Early Life
Palminteri is of Sicilian origin; his family is originally from Menfi in the province of Agrigento. His grandparents, Calogero Palminteri and Rosa Bonfante, married in 1908 and moved from Menfi to the United States in 1910. Chazz Palminteri was born in the Bronx on May 15, 1946, the son of Rose, a homemaker, and Lorenzo Palminteri, a bus driver. He struggled to become a star, splitting his time between acting in off-Broadway plays and moonlighting as a bouncer, alongside Dolph Lundgren. His big break did not come until 1988 with the premiere of his autobiographical one-man show, A Bronx Tale, which he wrote after being fired from a club for refusing entry to super agent Swifty Lazar; Robert De Niro later developed and directed a film version (1993). Palminteri confirms he witnessed a murder first-hand as a child, as depicted in the play and film.
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