Hey, guys. Quint here. There are some actors who seem to be bred purely for specific genres. Jack Elam, for instance, felt like he existed solely to make westerns better. Jon Polito was the Jack Elam of crime pictures, especially those focused on gangsters.
His first credits are a TV show called The Gangster Chronicles and a film called Gangster Wars and his last major film role was, fittingly, Gangster Squad. He played the kind of characters that would be called Sal or Vinnie or Louie.
But the magic to Polito's performances wasn't just that he had the right face for crime pictures. He had a secret weapon that he carried in his back pocket: humor. The man's comic timing was incredible. Sure, he had the screen presence and natural charisma that all great character actors seem to be born with, but what set him apart was ability to play all character types (slimy, squirrelly, intimidating or aloof) with an edge of grounded absurdity.
I could point to all his appearances in Coen Bros movies as evidence, but I'll focus on one very specific part: Da Fino.
It's not his best part (my money's on his Miller's Crossing character, Johnny Caspar), but what I love about Da Fino is he pops in for one scene in The Big Lebowski, delivers a key bit of exposition, but does it in a way that makes you laugh. Polito's reaction to The Dude saying “I'm just helping her conceive” is everything I love about his work in one moment.
Polito was the kind of guy that textured a world and he did it in all kinds of films. He might have been typecast as a gangster, but his career spanned a ton of different kinds of movies. From The Rocketeer to Highlander to The Crow to an episode of Tales From the Crypt. Hell, he even voiced Chief Arnook in Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Miller's Crossing is the film I put on to honor his work, but equally good picks would be Barton Fink, The Man Who Wasn't There or Blankman (not really for the entire movie, but for his part).
The man was the very definition of character actor and he will be missed. My thoughts will be with Mr. Polito's friends, family and fans.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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