Introduction
Michael Rispoli is an American character actor. He was a contender for the role of Tony Soprano, but ultimately cast in the HBO television series The Sopranos as Jackie Aprile, Sr. Rispoli reunited with Sopranos co-star James Gandolfini in the 2009 thriller The Taking of Pelham 123.
Biography
Rispoli, a second-generation Italian American, was raised in Tappan, New York, one of eight children, and attended Tappan Zee High School, where he played football. He majored in theater at State University of New York at Plattsburgh and graduated in 1982.
The feature film Union Square (co-written and directed by Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Award winner, Nancy Savoca) premiered in 2011 at the Toronto International Film Festival: Rispoli co-stars with Mira Sorvino, Patti LuPone, Tammy Blanchard, Mike Doyle, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.
He also starred in the Pulitzer Prize winning play Between Riverside and Crazy by Stephen Adly Guirgis.