Joseph Vassallo
| Joseph Vassallo | |
|---|---|
| Born | Malta |
Joseph Vassallo is an actor known for his work in American television and film.
Vassallo was born on the island of Malta, an island just a few miles south of Sicily, Italy. He is the first born of four children. Upon visiting his father on the set of Midnight Express, where the elder Vassallo was working as an extra, he became interested in acting. This led to him enrolling at the prestigious Manoel Theatre in Valletta. He left school at the age of 16, and embarked on a career in food and beverage before he left the country to go live in Switzerland, Paris, London, New York and Los Angeles. Vassallo sailed around the world multiple times on board the luxurious ship QE2, where he worked as a Chef De Rang.
In the 1980s, Vassallo moved to New York and enrolled at the Herbert Berghof Studio. In 1988, Vassallo moved to Los Angeles and continued to pursue an acting career. There, he trained under legendary acting teachers Stella Adler and Joanne Baron. Joseph landed a spot at The Actors Studio in Hollywood as an observer under the supervision of the legendary Shelley Winters, who at the time ran the studio. Between New York and Los Angeles, Vassallo appeared in about eighteen stage plays, including A Hatful of Rain, A View from the Bridge, She Stoops to Conquer and Othello.
In the early 1990s Vassallo appeared for the first time on television in a commercial for the cruise line Royal Caribbean. Since then, Vassallo has appeared in over 100 national television commercials, one of which, for Twix, won the Gold Award at the New York Film Festival. In 1994, Vasallo appeared in the movie Blankman, opposite Damon Wayans, Jason Alexander and Jon Pulito. This was followed by roles in My Brother Jack, The 4th Tenor, and Just Married. In 2004, he reteamed with Damon Wayans for Behind the Smile. Vassallo co-starred opposite Academy Award Winner, Forest Whitaker in the comedy feature "Our Family Wedding" for 20th Century Fox.
Vassallo's television credits include guest appearances on Diagnosis Murder, The West Wing, Alias, Damon, and My Wife and Kids. In 2005 he was hired to work as a writing consultant on the television series My Wife and Kids. In 2007 - 2008 Vassallo served as Vice President of "Way Out TV" in Los Angeles California. Currently, he has a slate of feature and TV projects in development.