- Born
- Birth namePaul Edward Valentine Giamatti
- Height5′ 9″ (1.75 m)
- Paul Giamatti is an American actor who has worked steadily and prominently for over thirty years, and is best known for leading roles in the films American Splendor (2003), Sideways (2004), and Barney's Version (2010) (for which he won a Golden Globe), and supporting roles in the films Cinderella Man (2005), The Illusionist (2006), and San Andreas (2015).
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti was born June 6, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut, and is the youngest of three children. His mother, the former Toni Marilyn Smith, was an actress before marrying. His father, Bart Giamatti (Angelo Bartlett Giamatti), was a professor of Renaissance Literature at Yale University, and went on to become the university's youngest president (in 1986, Bart was appointed president of baseball's National League. He became Commissioner of Baseball on April 1, 1989 and served for five months until his untimely death on September 1, 1989. He was commissioner at the time Pete Rose was banned from the game). Paul's father also wrote six books. Paul's older brother, Marcus Giamatti, is also an actor. His sister, Elena, designs jewelry. His ancestry is Italian (from his paternal grandfather), German, English, Dutch, Scottish, and Irish.
Paul graduated from Choate Rosemary Hall prep school, majored in English at Yale, and obtained his Master's Degree in Fine Arts, with his major in drama from the Yale University School of Drama. His acting roots are in theatre, from his college days at Yale, to regional productions (Seattle, San Diego and Williamstown, Massachusetts), to Broadway.- IMDb Mini Biography By: [email protected]
- SpouseElizabeth Giamatti(October 13, 1997 - ?) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenSamuel
- ParentsToni Marilyn Giamatti (Smith)
- RelativesMarcus Giamatti(Sibling)Elena Giamatti(Sibling)
- Hang-dog expression
- Often plays either the reasonable friend of the protagonist, or an unscrupulous business man.
- Son of Bart Giamatti, late president of Yale University, major league baseball commissioner and nemesis of Pete Rose.
- In his senior year at Yale University he was elected to the Skull and Bones secret society.
- Has one child, a boy named Samuel, born in 2001, with his wife, Elizabeth Giamatti.
- Russell Crowe stated in an interview that working with Giamatti in Cinderella Man (2005) was one of his favorite experiences in show business.
- Graduated from Yale University with a degree in English.
- Am I really cool? You're telling me I'm cool? Well, that's good to hear.
- I'm not a guy who has a lot of, 'I want to work with so-and-so.' I'll take whatever work I can get.
- Well, you know, when people say stuff about you, it's always really flattering. But does it mean anything to me? It's not really real to me; there's no reality to it.
- You start to really lose perspective on the movie when the critical response is as weirdly, regressively unanimous as it is. I'm such a natural skeptic that I start thinking, 'Maybe it actually sucks.'
- It'd be disingenuous to say I don't like attention - I'm an actor for God's sake - and it's flattering and all, but attention was never my big goal. I just like to work and have a good time. This whole business feels kind of intense, like a bad fit. Round peg, square hole. But whatever, I'll take it.
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