Who is Steve Schirripa? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Steven Ralph Schirripa

Age: 66 Years, 66 Year Old Males

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Laura Schirripa (m. 1989)

father: Ralph Schirripa

mother: Lorraine Schirripa

children: Bria Schirripa, Ciara Schirripa

Born Country: United States

Actors American Men

Height: 6'1" (185 cm), 6'1" Males

Ancestry: Italian American

U.S. State: New Yorkers

More Facts

education: Lafayette High School, Brooklyn College

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Childhood & Early Life

Steven Ralph Schirripa was born September 3, 1957 in Bensonhurst, a residential neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. His father, Ralph Schirripa, a second generation Italian-American, was a bookmaker, having several brushes with the law. His mother, Lorraine Schirripa (née Bernstein) was of Jewish descent.

Schirripa has four siblings; three sisters by the name of Donna O’Dea, Diane Costello, and Doreen Schirripa-Masella and a brother called Richard Schirripa. Raised as a Roman Catholic in a low income household, he had his schooling at Lafayette High School, eventually graduating from Brooklyn College, both located in Brooklyn.

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Career

In 1980, Steven Ralph Schirripa moved to Las Vegas, where he started working as the Entertainment Director at the Riviera Hotel and Casino. Eventually, he began to work with comedians like Bruce Baum, Drew Carey and Kevin Pollak, making cameo appearances in their comedy specials.

His work with noted comedians soon led to episodic works on small screen. Finally in 1995, he debuted on big screen with an uncredited role of a man at the bar in ‘Casino’. It was followed in 1997 by ‘Highway to Vegas’, in which he appeared as a body guard.

His acting career started blossoming from 1998. In that year, he appeared in two films; ‘Denial’, and ‘Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas’; a medical drama television series, called 'Chicago Hope' and a mocumentary called ' Welcome to Hollywood'. In the last mentioned project he appeared in a cameo role.

In 1999, concurrently with working as entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel, he appeared in eight projects, among which six were films and two were television series. Although none of these roles left any lasting impression he continued to act simply because he enjoyed it.

Bobby Baccalieri

In early 1999, while on a personal visit to New York, Steve Schirripa contacted his agent and auditioned for a role of a FBI agent. Although he did not get the role, the lady he was dealing with handed over another script and asked him to read it.

He returned to the studio a week later and got the role that made him a household name. Initially, he was reluctant to accept it because it involved traveling to and from Las Vegas. But as his wife continued to insist, he had to relent.

On January 23, 2000, he first appeared in ‘The Sopranos’, a popular crime-drama television series that ran for six seasons on HBO. At first, his character, Robert (Bobby) Baccalieri Jr., was one of the soldiers of the crime boss, Corrado John "Junior" Soprano Jr.

As his character was very fat, he initially had to wear a fat suit. But as years rolled by, his character became smarter and his role became bigger, enhancing his popularity.

Author

Concurrently with playing Bobby Baccalieri, Schirripa also continued to appear in other projects, playing side roles in most of them. He also started writing, publishing his first book, ‘A Goomba's Guide to Life’ in 2002.

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In 2003, he collaborated with Charles Fleming to publish his second book, ‘The Goomba's Book of Love’. It was followed by ‘The Goomba Diet: Large and Loving It’, 'Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family' and ‘Nicky Deuce: Home for the Holidays’.

Concurrently with writing, he continued to act, appearing in his last episode of ‘The Sopranos’ on June 3, 2007. Titled ‘Blue Comet’, it was penultimate episode of the series. ‘Total Nonstop Action Wrestling’ and ‘The Podge and Rodge Show’ are two other important works of this year.

From 2008 till 2012, he appeared as Leo Boykewich in 110 episodes of the ABC teen drama, 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager’. Meanwhile from March 2011 till April 2012, he produced and hosted ‘Nothing Personal’, a crime docudrama series that recounts true stories of contract killings.

In 2013, he produced and hosted ‘Karma's A B-tch’, a television series about victims who took revenge on those who wronged them. He also appeared as Uncle Frankie in ‘Nicky Deuce’, a film based ‘Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family’ and Sonny Rosselli in 'A Poet Long Ago'.

Also in 2013, he published his last book, ‘Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look’, co-authoring it with Philip Lerman. In the following year, he launched a line of organic, vegan pasta sauces called ‘Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties Group’.

Blue Bloods

Since 2015, he has been appearing as Detective Anthony Abetemarco in 'Blue Bloods', a police procedural drama television series, currently being aired on CBS. Concurrently, he is working on other projects, significant among them being ‘Wonder Wheel’ (2017).

Along with acting, he has also appeared in numerous talk and game shows. They include ‘Million Dollar Password’ (2008), ‘Face the Ace’ (2009) , 'The Eric André Show' (2016), ' Last Week Tonight' (2017), 'The Untitled Action Bronson Show ' (2017), ‘Pyramid’ (2019) etc.

Major Works

Steve Schirripa is best known for his role of Bobby Baccalieri in ‘The Sopranos’. Appearing first as a soldier and then as the top aides to Corrado "Junior" Soprano, he became so popular that even after so many years, people on the street keep calling him by his character’s name.

Awards & Achievements

In 2004, Steve Schirripa won the Best Supporting Actor Award (short film category) for his role in ‘What Are the Odds’ in the New York Independent Film Festival.

In 2008, he co-won the Screen Actors Guild Award in the Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series category for his work in ‘The Sopranos’.

Family & Personal Life

On April 22, 1989, Steve Schirripa married Laura Lemos, with whom he has two daughters, Bria and Ciara. They currently live in New York City, USA.

He is currently involved with charity works and supports charity organizations like Keep Memory Alive, Live SunSmart Foundation, Garden of Dreams etc.

Trivia

Although raised as a Roman Catholic, Steve Schirripa also identifies himself as being Jewish because his mother was one. In an interview, he had once said, “I had the best of both worlds”.

Steve Schirripa Biography