Joseph R. Gannascoli (born February 15, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Vito Spatafore on the HBO series The Sopranos. Prior to acting, Gannascoli was a professional chef. Gannascoli was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1980s, he attended St. John's University for two years, majoring in communications. He began his cooking career at Manhattan Market in 1981, before leaving to work at Commander's Palace in New Orleans, and then at various restaurants around the country.
In Season 6 of The Sopranos (1999), his character, Vito Spatafore, is shown limping
and repeatedly talks about how he is going to have hip surgery. In real
life, Joe had double-hip replacement surgery shortly after the end of
the sixth season.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, St. Johns University for two years,
majoring in communications. He then taught himself to cook and opened
his Soup As Art restaurant, also in Brooklyn.