David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is a retired American actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

NYPD Blue ''NYPD Blue'' is an American police procedural television series set in New York City, exploring the struggles of the fictional 15th Precinct detective squad in Manhattan. Each episode typically intertwines several plots involving an ensemble c ...

'' (1993–94) and

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often sub ...

Horatio Caine Horatio Caine is a fictional character and the protagonist of the American crime drama ''CSI: Miami'', portrayed by David Caruso from 2002 to 2012. He is the head of the crime lab, under the rank of Lieutenant of the Miami-Dade Police Department ...

on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

series ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

'' (2002–2012). He appears in the feature films '' An Officer and a Gentleman'', '' First Blood'' (both 1982), ''

Twins Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

'' (1988), '' Kiss of Death'' (1995) and ''

Proof of Life ''Proof of Life'' is a 2000 American action thriller film directed and produced by Taylor Hackford. The title refers to a phrase commonly used to indicate proof that a kidnap victim is still alive. The film's screenplay was written by Tony Gilr ...

'' (2000).

Early life

Caruso was born in Forest Hills,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York, New York, the son of Joan, a

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

, and Charles Caruso, a magazine and

newspaper editor An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

. He is of

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. His father left the family when David was two years old, resulting in him to "end up fathering myself". Raised as a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Caruso attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Catholic School in Forest Hills, then

Archbishop Molloy High School Archbishop Molloy High School (also called Molloy, Archbishop Molloy, or AMHS) is a co-educational, college preparatory, Catholic school for grades 9-12, located on on 83-53 Manton Street, Briarwood, Queens, New York. It is part of the Roman C ...

in nearby Briarwood, graduating in 1974. Caruso worked as a cinema usher, where he would see up to 80 movies a week. He said that he and his co-workers would act out scenes from some of these movies while they were at the back of the theater. In this job he found his role models in Humphrey Bogart,

James Cagney James Francis Cagney Jr. (; July 17, 1899March 30, 1986) was an American actor, dancer and film director. On stage and in film, Cagney was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. He ...

and Edward G. Robinson. He said:

"The ethics of certain actors certainly had a power over me. These guys taught me how to be what I consider the real scum of the earth."

Career

1980s

Caruso's first movie appearance was in the 1980 film ''Getting Wasted'' as Danny. He credits his role as Topper Daniels, "the cadet who nearly drowned", in '' An Officer and a Gentleman'' (1982) as what got him noticed. Brady, James
"In Step With David Caruso (TV and film actor)"
, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'', March 6, 2005. accessed June 2, 2009. Caruso then spent most of the decade in supporting roles in films including '' First Blood'' (1982), '' Blue City'' (1986), ''

China Girl China Girl may refer to: Music *China Girl (song), "China Girl" (song), a 1977 song by David Bowie and Iggy Pop, rerecorded and released as a single by Bowie in 1983 *"China Girl", a song by John Cougar, released in 1982 on the album ''American Foo ...

'' (1987) and ''

'' (1988). On television, Caruso had a recurring role as Tommy Mann, leader of the street gang The Shamrocks, in seven episodes of the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

police drama series ''

Hill Street Blues ''Hill Street Blues'' is an American serial police procedural television series that aired on NBC in prime-time from January 15, 1981, to May 12, 1987, for 146 episodes. The show chronicles the lives of the staff of a single police station loca ...

'' (1981–83). He portrayed

U.S. Olympian United States of America (USA) has sent athletes to every celebration of the modern era Olympic Games, except for the 1980 Summer Olympics, during which it led a boycott to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. American athletes have won ...

James Brendan Connolly James Brendan Bennet "Jamie" Connolly ( ga, Séamas Breandán Ó Conghaile, October 28, 1868 – January 20, 1957) was an American athlete and author. In 1896, he was the first modern Olympic champion. Early life Connolly was born to p ...

in the 1984

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

, '' The First Olympics: Athens 1896'', and also appeared in two episodes of the series '' Crime Story''. Caruso featured in the

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

for the song "

Voyage, voyage "Voyage, voyage" () is a song by French singer Desireless, released as the first single from her debut studio album, ''François (album), François'' (1989). It was written by Jean-Michel Rivat and Dominique Dubois, and produced by the former. S ...

" by the French singer

Desireless Claudie Fritsch-Mentrop (born 25 December 1952), known by her stage name Desireless (), is a French singer. Between 1986 and 1988, her hit single " Voyage, voyage" made it to number one on many European and Asian single charts. According to ...

, released in 1986.

1990s

Caruso had supporting roles as police officers in the crime films ''

King of New York ''King of New York'' is a 1990 neo-noir gangster film directed by Abel Ferrara and written by Nicholas St. John. It stars Christopher Walken as a New York City drug kingpin rebuilding his criminal empire after his release from prison, while al ...

'' (1990) and ''

Mad Dog and Glory ''Mad Dog and Glory'' is a 1993 American crime comedy-drama film directed by John McNaughton and starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, and Bill Murray, and supporting roles from well known actors Richard Belzer and David Caruso as De Niro's par ...

'' (1993). While filming 1991's ''

Hudson Hawk ''Hudson Hawk'' is a 1991 American action comedy film directed by Michael Lehmann. Bruce Willis stars in the title role and also co-wrote both the story and the theme song. Danny Aiello, Andie MacDowell, James Coburn, David Caruso, Lorraine To ...

'', he employed

method acting Method acting, informally known as The Method, is a range of training and rehearsal techniques, as formulated by a number of different theatre practitioners, that seeks to encourage sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, u ...

, refusing to talk to anyone on set because his character, Kit-Kat, was mute, having had his tongue bitten off. In 1993, Caruso landed his first major role as Detective John Kelly in the

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

series ''

'', for which he won a

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

. ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or t ...

'' named him as one of the six new stars to watch in the 1993–1994 season. He made news by leaving the highly rated show the following year (only four episodes into the second season) after failing to obtain the raise he wanted. His decision to leave the series would later be listed in a 2010 issue of ''TV Guide'' as #6 on a list of TV's 10 biggest "blunders". He was unable to establish himself as a leading man in films. His appearances in the 1995 thrillers '' Kiss of Death'' and ''

Jade Jade is a mineral used as jewellery or for ornaments. It is typically green, although may be yellow or white. Jade can refer to either of two different silicate minerals: nephrite (a silicate of calcium and magnesium in the amphibole group of ...

'' were met with a negative reception from critics, with both films receiving mixed reviews and poor box-office takings, and Caruso was nominated for the

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst New Star The Razzie Award for Worst New Star was an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst new actor or actress of the previous year. History From 1982 to 1989 and again from 1991 to 1999. The category has since been discontinu ...

for these two roles. In 1997, Caruso returned to television as a

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

-based federal prosecutor in the short-lived

law drama series '' Michael Hayes'', which aired for one season.

2000s

Caruso returned to film with a supporting role as

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

's mercenary associate in ''

'' (2000). In 2001, he had a lead role in the cult

psychological horror Psychological horror is a genre, subgenre of horror fiction, horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and Mental state, psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequent ...

film ''

Session 9 ''Session 9'' is a 2001 American psychological horror film directed by Brad Anderson and written by Anderson and Stephen Gevedon. The film stars David Caruso, Peter Mullan, Brendan Sexton III, Josh Lucas, and Gevedon as an asbestos abatement cre ...

'', directed by Brad Anderson. Dave Kehr, writing in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', praises his performance, stating that "it is good to see David Caruso back in action, with a little more technique and a little less ego." David Caruso waiting

In 2002, Caruso returned to television in his first successful role since ''NYPD Blue'', starring as police Lieutenant

in the '' CSI'' spin-off series ''

''. He was the first actor in the franchise to appear as the same character on three of the four '' CSI'' programs. He was known for frequently using one-liners at the beginning of each episode. Many of these include him putting on his trademark sunglasses mid-sentence, then walking off-screen just as the main theme starts. On an episode of the ''

Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

'' that aired on March 8, 2007, actor and comedian

Jim Carrey James Eugene Carrey (; born January 17, 1962) is a Canadian-American actor, comedian and artist. Known for his energetic slapstick performances, Carrey first gained recognition in 1990, after landing a role in the American sketch comedy te ...

professed to being a fan of the show and went on to do an impersonation of Caruso, asking for an "intense close-up" from the camera, speaking in a raspy voice and putting on sunglasses. Caruso later said in an interview with

that he was impressed with the impersonation. In 2012, ''CSI: Miami'' was cancelled after 10 seasons due to a decline in ratings and the climbing cost of production. Caruso was the only actor to appear in all 232 episodes of the series.

After acting

After ''CSI: Miami'', Caruso quietly retired from acting and became involved in the art business. Caruso is founder of DavidCarusoTelevision.tv and LexiconDigital.tv. He is co-owner of Steam on Sunset, a clothing store in South Miami.

Personal life

Caruso has a daughter, Greta, with his second wife, actress

Rachel Ticotin Rachel Ticotin Strauss is an American film and television actress. She has appeared in films such as '' Fort Apache, The Bronx''; '' Total Recall'', '' Falling Down'', and ''Con Air''. She has appeared in the NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: LA'' ...

. He and former girlfriend Liza Marquez have two children together: a son Marquez and a daughter Paloma. In April 2009, Marquez filed papers against Caruso for fraud, breach of their settlement agreement and emotional distress. In March 2009, a woman was placed in custody in

Tyrol Tyrol (; historically the Tyrole; de-AT, Tirol ; it, Tirolo) is a historical region in the Alps - in Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Emp ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, on charges of

stalking Stalking is unwanted and/or repeated surveillance by an individual or group toward another person. Stalking behaviors are interrelated to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person or monitoring them. The ter ...

Caruso. She had twice failed to appear in court to answer the charges before fleeing to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Following her deportation from Mexico, Austrian officials took her into custody to await trial on the stalking charges.

Awards and nominations

In 1994, Caruso won a

for his John Kelly role on ''

'' for which he was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. In 2001, he was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actor – Suspense for his role as Dino in the film ''

''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
David Caruso Bio at CBS - CSI: Miami
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caruso, David 1956 births Male actors from New York City American male film actors American businesspeople American people of Irish descent American people of Italian descent American male television actors Archbishop Molloy High School alumni Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Living people People from Forest Hills, Queens 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors