Paul Giamatti - Early Life

Early Life

Giamatti, the youngest of three children, was born in New Haven, Connecticut. His father, Angelo Bartlett Giamatti, was a Yale University professor who later became president of the university and commissioner of Major League Baseball. His mother, Toni Marilyn (née Smith), was a homemaker and English teacher who taught at Hopkins School and had also previously acted. His paternal grandfather's family were Italian immigrants from Telese Terme, near Naples (the surname was originally spelt "Giamattei" ). The rest of Giamatti's ancestry is Irish and English; his paternal grandmother had deep roots in New England, dating back to the colonial era. His brother, Marcus, is also an actor, and his sister, Elena, is a jewelry designer.

Giamatti was first educated at The Foote School and later graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall in 1985. Giamatti attended Yale, where he was elected to the Skull and Bones secret society. Giamatti was active in the undergraduate theater scene, working alongside actors Ron Livingston and Edward Norton, who were also Yale students. Giamatti graduated from Yale in 1989 with a bachelor's degree in English, and went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama, where he studied with Earle R. Gister. Giamatti performed in numerous theatrical productions, including Broadway and a stint from 1989 to 1992 with Seattle's Annex Theater, before appearing in some small television and film roles in the early 1990s.