Dennis Farina

Dennis Farina
Farina at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival
Born	February 29, 1944 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	July 22, 2013(2013-07-22) (aged 69) Scottsdale, Arizona, U.S.
Cause of death	pulmonary embolism
Occupation	Actor, Chicago Police Officer
Years active	1981–2013
Spouse(s)	Patricia Farina (1970–1980) (divorced)
Partner(s)	Marianne Cahill
Children	3

Dennis Farina (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an Italian-American actor of film and television and former Chicago police officer. He was a character actor, often typecast as a mobster or police officer. His most known film roles are those of mobster Jimmy Serrano in the comedy Midnight Run and Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty. He starred on television as Lieutenant Mike Torello on Crime Story and as NYPD Detective Joe Fontana on Law & Order. He also hosted and narrated a revived version of Unsolved Mysteries. His last major television role was in HBO's Luck, which premiered on January 29, 2012.

Farina was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Sicilian-American parents Joseph Farina, a doctor, and his wife Yolanda Donati. His father was from Villalba, Sicily. He had three brothers and three sisters.

Before becoming an actor, Farina served three years in the United States Army, followed by 18 years in the Chicago Police Department's burglary division, from 1967 to 1985.

Farina began working for director Michael Mann as a police consultant, which led Mann to cast him in a small role in the 1981 film Thief. Farina moonlighted as an actor in Chicago-based films (like Code of Silence, a 1985 Chuck Norris film) and theater before Mann chose him for his Crime Story series, which aired on NBC from 1986-88. Farina played mobster Albert Lombard in Mann's previous hit television show, Miami Vice. He later starred as the title character in Buddy Faro, a 1998 private-detective series on CBS.