His Italian-American background and ability to portray characters that shift in seconds from friendly laughter to explosive anger and violence made him a perfect fit for these films. He won other awards for that role and subsequent ones in further gangster films. These have brought him big industry prizes, including a coveted Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in the mobster movie Goodfellas back in 1990. But for all his many achievements, it is for roles as ferocious psychopathic gangsters that he has become synonymous in the eyes of film fans. He graduated to comedy and low-budget movies, before getting his big break when he was cast in the Martin Scorsese classic Raging Bull. What many do not realise, though, is that his career actually began on the music scene, with bands such as Joey Dee and the Starliters. Joe Pesci has had a long career in the entertainment business, dating back to the late 1960s.
