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Donaldo Gugliermo " Dennis" Farina (February 29, 1944 – July 22, 2013) was an American actor and Chicago police detective. Known for his roles as mobsters or police officers, his involvement in the entertainment industry began through his association with filmmaker Michael Mann, who employed Farina as an actor and technical advisor. After supporting parts in Mann's films Thief (1981) and Manhunter (1986), he was cast in the lead role of Lieutenant Mike Torello on the NBC television series Crime Story, produced by Mann.
Farina's other notable roles included NYPD Detective Joe Fontana in seasons 15 and 16 of Law & Order (2004–2006), Jimmy Serrano in Midnight Run, Ray "Bones" Barboni in Get Shorty, Abraham "Cousin Avi" Denovitz in Snatch, Walt Miller on New Girl, and Gus Demitriou on HBO's Luck. He also worked as a stage actor with the Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago.
Before becoming an actor, Farina served three years (from 1962 to 1965) in the United States Army during the Vietnam Era, followed by 18 years in the Chicago Police Department (1967 to 1985), during which he advanced from patrolman to detective.
Reviewing a 1983 production of David Rabe's Streamers, Christianson praised Farina's performance as "beautiful" and said "he is becoming a fine actor." In 1984, he appeared as Nick in a Chicago production of William Saroyan's The Time of Your Life. Ted Levine, who appeared with him in Crime Story, was in the cast.
Farina played mob boss Jimmy Serrano in the comedy-crime film Midnight Run; and Ray "Bones" Barboni, a rival criminal to Chili Palmer, in Get Shorty. He played FBI Agent Jack Crawford in Michael Mann's Manhunter, the first film to feature the character Hannibal Lecter. His other film appearances include Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, Striking Distance, Another Stakeout, Snatch, The Mod Squad, Reindeer Games, Men of Respect, Big Trouble and Out of Sight. He played a baseball manager in Little Big League and a nemesis basketball coach in Eddie.
He appeared in two television network miniseries based on Joe McGinniss's true-crime books, Blind Faith (1990) and Cruel Doubt (1992). He made a rare western, portraying legendary lawman Charlie Siringo in a 1995 television movie, , a followup to the hit 1960s series.
In a departure from his usual parts, he had a leading-man role, co-starring with Bette Midler, in the romantic comedy That Old Feeling (1997), directed by Carl Reiner.
Farina won an American Comedy Award for his performance in Get Shorty, and starred in the television sitcom In-Laws from 2002 until 2003. He appeared in the 2002 film Stealing Harvard, a comedy where he played a tough-talking, overprotective father-in-law. He had comic roles opposite Ed Harris and Helen Hunt in the HBO production of Empire Falls in 2005, and opposite Alan Rickman in the 2008 Bottle Shock.
Working as a voice-actor beginning in 2005, he provided the voice of aging boxer-turned-superhero Wildcat on Justice League Unlimited. In 2013, he voiced the father of Daffy Duck's girlfriend on The Looney Tunes Show, and the character Riggs on Doc McStuffins. He also played himself in an episode of Family Guy called "The Most Interesting Man in the World," which would be his final television acting role that aired posthumously in 2014.
In 2004, producers of the television series Law & Order hired him as Detective Joe Fontana, following the death of longtime cast member Jerry Orbach. Farina stayed on the show for two seasons. In 2006, he left Law & Order for other projects, including the 2007 feature You Kill Me opposite Ben Kingsley and the 2008 What Happens in Vegas with Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher.
In October 2008, he became the new host of Unsolved Mysteries when it returned to television with a new five-season, 175-episode run on Spike TV. Farina replaced Robert Stack, who had hosted the series for its prior 15-year run. This version featured re-edited segments from previous incarnations on NBC, CBS and Lifetime.
He played the title role in a 2011 independent film, The Last Rites of Joe May, written and directed by Joe Maggio, shot on location in Chicago. He was among the stars of a 2014 release, Authors Anonymous, playing a wannabe novelist with a fantasy of becoming another Tom Clancy.
Again on television, Farina co-starred in the 2012 HBO horse-race gambling series Luck, with Dustin Hoffman, directed by Michael Mann. He had a recurring guest role in 2013 in the television comedy series New Girl, though his character was Kill off prior to his death.
Farina's last film role was as an aging Italian playboy in a film version of the Off-Broadway musical Lucky Stiff co-starring Dominic Marsh, Nikki M. James and Jason Alexander. The film, released posthumously in 2014, was dedicated to his memory.
A lifelong Chicago Cubs fan, he played a Cubs fan in a 1988 revival of the successful 1977 Organic Theater Company stage play Bleacher Bums, written by and starring fellow Chicago actors Joe Mantegna and Dennis Franz.
In February 2005, Farina won the Scripps Howard Super Sage Award. He was the only participant in Scripps Howard's Celebrity Super Bowl Poll to correctly predict New England Patriots would beat Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
Farina was arrested on May 11, 2008, for carrying a loaded .22-caliber pistol through Los Angeles International Airport security. He was charged with carrying a concealed weapon, with bail set at $25,000. He claimed he had simply forgotten the weapon was still in his briefcase and never intended to take it on a plane. After police determined the weapon was unregistered, the charges were upgraded to a felony and bail was increased to $35,000. After reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to two years' probation on July 17, 2008.
| + Film ! Year ! Film ! Role ! Notes | |||
| 1981 | Thief | Carl | |
| 1985 | Code of Silence | Detective Dorato | |
| 1986 | Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling | Freddy | |
| Manhunter | Jack Crawford | ||
| 1988 | Midnight Run | Jimmy Serrano | |
| 1990 | Men of Respect | "Bankie" Como | |
| Havana | Joe Volpe's Assistant | Uncredited | |
| 1992 | Mac | Mr. Stunder | |
| We're Talking Serious Money | Sal | ||
| Street Crimes | Brian | ||
| 1993 | Another Stakeout | Brian O'Hara | |
| Romeo Is Bleeding | Nick Gazzara | Uncredited | |
| Striking Distance | Captain Nick Detillo | ||
| 1994 | Little Big League | George O'Farrell | |
| 1995 | Get Shorty | Ray "Bones" Barboni | |
| 1996 | Eddie | Coach John Bailey | |
| 1997 | That Old Feeling | Dan De Mora | |
| 1998 | Out of Sight | Marshall Sisco | |
| Saving Private Ryan | Lieutenant Colonel Walter Anderson | ||
| 1999 | The Mod Squad | Captain Adam Greer | |
| 2000 | Reindeer Games | Jack Bangs | |
| Preston Tylk | Dick Muller | ||
| Snatch | Abraham "Avi" Denovitz | ||
| 2001 | Sidewalks of New York | Carpo | |
| 2002 | Big Trouble | Henry DeSalvo | |
| Stealing Harvard | Mr. Warner | ||
| 2004 | Paparazzi | Detective Burton | |
| Scrambled Eggs | Dr. Carlson | Short film | |
| 2007 | You Kill Me | Edward O'Leary | |
| Purple Violets | Glen Gilmore | ||
| The Grand | L.B.J. Deuce Fairbanks | ||
| National Lampoon's Bag Boy | Marty Engstrom | ||
| 2008 | Bottle Shock | Maurice Cantavale | |
| What Happens in Vegas | Richard Banger | ||
| 2010 | Knucklehead | Earl "Memphis Earl" | |
| 2011 | The Last Rites of Joe May | Joe May | |
| 2014 | Authors Anonymous | John K. Butzin | Posthumous release |
| Lucky Stiff | Luigi Guadi |
| + Television ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
| 1983 | Through Naked Eyes | Patrolman | Television film |
| 1984 | The Killing Floor | Supervisor | |
| Hard Knox | April | ||
| 1984–1989 | Miami Vice | Albert Lombard | 3 episodes |
| 1985 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Ed Coley | Episode: "Undercover McCormick" |
| Hunter | Victor "Vic" Terranova | Episode: "The Snow Queen" | |
| Remington Steele | Cop | Episode: "Steele Trying" | |
| Final Jeopardy | Policeman #2 | Television film | |
| 1986 | The Birthday Boy | Diner Owner | |
| Jack and Mike | Councilman Kazan | Episode: "Pilot" | |
| Lady Blue | Joe Kaufman | Episode: "Sylvie" | |
| Triplecross | Ernie, Veteran Cop | Television film | |
| 1986–1988 | Crime Story | Lieutenant Mike Torello | 44 episodes |
| 1987 | Six Against the Rock | Robert Stroud | Television film |
| 1988 | Open Admissions | Fred | |
| 1989 | China Beach | Lieutenant Colonel Edward Edward Vincent | Episode: "All About E.E.V." |
| The Case of the Hillside Stranglers | Angelo Buono Jr. | Television film | |
| 1990 | Blind Faith | Prosecutor Kelly | |
| People Like Us | Elias Renthall | ||
| 1991 | Perfect Crimes | Armand Zaro | |
| 1992 | Drug Wars: The Cocaine Cartel | Mike Cerone | |
| Cruel Doubt | Tom Bereton | Miniseries | |
| Tales from the Crypt | Antoine | Episode: "Werewolf Concerto" | |
| 1993 | The Disappearance of Nora | Denton | Television film |
| A Stranger in the Mirror | |||
| 1994 | One Woman's Courage | Craig McKenna | |
| The Corpse Had a Familiar Face | Detective Harry Lindstrom | ||
| 1995 | Out of Annie's Past | Charlie Ingle | |
| Charlie Siringo | |||
| 1997 | Bella Mafia | Don Roberto Luciano | |
| 1998 | Buddy Faro | Buddy Faro | 13 episodes |
| 2002–2003 | In-Laws | Victor Pellet | 15 episodes |
| 2004–2006 | Law & Order | Detective Joe Fontana | Main role (seasons 15–16); 46 episodes |
| 2005 | Episode: "Skeleton" | ||
| Justice League Unlimited | Wildcat | Voice, episode: "The Cat and the Canary" | |
| Empire Falls | Walt Comeau | Miniseries | |
| 2008–2010 | Unsolved Mysteries | Host / The Narrator | 175 episodes |
| 2011–2012 | Luck | Gus Demitriou | 9 episodes |
| 2012 | Doc McStuffins | Riggo | Voice, episode: "Stuck Up" |
| 2013 | New Girl | Walt Miller | 2 episodes |
| The Looney Tunes Show | Frank Russo | Voice, episode: "Daffy Duck, Esquire" | |
| 2014 | Family Guy | Himself | Voice, episode: "The Most Interesting Man in the World" Posthumous release |
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