Tucci was born on November 11, 1960, inPeekskill, New York,[3] and grew up in nearbyKatonah, New York.[4] His parents, Joan (née Tropiano), a secretary and writer, and Stanley Tucci Sr.[4][5] an art teacher atHorace Greeley High School inChappaqua, New York,[6] both of Italian descent, have distant roots in the town ofMarzi inCalabria, Southern Italy.[7][8] Tucci is the oldest of three children, including his sister, actressChristine Tucci.[4] Screenwriter Joseph Tropiano is a cousin.[9] During the early 1970s, he spent a year living inFlorence, Italy.[8]
He attendedJohn Jay High School,[4] in Lewisboro, New York, where he played on the soccer and baseball teams, although his main interest lay in the school's drama club, where he and fellow actor and high school friend,Campbell Scott, son of actorsGeorge C. Scott andColleen Dewhurst, gave well-received performances at many of John Jay's drama club productions. Tucci then attendedState University of New York at Purchase, where he majored in acting and graduated in 1982.[4] Among his classmates at SUNY Purchase was fellow acting studentVing Rhames. It was Tucci who gave Rhames, born Irving, the nickname "Ving".[10]
In 1982, Tucci earned hisActors' Equity card when actressColleen Dewhurst, the mother of Tucci's high-school friend, actorCampbell Scott, arranged for the two young men to have parts as soldiers in a Broadway play in which she was co-starring,[4]The Queen and the Rebels which premiered on September 30, 1982. Around this time, Tucci also worked as a model, with his most notable work being a television commercial forLevi's 501 jeans.[11][12] In 1985, Tucci made his film debut as a soldier inJohn Huston's black comedy crime filmPrizzi's Honor starringJack Nicholson andKathleen Turner. During this period, Tucci portrayed minor and supporting roles in a number of films, including the psychological horror filmMonkey Shines (1988), the comedy-dramaSlaves of New York (1989) and the comedyFear, Anxiety & Depression (1989).
In 1996, Tucci co-wrote and co-directed the comedy-drama filmBig Night. Tucci starred alongsideTony Shalhoub and co-wrote the screenplay with his cousin Joseph Tropiano and directed the film with friend Campbell Scott. The film premiered at theSundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the "Grand Jury Prize". Tucci and Tropiano won theIndependent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay for writing the screenplay of the film. The film also featured his sisterChristine and their mother, who wrote a cookbook for the film. The film also starredMinnie Driver,Isabella Rossellini,Ian Holm, andAllison Janney. CriticRoger Ebert praised the film writing, "To some degree this film must represent a break for [Tucci]: He has been in good movies before, but not enough of them...Now here is their labor of love. Their perfect risotto. They include just what is needed and nothing else."[14]
In 2009, Tucci portrayed George Harvey, a serial killer of young girls, inThe Lovely Bones starringSaoirse Ronan. The film,Peter Jackson's adaptation ofAlice Sebold'snovel, earned TucciAcademy andGolden Globe award nominations for Best Supporting Actor. To prepare for the role, he consulted with retired FBIprofilerJohn Douglas.[24] Also in 2009, Tucci reunited with Meryl Streep inNora Ephron's biographical comedyJulie & Julia. In the film Tucci portrayedPaul Child, the husband ofJulia Child (Streep). They were praised for their on-screen chemistry withPeter Travers ofRolling Stone declaring, "Tucci and Streep are magical together, creating a portrait of an unconventional marriage that deserves its own movie."[25]
In 2020, Tucci began voicing the character Bitsy Brandenham in the animated seriesCentral Park. The series received a two-season order fromApple Inc., with each season set to consist of 13 episodes each.[33] The series premiered on May 29, 2020.[34] In the same year, Tucci narrated the seriesThe California Century, on notable people in the history of California told from the point of view of a screenwriter.[35][36] In 2020, Tucci starred in the British drama filmSupernova opposite Colin Firth. The film explores the relationship between a couple played by Tucci and Firth as one of them succumbs toearly onset dementia. The film premiered at theSan Sebastián International Film Festival and since has received critical acclaim. Guy Lodge, critic forVariety wrote of their chemistry:
Firth and Tucci are such reliable stalwarts that we tend not to regard their presence too closely in films these days: Almost invariably, they fulfill our expectations of their refined gravitas. But there's something lovely and surprising in what they bring out of each other here, as they complement and reflect each other's curtness, evasiveness and occasional spillages of tenderness in the way that long-term couples do.[37]
In 2021, Tucci hosted the culinary travel series,Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, a six-part originalCNN series following the actor on a food tour of Italy.[38][39] The series received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including one forOutstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series, and was renewed for a second season set to air in 2022.[40] Caroline Framke ofVariety praised the series writing, "It’s exactly the picturesque scenario you might expect and want from a travel series hosted by Tucci, an extraordinarily charming presence who knows and loves Italian food".[41]
Tucci married Kathryn Spath (born 1962, died 2009) in 1995. She was asocial worker, former wife of actor andstage manager Alexander R. Scott, and former sister-in-law of Tucci's high school friend Campbell Scott.[45] They had three children together.[46][47] The couple also raised Kathryn's two children from her previous marriage.[4][47]Tucci had anaffair in 2002 with actressEdie Falco, with whom he was appearing on Broadway inTerrence McNally'sFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, but the affair ended, and he returned to his wife and children.[48] Spath died ofbreast cancer in 2009, aged 47.[49][50]
On September 12, 2016, Tucci, alongside other celebrities, appeared in a video from theUnited Nations' refugee agencyUNHCR to help raise awareness of the globalrefugee crisis. The video, titled "What They Took With Them", has the actors reading a poem, written by Jenifer Toksvig and inspired by primary accounts of refugees, and is part of UNHCR's #WithRefugees campaign, which also includes a petition to governments to expand asylum to provide further shelter, integrating job opportunities, and education.[56]
In September 2021, Tucci revealed that he had been diagnosed withoropharyngeal cancer three years earlier. He had received treatment (chemotherapy andradiation) after atumor was found at the base of histongue, and said it was unlikely that the tumor would return.[59] In November 2022, he said there are still some foods he cannot eat, as a result of his cancer.[60]
In October 2021, his memoirTaste: My Life Through Food was published, which describes his encounter with cancer and his love of food.[61] The memoir was onThe New York TimesBest Seller List for 16 weeks, until February 13, 2022.[62]
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