Vincent D’Onofrio
Vincent D’Onofrio was born on June 30, 1959 in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, of Sicilian descent. Vincent is the son of Gennaro (Gene) D’Onofrio, an interior designer and part-time theater production assistant, and Phyllis D‘Onofrio (now Meyer) a waitress and restaurant manager. Vincent’s parents met while Gennaro was stationed in Hawaii with the U.S. Air Force. The couple relocated to the mainland where they had three children. Vincent is the youngest and the only boy. His middle sister Elizabeth D’Onofrio is an actress and drama coach now residing on Ft. Myers Beach, Florida. His eldest sister, Toni, owns the Rib City restaurant chain in Utah. Vincent’s third step sister, Connie, died in 2004. Vincent’s parents divorced several years after his birth. His mother married George Meyer in 1978.
His family moved frequently during his youth, and he grew up in Hawaii, Florida, and Colorado. He graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Florida in 1977 and attended The University of Colorado at Boulder for about 18 months. He then dropped out of college to pursue acting. He was accepted for study with the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York City.
In 1984, D’Onofrio became a full member of the American Stanislavsky Theatre, appearing in a number of its productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open Admissions. Before this breakthrough, he had been acting in New York University student films and was working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe.
In 1987, D’Onofrio entered the mainstream consciousness with two film roles that demonstrated his range as an actor. His first major film role was as the obese Private Leonard “Gomer Pyle” Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 film, Full Metal Jacket, a part for which he gained nearly 70 lbs, bringing his weight to 280 lbs. The other role was that of Dawson, the owner of Dawson’s Garage in Adventures in Babysitting, directed by Chris Columbus. D’Onofrio appears in only one pivotal scene near the end of the film, but his role attracted attention because of his muscular physique and long blond hair, which cause the film’s youngest character to mistakenly believe that he is actually Thor, the comic-book superhero she idolizes.
In late 2004, D’Onofrio experienced a health issue when he collapsed on the set of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on November 10. He collapsed again at home a few days later and was taken back to the hospital for more thorough testing, where he was diagnosed with exhaustion.
