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Joe Spano
Joe Spano
	Joe Spano in San Francisco, October 2022.
Born	Joseph Peter Spano; July 7, 1946 (age 78); San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–present
Spouse	Joan Zerrien (m. 1980)
Children	2

Joseph Peter Spano (born July 7, 1946)^[1]^[2] is an American actor known best for his roles as Lt. Henry Goldblume on Hill Street Blues and FBI Special Agent Tobias C. Fornell on NCIS. He also voiced the Chuck E. Cheese (at the time Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theatre) character, Pasqually the Chef, from 1977 to 1983.

Career

Spano was a member of the San Francisco improvisation group The Wing, and in college debuted as Paris in a production of Romeo and Juliet in 1967. In 1968, he helped found the Berkeley Repertory Theatre, acting in its first production, and stayed with the company for ten years. He relocated to Hollywood during the late 1970s, obtaining guest roles for television and minor roles in American Graffiti (1973) and The Enforcer (1976).

In Hill Street Blues he played Henry Goldblume during the entire seven-year run of the series, first as a detective sergeant, later as a lieutenant. Goldblume was one of Hill Street precinct captain Frank Furillo's trusted junior officers, serving at times as a hostage negotiator and gangs relations officer. The character was sympathetic to crime victims, sometimes conflicting with his duties as a police officer. Spano was one of many actors appearing throughout each episode, which typically had several story lines intermingled.

After Hill Street Blues ended, Spano won recurring roles in television police shows Murder One (1995) and NYPD Blue (1993), again as a detective, and has appeared regularly in television movies and television shows like The X-Files (episodes "Tempus Fugit" and "Max"), Mercy Point and Amazing Grace. Spano won an Emmy award in 1988 for Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series for a role he played in an episode of Midnight Caller. He has appeared in several feature movies, including Apollo 13 and Primal Fear. His credits are often confused with Australian actor Joseph Spano. They are not related.^[3]

He is a veteran stage actor on the east and west coasts. Spano made his Broadway debut in 1992 in the Roundabout Theater revival of Arthur Miller's The Price, with Eli Wallach, which was nominated for a Tony for Best Revival. West coast stage credits include Eduardo Pavlovsky's Potestad, and David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow and American Buffalo, for which he was awarded an LA Drama Critics Circle Award. At the Rubicon Theater in Ventura he has played General Burgoyne in George Bernard Shaw's The Devil's Disciple, Greg in A. R. Gurney's Sylvia and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot. He is a member of the Antaeus Theater Company and a founding member of three other theater companies.^[4] He played a seductive vampire in the cult musical Dracula: A Musical Nightmare in a small Los Angeles theatre.^[5] He also appeared in the TV movie Brotherhood of Justice with Keanu Reeves and Kiefer Sutherland.

He is the voice of the Wild Flower Hotline for the Theodore Payne Foundation, which can be reached by telephoning (818) 768-1802.

NCIS

Spano has been a recurring character of NCIS since its premiere episode, "Yankee White", playing FBI Special Agent Tobias Fornell, the FBI counterpart to NCIS Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs, portrayed by Mark Harmon. In Season 15, Fornell is no longer with the FBI, but is a private investigator.

Two episodes have used Fornell's personal life as the basis of an NCIS episode: one where Fornell's daughter is imperiled and another where Fornell's career is imperiled. In each episode, it is the friendship between Gibbs and Fornell which is invoked in order to involve NCIS in the resolution.

Personal life

Spano was born in San Francisco, California, the son of Vincent Dante Spano, a physician and Virginia Jean (née Carpenter).^[6] He graduated from Archbishop Riordan High School in 1963, and he is an honorary member of the House of Russi. Spano and his wife Joan Zerrien, a therapist, were married in 1980, and have two adopted daughters.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	One Is a Lonely Number	Earl of Kent
1973	American Graffiti	Vic
1973	Warlock Moon	John Devers
1976	The Enforcer	Mitch, Robber	Uncredited
1978	Northern Lights	John Sorensen
1980	Roadie	Ace
1981	The Incredible Shrinking Woman	Guard
1985	Terminal Choice	Frank Holt
1994	Rave Review	Lou
1995	Apollo 13	NASA Director
1996	Primal Fear	Abel Stenner
1998	Break Up	Priest
1998	In Quiet Night	Gold
2000	A Question of Faith	Duncan
2001	Texas Rangers	Mr. Dunnison
2001	Ticker	Captain Spano
2002	Hart's War	J.M. Lange
2006	Hollywoodland	Howard Strickling
2007	Fracture	Joseph Pincus
2008	Frost/Nixon	Network Executive

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	The Streets of San Francisco	Toomey	Episode: "One Last Shot"
1979	Lou Grant	Jack Ridgeway, Larry	2 episodes
1979	Trapper John, M.D.	Dr. Gallant	Episode: "Pilot"
1980	Tenspeed and Brown Shoe	Duff McCoy	Episode: "Diamonds Aren't Forever"
1980	Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story	Captain Murphy	Television film
1981	Insight	Karl Rothman	Episode: "The Domino Effect"
1981–1987	Hill Street Blues	Henry Goldblume	Main role
1986	Brotherhood of Justice	Bob Grootemat	Television film
1986	The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible	Jesus (voice)	Episode: "The Easter Story"^[7]
1987	Deep Dark Secrets	Eric Lloyd	Television film
1987	The Hogan Family	Mr. Cameron	Episode: "Poetic Injustice"
1988	L.A. Law	George Ripley	Episode: "Hey, Lick Me Over"
1988	Disaster at Silo 7	Sgy. Swofford	Television film
1989	Midnight Caller	John Saringo	Episode: "The Execution of John Saringo"
1989	Cast the First Stone	Bill Spencer	Television film
1990	Blind Faith	Sal Caccaro	Miniseries; 2 episodes
1990	The Girl Who Came Between Them	Jim	Television film
1990	The Great Los Angeles Earthquake	Chad Spaulding	Television film
1991	The Summer My Father Grew Up	Louis	Television film
1991	For the Very First Time	Mr. Allen	Television film
1991	Fever	Junkman	Television film
1992	Civil Wars	Carl Sherensky	Episode: "The Old Man and the 'C'"
1993	Bloodlines: Murder in the Family	Hal Leventhal	Television film
1993	Reasonable Doubts	Jimmy Cooper	Episode: "Diminished Capacity"
1993	The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children?	Richard Koons	Television film
1994	Dream On	Policeman	Episode: "The Taking of Pablum 1-2-3"
1995	Amazing Grace	Dominick Corso	5 episodes
1995–1996	Murder One	Ray Velacek	15 episodes
1996	Her Costly Affair	Carl Weston	Television film
1997	The X-Files	Mike Millar	2 episodes
1997	A Call to Remember	Dr. Green	Television film
1997–1998	Profiler	Mike Ramdak	2 episodes
1998	From the Earth to the Moon	George Mueller	Episode: "Apollo One"
1998	JAG	Jack Murphy	Episode: "Clipped Wings"
1998	Logan's War: Bound by Honor	John Downing	Television film
1998	L.A. Doctors	Don Claybourne	Episode: "What About Bob?"
1998	Nash Bridges	FBI Agent Langdon	Episode: "Mystery Dance"
1998–1999	Mercy Point	Harris DeMilla	7 episodes
1999	Touched by an Angel	James Cooper	Episode: "Such a Time as This"
1999–2000	Batman Beyond	Agent Bennet, Sniper, Boss (voice)	4 episodes^[7]
2000	Strong Medicine	Jonathan Fried	Episode: "Brainchild"
2001	Providence	Dr. Carroll	3 episodes
2002	The Invisible Man	Tom Moore	Episode: "Possessed"
2002	Static Shock	Mr. Osgood (voice)	Episode: "Jimmy"^[7]
2002–2003	NYPD Blue	John Clark Sr.	15 episodes
2003	Boomtown	Henry Stein	Episode: "Home Invasion"
2003–present	NCIS	Tobias Fornell	Recurring role
2004	Dragnet	Bill Kutler	Episode: "Riddance"
2005	Eyes	William Massey	Episode: "Trial"
2006	Crossing Jordan	Captain Innis	Episode: "Blame Game"
2006	The Closer	Dr. Rose	Episode: "Mom Duty"
2006	Standoff	Joe Suser	Episode: "Circling"
2008	Shark	Paul Faber	Episode: "Partners in Crime"
2010	In Plain Sight	Gabe Andrews, Gabe Marion	Episode: "A Priest Walks Into a Bar"
2012	The Mentalist	Greg Relin	Episode: "War of the Roses"
2014	NCIS: New Orleans	Tobias Fornell	Episode: "It Happened Last Night"
2019	Pearson	Mr. Allen	Episode: "The Rival"

Awards and nominations

Ovation Awards

2009: Nominated for Lead Actor in a Play for the role of George in the Rubicon Theatre Company production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?^[8]

References

^ Pollock, Christopher (2013). Reel San Francisco Stories: An Annotated Filmography of the Bay Area. Lulu.com. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-578-13042-2. Joseph Peter Spano was born on July 7, 1946 to parents Virginia (Carpenter) and Vincent D. Spano, a physician.
^ People Entertainment Almanac. People Magazine, Cader Books. November 1, 2000. p. 601. ISBN 978-1-929049-07-3. July 7: Joe Spano
^ Joe Spano (I) – Biography
^ "Joe Spano". Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
^ Joe Spano (I) - Biography
^ "Joe Spano Biography (1946-)". Retrieved December 26, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Joe Spano (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved May 4, 2024. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
^ "Ovation Nominees". October 20, 2009. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2014.