Dennis Farina Biography

Dennis Farina was one of Hollywood's busiest actors and a familiar faceto moviegoers and television viewers alike.Recently, he appeared in thefeature films, "The Grand," a comedy about a Vegas poker tournamentwith Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines and Ray Romano; "Bottle Shock," alsostarring Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman and Bradley Whitford; and Fox's"What Happens in Vegas," in which Dennis starred as Cameron Diaz's boss.Farina also appeared on the NBC series "Law and Order" and in the HBOminiseries, "Empire Falls," for which he won a Golden Globe Award forBest Mini-Series.Farina is well remembered for his role inmemorable features such as Steven Soderbergh's "Out of Sight," in whichhe played the retired lawman father of Jennifer Lopez's character.Thiswas Farina's second outing in an Elmore Leonard best seller, theprevious one being "Get Shorty," directed by Barry Sonnenfeld andco-starring John Travolta, Rene Russo and Gene Hackman.Farina receivedan American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male for hisperformance as "Ray 'Bones' Barboni. "In 1998's "Saving PrivateRyan," directed by Steven Spielberg, Farina played "Col.Anderson," apivotal role in the film.It is this character who convinces Tom Hankscharacter to lead a squad deep into Nazi territory to rescue "Pvt.Ryan. " He also co-starred with Brad Pitt and Oscar-winner Benicio DelToro in the darkly comedic crime drama "Snatch," directed by GuyRitchie.Farina's numerous other screen credits include JohnFrankenheimer's "Reindeer Games," "Paparazzi," Martin Brest's "MidnightRun," the Michael Mann film "Manhunter", among many other feature films.Farina is also recognized for his role in the critically acclaimedtelevision series, NBC's "Crime Story".A veteran of the Chicagotheater, Farina has appeared in Joseph Mantegna's "Bleacher Bums," and"A Prayer For My Daughter," directed by John Malkovich, and many others.He died on July 22, 2013 in Scottsdale, Arizona at age 69.