Creator / Jon Polito

Jon Raymond Polito (December 29, 1950 – September 1, 2016) was an American actor and voice actor. He was well known for his very hoarse gravelly voice. Throughout his 35-year career, he has played cops and crime bosses. Among his best known roles were Steve Crosetti on Homicide: Life on the Street, Phil Bartoli on Crime Story, and was a frequent actor in The Coen Brothers' pictures.

Polito died of cancer on September 1, 2016, at age 65.

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Notable roles:

• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Arnook
• Batman: Year One: Gillian Loeb
• Batman: Arkham Underworld: Carmine Falcone
• Batman Beyond - Major
• Barton Fink: Lou Breeze
• Ben 10: Ultimate Alien - Mizaru
• The Big Lebowski: Da Fino
• Blankman: Michael "The Suit" Minelli
• The Buzz on Maggie : New Aldrin/New Pupert
• Chowder - Funjil
• The Chronicle: Donald Stern
• Crime Story: Phil Bartoli
• The Crow (1994): Gideon
• DC Showcase: The Spectre - Police Captain
• Death of a Salesman (1985 Film) - Howard Wagner
• El Tigre - Don Baffi, Big Man
• Flodder in Amerika!: Larry Rosenbaum
• Gangster Squad: Jack Dragna
• Handy Manny - Joe Polotero
• Homicide: Life on the Street: Steve Crosetti
• The Man Who Wasn't There (2001): Creighton Tolliver
• Miller's Crossing: Johnny Caspar
• Modern Family: Earl Chambers
• Robot and Monster - Sir Cranklin
• The Rocketeer: Otis Bigelow
• The Singing Detective: Second Hood
• Tale of the Mummy: Parsons
• Tangled: The Series - Griffon of Pittsbord^note The role was done posthumously, with Dee Bradley Baker finishing his dialogue.
• Time Squad - Al Capone
• Thunder Cats 2011: Conquedor
• Ultimate Spider-Man (2012) - Hammerhead

Tropes associated with Jon Polito:

• Actor Leaves, Character Dies: The character of Steve Crosetti was written out of Homicide because the executives felt Polito wasn't photogenic enough and wanted more female characters. The character later dying by suicide was written after Polito publicly criticized producer Tom Fontana over the incident. They'd later patch things up and Polito had said he regretted how he handled things.
• Old Shame: As noted above, Polito regretted his behavior in regards to how he handled his being written out of Homicide.
• Production Posse: He frequently appeared in The Coen Brothers' movies.
• Typecasting: During his career, he had frequently played gangsters, including real-life gangsters Jack Dragna in Gangster Squad and Al Capone in Time Squad, as well as his characters in Miller's Crossing, Crime Story, and Blankman. In fact, two of his last roles before his passing were gangsters—Carmine Falcone in Batman: Arkham Underworld and Hammerhead in Ultimate Spider-Man.