Actor Biography - Paul Giamatti Posted by: Hollywood Lot Staff

Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti was born on June 6, 1967 in New Haven, Connecticut. He was the youngest child out of three. Giamatti’s father, A. Bartlett Giamatti, was a professor at the Ivy League Yale University and later became president of the establishment. He also became the commissioner of major league baseball, infamously known for banning Pete Rose from the game. Paul Giamatti’s father passed away in 1989. Giamatti’s mother and older brother were actors.

Giamatti started out majoring in English at Yale University and achieved his masters in Fine Arts at the Yale University School of Drama. After this his film career began with small movie parts, TV appearances and later roles in Broadway.

Giamatti is known to be a very busy actor with many roles in both independent and big-budget films. In the early 1990’s he began taking many small roles. His film breakthrough came in the role of Kenny in the 1997 Howard Stern film Private Parts.

Some of Giamatti’s film roles included The Negotiator in 1998 along side Samuel L. Jackson, and the Planet of the Apes in 2001 (a film by Tim Burton). However, his role as the pessimistic, dissatisfied wine expert in the 2004 movie Sideways really brought him out in the Hollywood limelight as well as turned the heads of many critics. Because of his work in Sideways he was nominated for many awards but still did not receive the Oscar.

In 2005 Paul Giamatti took the supporting role of Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s acclaimed biopic of boxer James Braddock titled Cinderella Man. This is arguably one of the best roles Giamatti has yet played, creating a likable and memorable boxing manager during the hard times of the Great Depression.

Coming up in 2006 Giamatti is will star in the films Lady in the Water and Shoot ‘Em Up as well as voice the role of “Stan” in the animation The Ant Bully.