Mario Cantone

Mario Cantone

Mario Cantone, April 2007
Born (1959-12-09) December 9, 1959
Stoneham, Massachusetts, US
Medium Stand-up, television, film, stage
Nationality American
Years active 1987–present
Genres Character comedy, observational comedy, physical comedy
Subject(s) Everyday life, family, celebrities, stereotypes
Spouse Jerry Dixon (m. 2011)
Notable works and roles Various in Chappelle's Show
Anthony Marentino on Sex and the City
Mikey Abromowitz in Surf's Up
Website http://www.mariocantone.com

Mario Cantone (born December 9, 1959) is an American comedian, writer and actor, with numerous appearances on Comedy Central including Chappelle's Show. He also played Anthony Marentino on Sex and the City. His style is fast-paced and energetic, with much of his humor coming from his impersonations of various characters ranging from his family members, to celebrities, to stereotypes.

Early life

Cantone was born in Massachusetts, and raised in Stoneham, where his family moved when he was two.[1] He was the fourth of five children of Mario, Sr., a Boston restaurant owner, and his wife, Elizabeth (née Pescione).[2] His father moved the family to Stoneham, according to Cantone in a 2004 New York Times interview to get her away from her bookie relatives.[1] Cantone stated that the problem "was that she was not only a bookie but she was also a compulsive gambler."[1] His mother, who had been a big band singer in her youth, died when he was 21.[1]

Cantone's first impression was of Julia Child, which he presented in a junior high school talent show.[3] He graduated from Stoneham High School in 1978[4] and Emerson College in 1982.[5]

Early career

He began his professional career hosting a children's show called Steampipe Alley, which aired on New York-New Jersey superstation WWOR-TV from 1988 to 1993.[6]

Stand-up career

In his stand-up concerts, he is known for his occasionally campy[7] impressions of entertainment personalities such as Liza Minnelli, Judy Garland, Bruce Springsteen, Jim Morrison, and Bette Davis as well as for his original songs.[8]

Much of his comedy derives from his boisterous Italian-American family.[1][9] Cantone, who is gay,[7] has said that he considers himself an actor and comedian who happens to be gay rather than a gay comic relying on gay jokes.[10] "Talking about being gay is a very small part of my show and when I first started I wasn't out on stage but I was out off stage, I certainly didn't lie about it on stage but if you didn't know you were an idiot and you lived in a cave after seeing me…really??"[3]

Acting career

Sex and the City

Cantone is well known for his role in the HBO series Sex and the City as Anthony Marentino, Charlotte York's gay wedding planner who dispensed advice with a rapid fire delivery.[11]

Broadway

Cantone made his Broadway debut in 1995, replacing Nathan Lane in the role of Buzz in Terrance McNally's Tony Award–winning play, Love! Valour! Compassion! [12][13] Later that year, he appeared in the revival of The Tempest with Patrick Stewart.[14] Several years later, Cantone did a workshop for The Lion King as Timon but was not comfortable with the makeup or manipulating a puppet and eventually left the project.[15][16] In 2002, he created and wrote his own one-man show for Broadway, An Evening With Mario Cantone.[17] A year later, Cantone starred as Gidger in Richard Greenberg's The Violet Hour[18] in a part written specifically for him.[7][19] The Violet Hour received mixed reviews[20] and closed after 54 performances.[21]

In 2004, Cantone appeared as Samuel Byck in Stephen Sondheim's musical Assassins. [13] Originally slated for the 2001 Broadway season, Assassins was postponed because of the September 11, 2001 attacks.[22] [23] In 2001, Cantone had turned down the role of Carmen Ghia in Mel Brooks's The Producers for the part.[19] His other Broadway credits include his second one-man show, Laugh Whore, which ran from October 24, 2004, to January 2, 2005, at the Cort Theatre. Laugh Whore received a Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Event and an Outer Critics Circle award nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance.[9] Showtime taped the December 11, 2004 performance, which premiered on May 28, 2005.[24] It was the network's first Broadway production to air as a comedy special.[25]

In September 2010, Cantone appeared in a staged reading of the Charles Messina play A Room of My Own at The Theatre at 45 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village.[26] As of November 2012, the play was still in development with Cantone in the cast.[27][28] The Off-Broadway production is expected to begin previews in February 2016.[29]

Other work

He has appeared in the Comedy Central roasts of Joan Rivers and fellow Boston-area native and Emerson College alumni,[5] Denis Leary.[30] The network's Chappelle's Show featured him in a segment called "Ask A Gay Dude."[4] His voice over work includes Sunsilk "hairapy" advertisements.[31] and the voice of talent scout Mikey Abromowitz in the 2007 computer animated movie Surf's Up.[32] He has appeared frequently on the Opie and Anthony radio show.[33]

A regular guest on the ABC daytime talk show The View since at least 2003 and a guest co-host since 2005, more regularly since 2014, in August 2013, he was in the news as a rumored replacement for retiring co-host Joy Behar.[1][7][34][35]

He was among the judges of the Miss America 2014 pagent.[36]

Personal life

In October 2011, Cantone married his partner of 20 years, musical theater director Jerry Dixon. The ceremony was officiated by pastor Jay Bakker.[37]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role
1994 Quiz Show Passerby
Who Do I Gotta Kill? Rico
1997 MouseHunt Zeppco Suit #1
2003 Happy Hour Geoffrey
Crooked Lines Cliff
2005 Searching for Bobby D Casting Director
2006 Farce of the Penguins Sidney (voice)
The Last Request Mr. Oliver
2007 Three Days to Vegas Chris
Staten Island Mr. Burton
Surf's Up Mikey Abromowitz (voice)
2008 Sex and the City Anthony Marentino
2010 Sex and the City 2 Anthony Marentino
Circus Maximus Romano
2011 Jackie Goldberg Private Dick Bartender
Dirty Movie The Director
2015 In Stereo John Resnick

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1988–1993 Steampipe Alley Various
1994 NYPD Blue Bidder #1 Episode: "Rockin' Robin"
2001 Ed Scott Hayes Episode: "Mixed Signals"
2003 Chapelle's Show Himself Season 1 Episode 6
2000–2004 Sex and the City Anthony Marentino
2005 Laugh Whore Himself comedy special
2006–2008 Men in Trees Terri Romano
2009 Killer Hair Leonardo (TV movie)
Hostile Makeover Leonardo (TV movie)
2011 A Mann's World Nicky (TV movie)

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Messenger, Eric (October 10, 2004) "Mario Cantone's Loud Family Reunion." The New York Times. Retrieved August 3, 2013.
  2. ↑
  3. 1 2 Gerani, Christine, (May 22, 2013), Mario Cantone: The Interview. SpotOnLongIsland.com. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  4. 1 2 TCM Archive Materials Mario Catone
  5. 1 2 Emerson College Notable Alumni
  6. ↑ TV Guide, Mario Cantone: Biography.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Stevenson, Bill (December 9, 2003), "Super Mario", The Advocate
  8. ↑ Sex and the City's Mario Cantone Talks Broadway, Impersonations, WatchMojo.com. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Playbill Vault, Laugh Whore. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  10. ↑ Eichenwald, Wes (June 2, 2010) "Mario Cantone is out and proud – and much more" Austin360.com. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  11. ↑ Mario Cantone Killer Comic, (originally published May 3, 2004), People magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  12. ↑ Weber, Bruce (June 30, 2000) "Theater Review; True Love and a Crisis at Christmas (When Else)?" The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  13. 1 2 Playbill Vault, Mario Cantone. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  14. ↑ Playbill Vault, The Tempest. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  15. ↑ Marks, Peter, (June 7, 2002) "C'mon, Make Me Laugh" The New York Times. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  16. ↑ Rooney,David (October 24, 2002) Review: “Mario Cantone: Laugh Whore," Variety. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  17. ↑ Playbill Vault, An Evening with Mario Cantone. Retrieved August 4. 2013.
  18. ↑ Manhattan Theatre Club. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  19. 1 2 Ernio Hernandez (November 11, 2003) Interview with Mario Cantone. Playbill. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  20. ↑ For example, see Ben Brantley's November 7, 2003 review in The New York Times, Charles Isherwood's November 6, 2003 review in Variety, and John Simon's November 17, 2003 review in New York magazine. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  21. ↑ Playbill Vault, The Violet Hour. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  22. ↑ Ernio Hernandez (April 22, 2004). "The Shots Heard Round the World: Musical Assassins Opens on Broadway". Playbill.
  23. ↑ Sarah Beaumont (14 December 2003). "Something Just Broke". Sondheim.com.
  24. ↑ Ernio Hernandez (25 April 2005) Broadway's Laugh Whore with Mario Cantone Premieres on Showtime May 28. Playbill.com. Retrieved August 6, 2013.
  25. ↑ Levin, Gary and Bianco, Robert, (July 21, 2004) "Alley throws her weight behind series." USA Today. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  26. ↑ Lenzi, Linda (September 21, 2010). "Photo Coverage: Cantone, Macchio et al. in A ROOM OF MY OWN".
  27. ↑ Playbill (November 8, 2012) Mario Cantone, Rachel Dratch, Zach Galligan Set for Reading of A Room of My Own. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  28. ↑ Charles Messina.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013
  29. ↑ Playbill. "Mario Cantone and Ralph Macchio Starring in Off-Broadway World Premiere". Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  30. ↑ Comedy Central. About Mario Cantone. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  31. ↑ Lippert, Barbara (August 21, 2006) Barbara Lippert's Critique: The Mane Man. Adweek. Retrieved August 4, 2013
  32. ↑ Mario Cantone Interview – SURF’S UP
  33. ↑ BookingEntertainment.com. Retrieved August 7, 2013.
  34. ↑ Carly Mallenbaum, (July 30, 2013) "Who Should Replace Joy Behar" USA Today. Retrieved on August 4, 2013
  35. ↑ Wagmeister, Elizabeth (July 31, 2013) "The View Says Goodbye to Joy Behar — and Who Should Replace Her?" TV Guide. Retrieved August 4, 2013.
  36. ↑ DigitalSpy. (August 14, 2013) Amar'e Stoudemire, Mario Cantone to judge Miss America pageant. Retrieved August 14, 2013
  37. ↑ Mario Cantone marries his partner of 20 years

External links


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