Tony Tarantino

Tony Tarantino (born July 4, 1940) is an American actor and producer. He is the father of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.[1][2]

Tony Tarantino
Tony Tarantino in 2009.
Born (1940-07-04) July 4, 1940
Queens, New York, United States
OccupationActor
ChildrenQuentin Tarantino

Life and career

Tarantino is the father of film director Quentin Tarantino. During a 2010 interview, the younger Tarantino said: "Well, I never knew my father [...] That's the thing. I never knew him [...] He wanted to be an actor [...] Now he's an actor only because he has my last name. But he was never part of my life. I didn't know him. I've never met him."[3]

Tarantino was born in New York City, the son of Elizabeth Jean and Dominic James Tarantino.[4] In a 2017 interview, Tony Tarantino spoke of an incident in 1960 when he was 20 years old and talent agent Henry Willson offered him acting opportunities and a lavish lifestyle in exchange for gay sex.[2] Shocked, Tony Tarantino claims he punched Willson in the face, knocking Willson to the ground. After Willson got up he told Tony Tarantino he'd never work in Hollywood or New York again as an actor. Tarantino claimed he was fired from his role on the TV western series Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre.[2] Tarantino changed his name to Tony Maro and booked several acting jobs with Paramount as an extra, but claims he was thrown off the lot within two hours once his true identity was discovered.[2]

Tony Tarantino has produced such films as Prism[5] and Underbelly Blues.[6] In a review of Underbelly Blues, Film Threat magazine wrote "At first glance, the film plays as a flat-out spoof of Tarantino's work, particularly Pulp Fiction—samurai swords, black bob wigs and mysterious briefcases all make an appearance. The fact that Tony Tarantino, Quentin's father, is a credited producer only muddies things further, but I assume anyone with money and that valuable surname would have sufficed."[6]

Police brutality controversy

In October 2015, Quentin Tarantino received backlash from police unions after speaking at an anti-police brutality rally in New York, saying: "I have to call the murderers the murderers." Tony Tarantino responded, saying he had relatives in the police and that what Quentin had said was "dead wrong".[5][7]

Filmography

As producer
Year Title
2012 Mediterranean Blue
2011 Underbelly Blues

As director
Year Title
2003 Blood Money

As actor
Year Title
2012 Mediterranean Blue
2011 Underbelly Blues
2008 Harvest Moon
2003 Blood Money
1999 It's the Rage
Family Tree
Holy Hollywood
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References
  1. "Tony Tarantino". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2013.
  2. Sblendorio, Peter (November 11, 2017). "Quentin Tarantino's dad Tony claims Hollywood agent tried to sign him in exchange for sex". New York Daily News.
  3. Secher, Benjamin (February 8, 2010). "Quentin Tarantino interview: 'All my movies are achingly personal'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  4. "Tarantino Productions". www.tarantinoproductions.com.
  5. Pulver, Andrew (27 January 2016). "Tarantino's father to donate to police: 'Quentin's ignorance really upset me'". The Guardian.
  6. Lanier, Hunter (April 1, 2018). "Underbelly Blues". Film Threat.
  7. Steinbuch, Yaron (October 30, 2015). "Even Quentin Tarantino's dad thinks he's a jerk for anti-cop comments". New York Post.
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