Steven Ralph Schirripa ( shih-RIP-ə; Italian: [skirˈriːpa]; born September 3, 1957) is an American actor. He is regularly credited as Steven R. Schirripa, including his total of over 300 total appearances in three long running series, playing: Bobby Bacala on The Sopranos; Leo Boykewich on The Secret Life of the American Teenager; and Detective Anthony Abetemarco on Blue Bloods. Schirripa is the host of two Investigation Discovery series: Karma's a B*tch! and Nothing Personal. He is the voice of Roberto in the Open Season film series.
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Early life
Schirripa was born on September 3, 1957 in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, New York City. His father, Ralph Schirripa, was Italian-American. His grandparents, Ilario Schirripa and Maria Capacci, were from Riace, Calabria, Southern Italy. His mother, Lorraine Schirripa (née Bernstein), was of Jewish descent. Schirripa grew up in a low-income household with four siblings, went to Lafayette High School and graduated from Brooklyn College.
Career
Film and television
Schirripa got his first taste of show business in his job as entertainment director of the Riviera Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. In the biography page of his website, Schirripa says that he had cameo appearances in comedy specials by Drew Carey and Kevin Pollak, among other comedians. That led to a role as an uncredited extra in Martin Scorsese's Casino. In the film, he portrayed a customer at the bar in the scene when Joe Pesci's character angrily stabs a man with a pen. After this, Schirripa decided that he wanted to become an actor.
He had several minor roles in films, including The Runner (1999) and Joe Dirt (2001). His breakthrough role was in the second season (2000) of The Sopranos, playing Tony Soprano's mobster brother-in-law Bobby Baccalieri. By chance, he was in New York City in June 1999 for a friend's wedding, and around that time he was invited for an audition in New York City, initially for Agent Skip Lipari, and later for the role of Baccalieri. He played Baccalieri for five seasons, and for the first two seasons he wore a fat suit to fit the role.
His many television appearances include Angel, Casino Cinema, Columbo, Star Trek: Enterprise, Hollywood Squares, Joey, Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, My Wife and Kids, Ed, Jeopardy!, George Lopez, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! and The King of Queens. In 2008, Schirripa appeared on CBS's primetime game show Million Dollar Password, and in 2019, Schirripa appeared on the game show Pyramid alongside Jamie-Lynn Sigler. He also made an uncredited appearance along with fellow Soprano star Vincent Pastore on a sixth season episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force entitled "She Creature".
Schirripa was a frequent guest on the Don Imus radio program. In February 2007, he began to make appearances for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, on Spike TV, siding with Team 3D as their cousin in their ongoing battle against The Latin American Xchange. On October 30, 2007, he appeared on, The Podge and Rodge Show. He also did spots as "Steve the Judgmental Bastard" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and taped several episodes of The Gong Show with Dave Attell, as one of the celebrity judges.
From 2008 to 2012, Schirripa had a recurring role in the ABC Family show, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, as Leo Boykewich, Ben's dad.
Books
Schirripa's acting roles often portrayed "goombas", slang for stereotypical Italian-American tough guys and often denoting connections to the Mafia. He carried that persona over into real life but with a comedic twist, especially in appearances on talk and game shows. He expanded on that persona when he wrote a series of books starting with A Goomba's Guide to Life (ISBN 978-1400046393) in 2002. He followed up with The Goomba's Book of Love, co-authored with Charles Fleming in 2003 (ISBN 978-1-4000-5089-5). The series continued with The Goomba Diet: Large and Loving It (ISBN 978-1400054633) in 2006, and in 2013 Big Daddy's Rules: Raising Daughters Is Tougher Than I Look (ISBN 978-1476706344), co-authored by Philip Lerman.
Schirripa and Fleming also collaborated on two books about Nicky Deuce, a suburban teenager who is sent to visit his grandparents in Brooklyn. Nicky Deuce: Welcome to the Family was followed by Nicky Deuce: Home for the Holidays, which was the basis for the 2013 Nickelodeon film Nicky Deuce starring Noah Munck. Nicky Deuce also featured supporting roles filled by James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli, Tony Sirico, and Vincent Curatola of The Sopranos fame.
In April of 2026, Schirripa and Lerman co-authored and released a children's picture book WillieBoy Eats the World (ISBN 978-1636142449) with illustration by Kirk Parrish.
Theatre
On April 3, 2014, Schirripa gave a theatrical performance in a special production of Guys and Dolls alongside Nathan Lane, Patrick Wilson, and Megan Mullally at Carnegie Hall.
Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties
In 2014, Schirripa launched a line of organic vegan pasta sauces under the business name of Uncle Steve's Italian Specialties Group. Schirripa appeared on the Eric Andre Show to promote the sauce.
Steve appears at the annual Soupy Fest in Westerly, RI.
Personal life
Schirripa married Laura Lemos on April 22, 1989. They have two children, daughters Bria and Ciara.
When asked if he was bar mitzvahed, Schirripa answered no and stated that he was raised as a Catholic but that he "very much identifies as being Jewish as well".
