Tony Spiridakis

Birthday: 1959, Queens, New York, USA

Tony Spiridakis studied acting at the Yale School of Drama. He was a member of Circle In The Square's Professional Workshop, Circle Rep Lab and Uta Hagen's Master Class. He earned his Equity ...Show More

Tony Spiridakis studied acting at the Yale School of Drama. He was a member of Circle In The Square's Professional Workshop, Circle Rep Lab and Uta Hagen's Master Class. He earned his Equity card at the Williamstown Theater Festival, and is proud to have studied with Nikos Psacharopoulos, Geraldine Page, Michael Kahn and Larry Moss. Tony produced and acted in Academy Award/Tony Award winning writer Doug Wright's first play, "Callbacks". He was cast by Steven Bochco to star in the NBC series "Bay City Blues", and roles on "L.A. Law", "Equalizer", and "House", among others. Film roles include "The American Way, "Pacific Heights", "Harem", "Deathwish", "Hometown Boy Makes Good. After working in London with Stanley Kubrick on the film "Full Metal Jacket", Tony sat down and wrote his first screenplay, "Queens Logic" (1991), which he co-produced and starred in with Kevin Bacon, John Malkovich and Jamie Lee Curtis.Tony went on to write screenplays for producers Scott Rudin, Laura Ziskin and Harvey Weinstein, as well as stars Dustin Hoffman, Richard Dreyfuss, Eddie Murphy and Chazz Palminteri. He co-wrote the romantic comedy film "If Lucy Fell", starring Ben Stiller and Sara Jessica Parker, wrote and directed "The Last Word", starring Timothy Hutton and Joe Pantoliano, and directed the 9-11 documentary "Driving to Ground Zero". His thriller "Noise" earned two Special Jury Awards for directing, and "Beyond the Ashes" won several Best Screenplay Awards. The adaptation of his play, "Self Storage", which he co-wrote, produced and directed, was honored at the Montreal Film Festival and sold to the Samuel Goldwyn Company for distribution (released as "Tinseltown".) He co-created the television series, "The Heights", with writer Eric Roth (Forrest Gump.) The show, about a blue-collar rock band on Fox, garnered a Gold Record and the #1 single on Billboard, "How Do You Talk To An Angel." He wrote on the CBS series, "Falcone" (based on the film, "Donnie Brasco") and collaborated with director Antoine Fuqua ("Training Day") on "The Command", a series for TNT. He was mentor at The Hamptons Film Festival's Writers Conference and now teaches at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. He is a father of two, and a member of the WGA, AEA, SAG, and DGA. Hide