- Born
- Birth nameStephen Nicholas Spinella
- Height5′ 9¼″ (1.76 m)
- Stephen Spinella was born on October 11, 1956 in Naples, Campania, Italy. He is an actor, known for Ravenous (1999), Virtuosity (1995) and Rubber (2010).
- Has won two Tony Awards for his roles in the two parts of "Angels in America": in 1993, as Best Actor (Featured Role - Play) for "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," and in 1994, as Best Actor (Play) for: "Angels in America: Perestroika." He was also Tony-nominated in 2000 as Best Actor (Featured Role - Musical) for "James Joyce's The Dead."
- Made his screen debut in a cameo as a man dying from complications of AIDS in the Emmy-winning HBO movie And the Band Played On (1993).
- Attended Glendale High School in Glendale, Arizona, then Phoenix College and the University of Arizona. His graduate studies were at New York University, where he earned his MFA in Acting (in 1982). There, he met budding playwright Tony Kushner. After watching a university production, Kushner invited Spinella to be in his play, "The Age of Assassins", and later wrote parts specifically for the actor.
- Moved to New York from Arizona, where he was raised, in 1979, and paid his dues for many years working in restaurants while acting in regional theater and off off Broadway shows.
- Vaulted from obscurity with his frighteningly realistic portrayal of AIDS-ravaged Prior Walter in Tony Kushner's two-part stage epic "Angels in America". An openly gay actor, he has since played in a number of gay-related themes on stage, film and TV.
- If you want to be a theater actor, where do you live now? Young actors struggle on a Broadway salary. A lot of them live in shoe boxes; some of them are literally three to a shoebox. New York has gotten prohibitively expensive.
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