Joe Spano

Joe Spano
Joseph Peter Spano (born July 7, 1946) is an American actor best known 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 1977–1983.
Career
Spano was a member of the San Francisco improv 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, appearing in its first production, and stayed with the company for ten years. He moved to Hollywood in the late 1970s, landing guest spots on TV and bit 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 coming in conflict with his duties as a police officer. Spano was one of many actors appearing throughout each episode, which typically had several interwoven story lines.
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 films, including Apollo 13 and Primal Fear. His credits are often confused with Australian actor Joseph Spano. They are not related.
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. He played a seductive vampire in the cult musical Dracula: A Musical Nightmare in a small Los Angeles theatre. 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 calling (818) 768-1802.
NCIS
Spano has been a recurring character in 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 main crux 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 Virginia Jean (née Carpenter) and Vincent Dante Spano, a physician. 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. They have two adopted daughters.
Filmography
Film and television
One Is a Lonely Number (1972) as Earl of Kent
American Graffiti (1973) as Vic
Warlock Moon (1973) as John Devers
The Streets of San Francisco (1974, TV Series) as Taxi Driver - Witness / Toomey
The Enforcer (1976) as Mitch, Robber (uncredited)
Northern Lights (1978) as John Sorensen
Lou Grant (1979, TV Series) as Jack Ridgeway / Larry
Trapper John, M.D. (1979) as Dr. Gallant
Roadie (1980) as Ace
Tenspeed and Brown Shoe (1980) as Duff McCoy
Fighting Back (1980) as Captain Murphy
Insight (1981, TV Series) as Karl Rothman
The Incredible Shrinking Woman (1981) as Guard
Terminal Choice (1985) as Dr. Frank Holt
Brotherhood of Justice (1986) as Bob Grootemat
Hill Street Blues (1981–1987, TV Series) as Lt. Henry Goldblume
Deep Dark Secrets (1987) as Eric Lloyd
Valerie (1987) as Mr. Cameron
L.A. Law (1988, TV Series) as George Ripley
Disaster at Silo 7 (1988) as Sgt. Swofford
Midnight Caller (1989) as John Saringo
Cast the First Stone (1989) as Bill Spencer
The Easter Story (1990) as Jesus (voice)
Blind Faith (1990, TV Mini-Series) as Sal Caccaro
The Girl Who Came Between Them (1990) as Jim
The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990) as Chad Spaulding
American Dreamer (1990, TV Series)
The Summer My Father Grew Up (1991) as Louis
For the Very First Time (1991) as Mr. Allen
Fever (1991) as Junkman
Civil Wars (1992, TV Series) as Carl Sherensky
Bloodlines: Murder In the Family (1993) as Hal Leventhal
Reasonable Doubts (1993) as Jimmy Cooper
The Flood: Who Will Save Our Children? (1993) as Richard Koons
Rave Review (1994) as Lou
Dream On (1994, TV Series) as Policeman
Apollo 13 (1995) as NASA Director
Amazing Grace (1995) as Detective Dominick Corso
Primal Fear (1996) as Abel Stenner
Murder One (1996, TV Series) as Ray Velacek
Her Costly Affair (1995-1996, TV Series) as Carl Weston
The X-Files (1997, TV Series) as Mike Millar
A Call To Remember (1997) as Dr. Green
Profiler (1997–1998, TV Series) as Detective Mike Ramdak
From the Earth to the Moon (1998, TV Mini-Series) as George Mueller
JAG (1998, TV Series) as Captain Jack Murphy
Break Up (1998) as Priest
Logan's War: Bound by Honor (1998) as Special Agent John Downing
L.A. Doctors (1998, TV Series) as Don Claybourne
Nash Bridges (1998, TV Series) as FBI Agent Langdon
In Quiet Night (1998) as Gold
Mercy Point (1998–1999, TV Series) as Dr. DeMilla
A.T.F. (1999) as Senator at Hearing (uncredited)
Touched by an Angel (1999) as James Cooper
A Question of Faith (2000) as Duncan
Batman Beyond (1999-2000, TV Series) as Bennet / Boss / Sniper (voice)
Strong Medicine (2000) as Jonathan Freid
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
Texas Rangers (2001) as Mr. Dunnison
Providence (2001, TV Series) as Dr. Carroll
Ticker (2001) as Captain Spano
The Invisible Man (2002, TV Series) as Father Tom Moore
Hart's War (2002) as Col. J.M. Lange
Static Shock (2002) as Mr. Osgood
NYPD Blue (2002-2003, TV Series) as Det. John Clark Sr.
Boomtown (2003, TV Series) as Henry Stein
Fortunate Son (2004) as Robert
L.A. Dragnet (2004, TV Series) as Bill Kutler
Eyes (2005, TV Series) as Judge William Massey
Crossing Jordan (2006) as Captain Innis
The Closer (2006, TV Series) as Dr. Rose
Hollywoodland (2006) as Howard Strickling
Standoff (2006, TV Series) as Joe Suser
Fracture (2007) as Judge Joseph Pincus
Shark (2008, TV Series) as Paul Faber
Frost/Nixon (2008) as Network Executive
In Plain Sight (2010) as Gabe Andrews / Gabe Marion
If I Did It (2011) as Mayor
NCIS (2003–present, TV Series) as Senior FBI Agent / Private Investigator Tobias "T.C." Fornell
The Mentalist (2012, TV Series) as Greg Relin
NCIS: New Orleans (2014, TV Series) as Senior FBI Agent Tobias "T.C." Fornell
Pearson (2019, TV Series) as Mr. Allen
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?
References
External links
1946 births
Living people
Male actors from San Francisco
American male film actors
American male television actors
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male stage actors
American people of Italian descent
Archbishop Riordan High School alumni