Great Underrated Actor: Joe Spinell

[BisexualMMA]

Every now and then people around here do a marathon of movies of a given Hollywood superstar. But some lesser known actors are worthy of such treatment. I give you the late great Joe Spinell...

There's a reason Martin Scorsese used him to set the scene in Taxi Driver right away. It's Joe Spinell that takes charge of the movie and sets the tone for the Travis Bickle character going forward...

You want to bust my chops?

He sets the tone for street legitimacy for the Italian Stallion right off the bat. If you're working for this guy you're street legit and also down on your luck. Rocky and Rocky 2.

Look at how much stress he gives his lawyer in The Godfather and The Godfather 2. The family's got a lot of buffers.

He can't stop barking orders at the Italian Stallion. Nighthawks...

For some he was best known in horror circles for his passion project Maniac. It wasn't my cup of tea that much but it brought him some overdue acclaim at last as a leading man with the ability to carry a movie.

This led to a bunch of horrors in his final years which weren't as good as Maniac and some of which can and should be skipped out of respect for Joe. But you might also want to check out...

Sorcerer
Brubaker
Paradise Alley
Big Wednesday
Cruising
Married to the Mob

...which would be in addition to the aforementioned...

The Godfather
The Godfather 2
Rocky
Rocky 2
Nighthawks
Taxi Driver
Maniac

And at that point you'll know Joe Spinell and the instant credibility he gave to any movie that had to do with the streets, the Mafia or crime in general.

As a bonus, here he is hanging out with Steven Spielberg in the mid-1970s as Spielberg watched the reveals of the 1975 Academy Award nominations, expecting to see himself nominated for Best Director. Good old Joe was there to support his buddy...



This man made Jaws! Who's kiddin' who around heah. Who made it, the shahk?!

 

[Takes Two To Tango]

It's funny his name didn't stand out to me at first, but when I saw his face I knew who you're talking about.

Very underrated indeed, in fact overlooked often. But certainly a great actor.

 

[GoodBadHBK]

It's funny his name didn't stand out to me

Guess you never had a Convo with Bisexualmma. There's always a 95% chance when conversing with him he will mention either Joe, Frank Stallone or Staying Alive.

Also pretty sure Joe had a small but memorable role in Once Upon A Time in America.

 

[Herwald]

He looks like the kind of guy I'd take to the zoo.

 

[Armbars]

Yeah there's a few like that.

Here's another good one.
Andy Serkis.
There's far too many films he's been in to list but he played Smeagol in Lord of The Rings.

 

[BisexualMMA]

Yeah there's a few like that.

Here's another good one.
Andy Serkis.
There's far too many films he's been in to list but he played Smeagol in Lord of The Rings.

Yeah Serkis is great, the undisputed king of motion capture roles without a doubt. But I think he gets his due to some degree. He's kind of like Scott Glenn or Ted Levine or Robert Loggia, where they generally have supporting roles and end up in the billing block for the movie poster. Spinell rarely got that kind of recognition in his bigger movies...and made a memorable contribution to them nonetheless.

Joe Spinell was kind of like...James Tolkan. Tolkan's presence is felt heavily any time he appears in a movie (Serpico, Top Gun, Back to the Future) but he's rarely billed among the main supporting actors. Who's another one... Maybe Paul McCrane, Frank McRae, Geoffrey Lewis, James Cosmo, Vincent Schiavelli, Brion James.

 

[BisexualMMA]

He looks like the kind of guy I'd take to the zoo.

You don't think I hear things?

 

[revoltub]

Let me do the figurin'

 

[LEWIS540]

Married a teenage porn star in his 40s too!

 

[HUGHPHUG]

He's one of those guys who seems to pop up in as many movies I watch as Fred W, Forster, Saxon etc, but he made less than half as many as those guys

Rapid Fire, Eureka, Deadly Illusion, Messenger of Death, Out Of The Darkness, Walking The Edge, Vigilante (better than Death Wish for me), Last Fight, One Down Two to Go, Big Score, First Deadly SIn, Ninth Configuration, Big Wednesday, Farwell My Lovely, Seven Ups, Sorcerer

These are all films I've watched over the last year or so, all gems as well

 

[HARRISON_3]

Big Joe Spinell fan

 

[Chesten_Hesten]

He was right up there with Al Lettieri

 

[Highway99]

Just watched Starcrash yesterday......

 

[KnightTemplar]

It's funny his name didn't stand out to me at first, but when I saw his face I knew who you're talking about.

Very underrated indeed, in fact overlooked often. But certainly a great actor.

Same here. I read the Thread title and I was like,



But as soon as I saw the first pic, I knew exactly who TS was talking about. A solid actor who could always be counted on to support the stars.

 

[Goon Dog]

I forgot he was in Nighthawks. Very underrated film for several reasons.

"Take her to the zoo, Rock." I know it was his muscle guy who said it, but seeing Spinell in that still pic reminded me of a favorite movie line. Whenever someone does something stupid, my wife or I utter that line or Eddie Murphy's "What does dumb fuck mean?"

 

[ufcfan4]

Great thread. Yeah he was very good. And, as you said, he had a knack for being able to add depth and nuance to even minor characters. That's a pretty rare talent I'd say. You watch Rocky and you get an appreciation for Gazzo and what type of person he is almost immediately. I thought the guy playing his driver actually did a great job, too. Thoroughly convincing jerk. Gave Gazzo, who, despite his line of work, comes across as a decent or at least somewhat empathetic human being, a point of contrast.

Also liked how he explained the driver's relentless unkindness toward Rocky.

"Some guys, they just hate for no reason."

Sad but true words.

 

[Bacco]

Great actor
I liked when talent is also in secondary (or even lesser) characters, give credibility to the context rather than give the impression whole movie is farce built up to push the star in a world of nobodies

If you take only the mobster scene in Rocky, it's easy to imagine it as a completely different movie where Gazzo is as just important character as Rocky... actually in that scene the dynamic was all about Rocky being a subordinate figure

 

[jx820]

There should be an oscar category for "best performance by someone with less than 5 minutes of screen time". There are so many great actors who just kill these small roles and don't get the credit they deserve.

 

[BisexualMMA]

There should be an oscar category for "best performance by someone with less than 5 minutes of screen time". There are so many great actors who just kill these small roles and don't get the credit they deserve.

You might like this thread...

https://forums.sherdog.com/threads/best-tiny-characters-in-movies.3948953/