Vincent Spano: Biography

Since his 1983 breakout role as an Irish-Catholic misfit nicknamed "The Sheik" opposite Rosanna Arquette in Baby It's You, Vincent Spano has proved himself a versatile and skilled actor to those who have followed his career. Spano had begun acting in a professional capacity by the age of 14, when he starred in a 1977 theater production of The Shadow Box, and landed a small Broadway role two years later in The Double McGuffin. Though audiences had expected Spano to rise along with the other budding stars of his time, particularly after a critical nod for his role in Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish (1983) and appearances in several popular 1980s teen films, Spano opted against the high-profile stardom he could have easily pursued in favor of taking on a variety of unique but decidedly less flashy roles.

Unfortunately, most of those roles ended up buried within otherwise unremarkable movies; this was the case with his portrayal of a bewildered graduate assistant in Creator (1985), as was his performance in Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky's first American film, Maria's Lovers (1984). Luckily, Spano received no small amount of praise for his contribution to Good Morning, Babylon (1987), an Italian/American/French collaboration that chronicled the efforts of an Italian cathedral builder's (Spano) complicated emigration to the United States. After filming several foreign features, Spano turned in a solid performance as the good-hearted but emotionally lost New Jersey native in John Sayles' urban drama City of Hope (1991), and went on to star alongside Ethan Hawke in the hotly anticipated cannibalistic docudrama Alive (1993).

Though significant mainstream recognition continued to elude him, Spano nonetheless continued to exhibit an admirable willingness to try anything when it came to selecting roles. Whether it was as a rogue government agent (1996's Downdraft) or the excruciatingly macho brother of an AIDS victim (1998's The Unknown Cyclist), Spano continued to impress fans with his wide-ranging capabilities. After filming several horror films and psychological thrillers during the early 2000s, Spano was given a warm reception for his performance as a "justice fighter" in the Sci-Fi channel's feature-length pilot Deathlands: Homeward Bound. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide