Steve Buscemi
Steve Buscemi was born on December 13, 1957 in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Dorothy, who worked as a hostess at Howard Johnson’s, and John Buscemi, a sanitation worker and Korean War veteran. Buscemi’s father was Italian American and his mother Irish American. He has three brothers: Jon, Ken, and Michael. Buscemi was raised Catholic.
He graduated in 1975 from Valley Stream Central High School in Valley Stream, New York, a school which he attended with actress Patricia Charbonneau and writer Edward Renehan. In high school, Buscemi wrestled for the varsity squad and participated in the drama troupe, at that time directed by Mr. Lynne C. Lappin (Buscemi’s 1996 film Trees Lounge, in which he not only starred but served as screenwriter and director, is set in and was largely shot in his childhood village of Valley Stream).
Buscemi briefly attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to enroll in the Lee Strasberg Institute.
In the early ’80s Buscemi also served as a firefighter for four years on FDNY Engine 55.
On March 4, 2005, Buscemi returned to his old high school where he was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award as part of the school’s 75th anniversary celebration.
The day after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Buscemi went to his old firehouse to volunteer for recovery work at Ground Zero. That week, he worked 12 hour shifts digging through the rubble, while refusing to do interviews or have his picture taken.
In April 2001, while shooting the film Domestic Disturbance in Wilmington, North Carolina, Buscemi was stabbed three times while intervening in a bar fight at Firebelly Lounge between his friend Vince Vaughn, screenwriter Scott Rosenberg and a local man, who allegedly instigated the brawl.Buscemi has one son, Lucian, with his wife Jo Andres.
