Portrait of Joe Pantoliano

Birthday profile

Joe Pantoliano

Joe Pantoliano, American actor and producer

Born
September 12, 1951
Age in 2026
75
Zodiac sign
Virgo
Birth year
1951

About Joe Pantoliano

Joseph Peter Pantoliano (born September 12, 1951) is an American actor who has played more than 150 roles across film, television, and theater. He won an Emmy for his portrayal of the sadistic gangster Ralph Cifaretto in HBO's The Sopranos. His film roles include Francis Fratelli in The Goonies (1985), Captain Conrad Howard in the Bad Boys film series (1995–2024), Cypher in the Wachowskis' sci-fi action film The Matrix (1999), and Teddy in Christopher Nolan's psychological thriller film Memento (2000). Other notable film credits include Risky Business (1983), Empire of the Sun (1987), La Bamba (1987), Midnight Run (1988), The Fugitive (1993), Baby's Day Out (1994), the Wachowskis' directorial debut Bound (1996), and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010). In 2025, he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in The Last of Us. Pantoliano has published two memoirs and is active in the field of mental health, having documented his mother's issues and his own. He founded the nonprofit No Kidding, Me Too! which is dedicated to removing the stigma from mental illness. Pantoliano first grew to fame as Guido the killer pimp in 1983's Risky Business. He won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the role of Ralph Cifaretto in HBO's The Sopranos. He founded a nonprofit organization called No Kidding, Me Too! which aims to unite members of the entertainment industry in educating the public about mental illness.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

The world when Joe Pantoliano was born

Joe Pantoliano was born in 1951. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1951

  • #1 song"Too Young" – Nat King Cole
  • Top movieAn American in Paris
  • Top TV showI Love Lucy
  • Best-selling bookThe Catcher in the Rye – J.D. Salinger

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentBobby Thomson's "Shot Heard Round the World"
  • Top headlineI Love Lucy premieres and becomes a cultural phenomenon
  • Technology milestoneFirst commercial computer (UNIVAC I) delivered
  • Defining fadI Love Lucy
  • Notable inventionSuper Glue
  • World population2.59 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderHarry S. Truman
  • Sports championNew York Yankees (World Series)
  • Also wonRochester Royals (NBA)
  • U.S. population154.0M

1951 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Joe Pantoliano's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19512026
Gas$0.27$3.45/gal
Average home$8,800$435,000
Average income$5,500$67,500
Minimum wage$0.75$7.25/hr (federal)
Movie ticket$0.53$11.95
Postage stamp$0.03$0.73
Population154.0M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.