Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Joseph G. "Joe" Grifasi (born June 14, 1944) is an American character actor of film, stage and television. Grifasi was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Patricia (née Gaglione) and Joseph J. Grifasi, a skilled laborer. Grifasi graduated from Bishop Fallon High School, a now defunct Catholic high school in Buffalo. He played football and acted in many of the school's plays. Grifasi briefly attended Canisius College in Buffalo before joining the United S...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Endgame
2023
as Nagg
Endgame tells the story of Hamm, who is reduced to living in one room, in which he sits blind and chair-bound. His only escape from his solitary world...

The Dreams of Rene Sendam
2022
as Dr. Bradley
Rene Sendam is deeply troubled. A lonely graduate student studying poetry and an often alienating eccentric, Rene leads a fantasy life built on delusi...

Me To Play
2021
as Himself
As their bodies give way to Parkinson's disease, two New York actors put their hearts into one final Off-Broadway production of Beckett's "Endgame," t...

Radium Girls
2020
as Grandpa
Young women toiling in a factory are exposed to hazardous material which takes a disastrous toll on their health.

No Pay, Nudity
2016
as Mr. Davenport
Aging actor Lester Rosenthal (Gabriel Byrne), who has lost his way with his career, with his family, and with his friends (Nathan Lane, Frances Conroy...

Baked in Brooklyn
2016
as David's Dad
A recent college graduate decides to sell marijuana on the streets of Manhattan after losing his job at a consulting firm. He soon meets the girl of h...

The American Side
2016
as The Serb
Following a mysterious suicide at Niagara Falls, a low-rent detective unravels a conspiracy to build a revolutionary invention by enigmatic scientist,...

A Midsummer Night's Dream
2014
as Peter Quince
A recording of Julie Taymor's New York stage production of William Shakespeare's comedy.

The Front
2010
as Mr. Zeffirelli
A detective uncovers a sinister conspiracy when he is sent to research a disintegrating neighborhood for a public relations campaign.

The Last New Yorker
2010
as Jerry
Lifelong friends Lenny Sugarman and Ruben Liebner , both in their 70s, both dyed-in-the-wool New Yorkers, barely recognize the Manhattan of their yout...

A Crime
2006
as Bill
Vincent's life is on hold until he finds his wife's killer. Alice, his neighbor, is convinced she can make him happy. She decides to invent a culprit,...

Lewis Black: Red, White & Screwed
2006
as Uncle Sam
Lewis Black stars in his second HBO solo special, an all-new hour of frenetic, take-no-prisoners stand-up comedy, taped before a live audience at the ...

Slow Burn
2005
as Desk Sgt. Drown
A district attorney (Ray Liotta) is involved in a 24-hour showdown with a gang leader (LL Cool J) and is, at the same time, being manipulated by an at...

A Jersey Tale
2004
as Alphonso "Chunks" Colon
Jersey City teen Ray Ray Morales is wasting time in a low paying job until a local loan shark offers him a job — making sure that Ray Ray's friend, an...

13 Going on 30
2004
as Mr. Flamhaff
A girl who's sick of the social structures of junior high is transformed into a grownup overnight. In this feel-good fairy tale, teenager Jenna wants ...

Auto Focus
2002
as Strip Club M.C.
A successful TV star during the 1960s, former "Hogan's Heroes" actor Bob Crane projects a wholesome family-man image, but this front masks his persona...

Changing Lanes
2002
as Judge Cosell
A rush-hour fender-bender on New York City's crowded FDR Drive, under most circumstances, wouldn't set off a chain reaction that could decimate two pe...

Queenie in Love
2001
as Berthold
A quirky, romantic New York comedy about the pursuit of love, life and the right to be yourself.

61*
2001
as Phil Rizzuto
In 1961, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle played for the New York Yankees. One, Mantle, was universally loved, while the other, Maris, was universally ha...

Looking for an Echo
2000
as Vic
The lead singer of an oldies group reminisces about the good ol' days and a potential comeback.

The Other Me
2000
as Conrad
When Will Browning is threatened with military summer school if he doesn't get better grades, he decides to do a science project that will definitely ...

Switching Goals
1999
as Dave
Twin sisters Emma and Sam come up with a scheme to switch places so each can play in the soccer team they prefer.

The Out-of-Towners
1999
as Arresting Cop
The adventures of married couple Henry and Nancy Clark, vexed by misfortune while in New York City for Henry's job interview.

The Naked Man
1998
as Koski
A man takes matters into his own hands when a pharmaceutical kingpin moves into his town to cause some real trouble.

The Deal
1998
as Boular
A big-idea farce about big, badass businessmen.

Sunday
1997
as Scottie Elster
Mistaking a homeless man for a famous director, a British actress seeks career help from him.

One Fine Day
1996
as Manny Feldstein
Melanie Parker, an architect and mother of Sammy, and Jack Taylor, a newspaper columnist and father of Maggie, are both divorced. They meet one mornin...

Shadow of a Doubt
1996
as Sidney Sherman
Charlie Sloan is an alcoholic defence lawyer drawn back into the courtroom by Robin Harwell, a woman he once loved who wants him to defend her stepdau...

Undue Influence
1996
as Clem
When a senator's new wife is murdered, the prime suspect is his ex-wife, Laurel. Laurel's brother-in-law, lawyer Paul Madriani, still reeling from th...

Heavy
1995
as Leo
Victor is a cook who works in a greasy roadside restaurant owned by his mother, Dolly. It's just the two of them, a waitress named Delores, and a heav...

Money Train
1995
as Riley
When a vengeful New York transit cop decides to steal a trainload of subway fares, his foster brother—a fellow cop—tries to protect him.

Two Bits
1995
as Uncle Joe
It's a hot summer day in 1933 in South Philly, where 12-year old Gennaro lives with his widowed mom and his ailing grandpa, who sits outside holding t...

Batman Forever
1995
as Bank Guard
In the looming shadows of Gotham City, two villainous souls devise twin schemes of revenge against the city's dark guardian. Two-Face, disfigured by c...

Jack Reed: A Search for Justice
1994
as Mike 'Gravedigger' Edwards
Chicago police detective Jack Reed investigates the brutal murder of a stripper while he deals with corruption and bureaucracy within his own departme...

Natural Born Killers
1994
as Deputy Sheriff Duncan Homolka
Two victims of traumatized childhoods become lovers and serial murderers irresponsibly glorified by the mass media.

Naked Gun 33⅓: The Final Insult
1994
as Director
Frank Drebin is persuaded out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he has to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for wh...

The Hudsucker Proxy
1994
as Lou
A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.

Household Saints
1993
as Frank Manzone
A chronicle of three generations of Italian-American women struggling to get by in post-World War II New York’s Little Italy.

Taking the Heat
1993
as Lou Valentine
When Michael Norell witnesses a murder, he doesn't want to testify but he is forced to by the police. A cop is ordered to bring him to the court, but ...

Benny & Joon
1993
as Mike
A mentally ill young woman finds her love in an eccentric man who models himself after Buster Keaton.

Citizen Cohn
1992
as Gerald Walpin
As lawyer and power broker Roy Cohn lies dying of AIDS in a private hospital room, ghosts from his past visit him as he reflects on his life and loves...

Primary Motive
1992
as Paul Melton
In this political thriller, a gubernatorial candidate's idealistic press secretary discovers that the opposing political candidate has feathered the n...

City of Hope
1991
as Pauly
This gritty inner-city film follows various people living in a troubled New Jersey setting, most notably Nick Rinaldi, a disillusioned contractor who ...

Presumed Innocent
1990
as Tommy Molto
Rusty Sabich is a deputy prosecutor engaged in an obsessive affair with a coworker who is murdered. Soon after, he's accused of the crime. And his fig...

Kojak: Ariana
1989
as Lieutenant Rastelli
One of Kojak's old enemies uses Ariana, a young Greek girl, as bait to trap the legendary New York detective. Meanwhile, Kojak finds himself a brash y...

Perfect Witness
1989
as Breeze
An innocent man is thrust into a political power struggle in this drama. After witnessing a mob killing, New York restaurant owner Sam Paxton (Aidan Q...

The Feud
1989
as Bud Bullard
All Dolph Beeler wanted was a can of paint remover when he went to Bud Bullard's hardware store in Millville. But a simple misunderstandling between t...

Chances Are
1989
as Omar
Louie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed crossing the road. Louie is reincarnated as Alex Finch, and ...

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
1988
as Foreman
When the bumbling Lieutenant Frank Drebin investigates events following the shooting of his partner, he stumbles upon an attempt to assassinate Queen ...

The Appointments of Dennis Jennings
1988
as Bartender
Dennis Jennings is an introverted daydreamer, sleepwalking through life. He is a professional waiter and has an equally-dull girlfriend, Emma. In an a...

Big Business
1988
as Desk Clerk
In the 1940s in the small town of Jupiter Hollow, two sets of identical twins are born in the same hospital on the same night. One set to a poor local...

Ironweed
1987
as Jack
An alcoholic drifter spends Halloween in his hometown of Albany, New York after returning there for the first time in decades.

Moonstruck
1987
as Shy Waiter
37-year-old Italian-American widow Loretta Castorini believes she is unlucky in love, and so accepts a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Johnny, ev...

Matewan
1987
as Fausto
Filmed in the coal country of West Virginia, "Matewan" celebrates labor organizing in the context of a 1920s work stoppage. Union organizer, Joe Keneh...

One Police Plaza
1986
as Insp. Nicolas Zambrano
A veteran New York City Police Lieutenant's investigation of a woman's murder uncovers corruption in high places.

F/X
1986
as Mickey
A movies special effects man is hired by a government agency to help stage the assassination of a well known gangster. When the agency double cross hi...

Bad Medicine
1985
as Gómez
Jeff Marx wants to study medicine and become a physician. However, his grades are far from enough to get him into an American medical school. But then...

Brewster's Millions
1985
as J.B. Donaldo
Monty Brewster, an aging minor-league baseball player, stands to inherit $300 million if he can successfully spend $30 million in 30 days without anyt...

The Flamingo Kid
1984
as Mario Minetta
Brooklyn teenager Jeffrey Willis, thoroughly unhappy with his modest homestead, embraces the other-world aspects of his summer job at the posh Flaming...

The Pope of Greenwich Village
1984
as Jimmy the Cheese Man
Charlie and his troublesome cousin Paulie decide to steal $150000 in order to back a "sure thing" race horse that Paulie has inside information on. Th...

Splash
1984
as Manny
A successful businessman falls in love with the girl of his dreams. There's one big complication though; he's fallen hook, line and sinker for a merma...

Will There Really Be a Morning?
1983
as Wyler
This is the story of actress Frances Farmer, her struggles with mental illness and involuntary confinement in an insane asylum.

Still of the Night
1982
as Joseph Vitucci
When one of his patients is found murdered, psychiatrist Dr. Sam Rice is visited by the investigating officer but refuses to give up any information. ...

The Elephant Man
1982
as Pinhead Manager
A taped version of the stage play about a hideously deformed 19th-century London man and how he managed to triumph over his disease.

Honky Tonk Freeway
1981
as Osvaldo
Ticlaw, a small town in Florida, has only one attraction: a safari park. The government constructs a freeway that passes near Ticlaw, but decides not ...

The Gentleman Bandit
1981
as Det. Esposito
Based on the real-life ordeal of Baltimore priest Bernard Pagano, who was accused of several armed robberies in the late Seventies.

Hide in Plain Sight
1980
as Matty Stanek
True story of a man in search of his children after his ex-wife enters the Witness Protection Program.

Something Short of Paradise
1979
as Barney Collins
A young couple in New York are having problems with their relationship.

The Deer Hunter
1978
as Bandleader
A group of working-class friends decide to enlist in the Army during the Vietnam War and finds it to be hellish chaos -- not the noble venture they im...

On the Yard
1978
as Morris
Chilly is "top con" on the yard, a title that gives him absolute power. Power to make the rules. Power to kill. When a young con confronts Chilly's po...

Secret Service
1977
as Cpl. Matson
Set in Richmond, Virginia in October 1864, tells the story of a Union spy working to seize control of the telegraph office.