Raised in Manhattan's Little Italy

Made stage debut as Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew" at Wagner College

Served in US Army as a news reporter for the Caribbean Forces Network in Panama

Off-Broadway debut, "The Man With the Golden Arm"

Film debut, "Somebody Up There Likes Me"

Made early TV appearances on "Studio One" and "Playhouse 90" (both CBS)

First starring film role, "The Lost Missile"

TV series debut, played title character in "The Nine Lives of Elfego Baca", a 10-part series broadcast as segments of ABC's "Walt Disney Presents"

Acted in Off-Broadway production of Lillian Hellman's "Toys in the Attic"

Broadway debut as Solyony in an Actors Studio production of Anton Chekhov's "The Three Sisters"; reprised role on the London stage and in the subsequent film version

Portrayed Joseph in "The Greatest Story Ever Told"

Starred in NBC series "T.H.E. Cat"; initial collaboration with director Boris Sagal, who helmed episodes

Played Faustino Morales in "Che!", a great 1960s film joke starring Jack Palance as Fidel Castro

Had role as Frank Carver on daytime serial, "The Secret Storm" (CBS)

Joined the CBS daytime serial "Search for Tomorrow"

Returned to Broadway in production of David Rabe's "In the Boom Boom Room"

TV-movie debut, "Arthur Hailey's 'The Moneychangers'" (NBC), directed by Sagal; also acted in Sagal's NBC movie "Mallory: Circumstantial Evidence"

First film with director Blake Edwards, "Revenge of the Pink Panther"; was featured in 1982 and 1983 "Panther" sequels

TV directorial debut, an episode of the NBC drama series "Quincy, M.E."

Directed pilot episode of "Magnum, P.I" (CBS)

Reteamed with Edwards on "S.O.B."

Portrayed Richard Gere's bullying, alcoholic father in "An Officer and a Gentleman"

Acted the part of Anwar Sadat in syndicated miniseries, "A Woman Called Golda"

Played Miami drug kingpin Frank Lopez in "Scarface"

Appeared as KGB spy Admiral Yuri Bukharin in CBS series, "Emerald Point, N.A.S."

First TV project with Angie Dickinson, the CBS movie "A Touch of Scandal"

Received Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his portrayal of a two-bit detective in "Jagged Edge"; also played a mafioso in "Prizzi's Honor"

Fifth and last film (to date) with Edwards, "That's Life!"

Displayed the gentle side of his nature as the compassionate father of a young woman with cerebral palsy in "Gaby--A True Story"

Portrayed attorney William Kuntsler in HBO movie, "Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8"

Delighted audiences as a toymaker in "Big", dancing with Tom Hanks to the tune of "Heart and Soul" on a giant keyboard

Provided the voice of Sykes in animated "Oliver and Company"

Introduced the character of jaded FBI agent Nick Mancuso in the NBC miniseries "Favorite Son"

Starred as title character in "Nick Mancuso, F.B.I." (NBC); earned sole Emmy nomination as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Starred as a middle-aged widower who shocks his adult children by becoming engaged to a 30-year-old woman in the short-lived comedy series "Sunday Dinner" (CBS), executive produced and created by Norman Lear

Joined director John Landis for his mobster-vampire spoof, "Innocent Blood", playing gang boss Sal the Shark

Played the Senator, a messianic political leader at the head of a Scientology-like cult, in ABC's futuristic miniseries "Wild Palms", which reteamed him with Dickinson

Essayed mobster Carlo Gambino in CBS movie "Between Love and Honor"

Portrayed General William Grey in summer blockbuster, "Independence Day"

Appeared as a gangster in David Lynch's "Lost Highway"

Cast as the title character's American physician father in "Smilla's Sense of Snow"

Played Frank Torre in Showtime's "Joe Torre: Curveballs Along the Way", a biopic of the New York Yankees manager

Starred as Don Vito Leoni in the mob comedy "The Don's Analyst" (TMC), which reunited him with Dickinson

Offered a subdued and amiable turn as Grandpa Beal in M Night Shyamalan's "Wide Awake"

Contributed a cameo as Father Monet to the classy CBS miniseries "Joan of Arc"

Cast as yet another gangster, playing the small role of Don Ciccio in the Showtime miniseries "Bonanno: A Godfather's Story"

Narrated History Channel documentary, "Defeat at Waterloo: Napoleon vs. Wellington"

Appeared in commercials for Minute Maid orange juice

Was part of the all-star supporting cast (i.e., Carroll O'Connor, James Belushi, Daivd Allan Grier) for Bonnie Hunt's "Return to Me", starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver

Acted in Hugh Hudson's "I Dream of Africa", starring Kim Basinger as Kuki Gallmann, who escaped her monotonous life in Italy to become a leading wildlife advocate

Starred as Zack, a destitute, alcoholic man who has supposedly travelled back through time to convice his youthful self to change the course of his life in "All Over Again" (filmed 1999), an independent film shot on location in Chatanooga, Tennessee; screened at film festivals

Made guest appearance on the hit Fox series "Malcolm in the Middle" as Lois' father; received Emmy nomination

Joined the cast of "The Sopranos" as a mafia wiseguy released from prison

Cast opposite Christian Slater in the political thriller "The Deal"

Co-starred in "Funny Money" a film adaptation of the 1994 play written by Ray Cooney