After graduating from the State University of New York at New Paltz (where he met and acted with John Turturro), former altar boy Michael Badalucco joined Local 52, his father's union, and began working in the movies as a prop man. His first big break came when Robert De Niro saw him (and Turturro) in an off-Broadway production of a Sam Shepard play, leading to a small speaking role in "Raging Bull" (1980). His acting career was slow to take off, however, and over the next decade and a half he continued to work behind-the-scenes, often doing double duty by playing bit roles for directors like
