This prolific, stage-trained character player transcended a youth of urban poverty, crime and poor academic skills to establish a successful entertainment career, often playing denizens and products of the kind of environment he escaped. Slender, bright-eyed and balding, Pantoliano has become known for playing low-level crooks, hustlers and other shady types in film comedies; lackeys and sidekicks in dramatic features; and a wider range of ethnic types on TV. Something of a lighter, taller Joe Pesci, he has excelled at projecting an air of somewhat likable sleaze, low cunning and street
