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Erik Palladino (born May 10, 1968) is an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Dr. Dave Malucci in the NBC drama series ER.

Early life

Palladino was born and raised in Yonkers, New York, the son of a school teacher and heating contractor from the Bronx.^[1] He is the youngest of three sons born into an Italian-American family. When he was 12 years old, he decided he wanted to be an actor after watching Robert De Niro's performance in the 1980's Raging Bull. In 1981 he joined the Children's Repertory Company in New Rochelle when he was 13 years old. This was his first foray into acting. He was arrested for assault when he was seventeen, but the charges were later expunged. He and his brother, Chris, performed together in Chris' alternative rock band No Happy Faces. He had long hair at the time, as was always a big fan of Heavy Metal.

Erik attended Archbishop Stepinac High School. He graduated from Marymount Manhattan College in 1991, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in theatre.

Career

Palladino has appeared in over 20 feature films. He is also known for his work in television on shows such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Fringe, Burn Notice, and NCIS. When he first landed in Hollywood he worked in such sitcoms as Murphy Brown and Diresta. He asked and was allowed to be let out of his contract from the short lived UPN show, Diresta, after coming to the conclusion that he was, "tired of playing the same cliched version of the cute dopey Italian guy".He got an offer to co-star in the movie U-571, which was filmed in Italy for six months.

Palladino landed his breakthrough role, one month after returning to the USA on ER as Dr. Dave Malucci, which he played from Seasons 6 to 8 (1999 to 2001). He once said, "In one year I went from being on the lowest rated show in America, Diresta, to being on the number one show in America, ER. It's silly. That's why you can't take any of it too seriously."

In 2005, he starred in the FX television series Over There as Sgt. Scream, the leader of a squad of U.S. 3rd Infantry Division soldiers involved the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. The show earned good reviews but was not renewed due to ratings.

Other

Palladino plays on the World Poker Tour in the Hollywood Home games for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Hollywood charity. He is also a lead singer for the rock band Hearing Red.^[2]

Filmography

• NCIS (2009)
• Burn Notice (2009)
• Fringe (2009)
• Make It or Break It (2009)
• Private Practice (2009)
• Reaper (2009)
• Criminal Minds (2008)
• Hotel California (2008)
• Numb3rs (2007)
• Return to House on Haunted Hill
• CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
  • Season 6 Episode "Werewolves" (2006)
• Over There (2005)
• Dead & Breakfast (2005)
• Latter Days (2004)
• Joan of Arcadia television series (2003)
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003)
• Judging Amy (2002)
• U-571 (2000)
• Finder's Fee (2001)
• ER (1999–2001)
• Can't Hardly Wait (1998)
• Murphy Brown (1999)
• Love and Marriage (1996)

References

External links

• Erik Palladino at the Internet Movie Database
• World Poker Tour profile