Schirripa was born on August 1, 1958 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. His father, Ralph, was Italian American. His grandparents, Ilario Schirripa and Maria Capacci, were from Riace, Italy. His mother is of Jewish descent.\n', '

Schirripa got his first taste of show business in his job as entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel and Casino. In the biography page of his website, Schirripa says that he had cameo appearances in comedy specials by Drew Carey and Kevin Pollak, among other comedians. That led to a role as an uncredited extra in Martin Scorsese\'s Casino. In the film, he portrayed a customer at the bar in the scene when Joe Pesci\'s character angrily stabs a man with a pen. After this, Schirripa decided that he wanted to become an actor.[citation needed] He had several minor roles in movies, including The Runner (1999) and Joe Dirt. His breakthrough role was in The Sopranos (2000), playing Tony Soprano\'s dense but lovable mobster brother-in-law Bobby Baccalieri for five seasons.\n', '

His many television appearances include Angel, Casino Cinema, Star Trek: Enterprise, Hollywood Squares, Joey, Law & Order, Law & Order SVU, My Wife and Kids, Ed, Jeopardy!, George Lopez, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and The King of Queens. Schirripa recently appeared on CBS\'s primetime game show Million Dollar Password. Furthering his game show enthusiasm, Schirripa appeared on the game show Pyramid. He also made an uncredited appearance along with fellow Soprano star Vincent Pastore on the 6th Season episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force entitled "She Creature".\n', '

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