco got to prove his acting chops when his first audition landed him a role in ‘One life to live’. He was cast as ski instructor Rick Gardner and played the character from 1986 to 87. At the same time, he continued to learn acting in the evenings.
In 1987 he moved to Los Angeles where he started with a singing part in ‘Rags to Riches’. He then did a comic role in ‘Who’s the Boss?’
He was 24 years old a with brooding handsome face and it helped him land a role as Officer Dennis Booker in the very successful series ’21 Jump Street’. Grieco joined an ensemble cast that included Johnny Depp. The show catapulted Grieco to fame and he got his own spin-off show named ‘Booker’.
Movies followed suit and Richard Grieco debuted in the 1991 action-comedy ‘If looks could kill’. He played the lead role of Michael Corben who travels to France as a student and is mistaken for a spy.
His next movie was ‘Mobsters’ where he played the role of the mobster Benjamin ‘Bugsy’ Siegel.
By 1991 Grieco had found his footing in Hollywood and movie offers were pouring him. At this point, he felt he wasn’t doing himself justice and decided to pick and choose projects.
One of the projects that he chose was the 1993 TV movie ‘Born to Run’ where he played the lead role of Nicky Donatello, a street car racer. The role involved a lot of dangerous driving and instead of using a stunt double, he did most of the driving himself
Grieco played himself in the 1998 comedy ‘A Night at the Roxbury’. Having acted in over 50 movies, Grieco took on the mantle of a creator and executive producer for the show ‘Gigolos’. In 2019 he also co-directed and acted in a horror film ‘Clinton Road’.
Acting is just one aspect of Grieco’s versatile personality. He started singing professionally in 1994. He released an album ‘Waiting for the Sky to Fall’ in 1995. In 2004 he put together his own band ‘Wasteland Park’. In 2009 as a cast member of ‘Gone Country’ he sang ‘I’m gonna see you again’, a beautiful number which he had penned in memory of his mother.
In 2009 Grieco revealed that he had been painting since 1991. He calls his style of painting “Abstract Emotionalism”. Apart from canvases he also paints on glass bottles to create striking art pieces. Some of his creations have been sold for a price as high has $10,900.
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Family & Personal Life
Richard Grieco was born on March 23, 1965, in Watertown, New York. His father, Richard Grieco Sr., was Italian and his mother Carolyn O’Reilly was Irish. He was the eldest of four children and had a brother David and two sisters Laura and Elizabeth. The family later moved to Franklin, Massachusetts where Grieco attended the ‘Immaculate Heart High School’
He was an active sportsman and played football, hockey, lacrosse and also did competitive boxing. His school entered him for a modelling competition he was chosen as one of the ‘Best faces of the 80s’.
He won a football scholarship to pursue his higher studies at ‘Central Connecticut State University’. But quit after a year.
Richard Grieco has a child with former girlfriend model and actress Kimber Sissons. His only son Dylan Justice Sissons was born in 1999.
These days Grieco is a passionate Golfer.

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