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David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is an American film and television actor. He is currently known to audiences for his role of Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami. The roller-coaster ride that rocketed red-haired actor David Caruso to fame and fortune on the ABC cop drama "NYPD Blue", then promptly plummeted him to the bottom where, his career in tatters, the phone absolutely refused to ring, has at least started its upwards climb again, this time with a wiser passenger aboard. By his own admission, he did not handle the transition from character actor to superstar well, throwing tantrums on the set, alienating himself from everyone involved, and exiting gracelessly after "Blue" co-creator and executive producer Stephen Bochco called his bluff and refused to meet his excessive demands. The media feeding frenzy that followed may have helped doom his ensuing features at the box office, but the unlikely heartthrob's own lack of big screen star appeal was equally to blame, spelling disaster from the start for the most publicized move from primetime television to movies in recent memory. Caruso was born in Forest Hills, Queens, New York, the son of Joan, a librarian, and Charles Caruso, a magazine and newspaper editor. He is of Italian and Irish descen. and was raised Catholic. Caruso attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs in Forest Hills, Queens, the same primary school attended by Ray Romano and Pia Zadora. He later attended Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, NY, graduating in 1974. In 1987, Caruso was called upon to fill in for the leading role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables on Broadway for 6 months. His first film appearance was in the 1980 film Getting Wasted, in which he played the part of Henry. Caruso then spent the better part of the next decade in supporting roles on the big screen, appearing in such films as An Officer and a Gentleman, Blue City, Thief of Hearts, and China Girl. Caruso also appeared in 1982's First Blood, the very first Rambo film, as one of the sheriff's deputies, Mitch, who is clearly impressed with the fugitive John Rambo's skills. Caruso is also seen in a few scenes in Twins, as a parking lot attendant, with Danny DeVito and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Caruso also appears (with heavy hair dye) as Kit-Kat in "Hudson Hawk" (1991). much humbler Caruso returned to series TV as star and executive producer of the drama series "Michael Hayes" (CBS, 1997-), in which he portrayed a former cop turned US attorney, and has revived a film career that "Kiss of Death" (1995) and "Jade" (1995) essentially killed. In television he had a recurring role as the gang leader of "The Shamrocks" on Hill Street Blues in the early 1980s. He also had a memorable two-episode appearance on the television series Crime Story, which ran from 1986 to 1988 on NBC. Caruso's overnight success was years in the making. The NYC native had fashioned a solid career as a supporting player in film and TV, making his big-screen debut in the silly horror pic "Without Warning" (1980) and a more auspicious small screen debut in the 1950s nostalgia movie "Crazy Times" (1981), which also starred newcomer Ray Liotta. He raised some eyebrows to his talent as the meek recruit who almost drowned in the hit movie "An Officer and a Gentleman" (1982) and as a young deputy who sees the error in Brian Dennehy's ways in "First Blood", he took his first crack at playing a cop. Caruso first teamed with Bochco for the first three episodes of NBC's "Hill Street Blues" (1981), turning in a fine performance as a tough Irish gang leader, which prompted comparisons to James Cagney for both his edginess and carrot top. He began an association with Abel Ferrara on the pilot episode of NBC's "Crime Story" (1986) that would continue with the features "China Girl" (1987) and "The King of New York" (1990), the former as a psychopathic gangster, the latter as a sadistic Irish cop bent on dethroning Christopher Walken. It was his acclaimed portrayal of Robert De Niro's macho partner in John McNaughton's "Mad Dog and Glory" (1993) that convinced the "NYPD Blue" people to hire him as Detective John Kelly. "Blue" put Caruso in the right place at the right time for stardom, casting him as a good guy whose marriage is on the rocks and who sustains a flickering romance with a fellow cop. Urging viewer discretion, the ground-breaking series showcased his butt first (other exposed derrieres like Dennis Franz's would follow), and the soulful, intense Caruso became an instant sex symbol and break-out star of the non-star driven new hit. Perhaps a perfectionism bred during his film career made the adjustment to the grind-it-out quality of series TV difficult, or maybe it was just the show's exhausting schedule (15-hour days requiring Caruso to give his best in the final hour) that wore on him so. After one critically revered season, from which he garnered a Golden Globe Award, the actor asked for a substantial salary increase and other concessions from Bochco, who, following a few weeks of highly publicized negotiations (and nasty personality clashes), replaced him with Jimmy Smits. Strong supporting roles in the crime films King of New York (1990) and Mad Dog and Glory (1992), in which both his characters were cynical streetwise cops, made Hollywood really sit up and take notice. Both films ultimately helped pave the way for his breakthrough starring role on TV. Said breakthrough role came in 1993, when he landed the part of Detective John Kelly on the new series NYPD Blue. After garnering much praise (TV Guide, listed him as one of the six new stars to watch in the '93-'94 season) and award nominations for his work, Caruso made news by leaving the highly-rated show the following year (only four episodes into the second season) to pursue a career in film, but was unable to really establish himself as a leading man movie star despite starring in the crime thrillers Kiss of Death (which was critically well-received but only did so-so financially, 1995) and Jade (1995) (which was panned and flopped outright). In 1997, Caruso returned to television as the star of the short-lived CBS law drama series Michael Hayes, in which he played a Big Apple-based federal prosecutor. It ran for only one season. In the first episode of South Park, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Kyle urges his brother to jump from the open cargo-bay door of a hovering alien spaceship by saying, "Quick, Ike, do your impersonation of David Caruso's career," in reference to his then-lack of success after leaving NYPD Blue. This scene was widely used in promos for the series. Despite some admirers for his first post-"Blue" effort, the remake of the noir classic "Kiss of Death", for which he pocketed a cool $1 million, Caruso was unable to ignite any interest in his big screen career and returned to the small screen in the guise of "Michael Hayes" (CBS, 1997), a federal prosecutor based very loosely on the early career of Rudy Giuliani. He starred opposite Marg Helgenberger in Showtime's "Elmore Leonard's 'Gold Coast'" (1997) and in "Cold Heart", which won John Ridley the Best Director Award at NYC's 1997 Urbanworld Film Festival. Later the same year, he shot "Body Count" with Linda Fiorentino and Forest Whitaker. He contined to work steadily in features, earning particularly good notices for his supporting turn in the drama "Proof of Life" (2000) opposite Rusell Crowe and Meg Ryan. In 2002 Caruso returned once again to network television as Horatio Caine on the CBS television series "CSI: Miami" (2002 -), the first spin-off from producer Jerry Bruckheimer's forensic franchise; the series proved to be a popular addition to the CBS line-up, and Caruso humbly took pains to demonstrate that he had learned his lesson about overinflated egos following the "NYPD Blue" debacle. Caruso returned to the silver screen with a supporting role as Russell Crowe's mercenary sidekick in the movie Proof of Life in 2000. (Although the film was only a moderate success, critics noted Crowe and Caruso's chemistry and banter as veteran soldiers-for-hire.) In 2001, he had a lead role in the horror film Session 9. Since 2002, he has starred as Lt. Horatio Caine in the popular CSI spin-off series CSI: Miami. On CSI: Miami, Caruso is known for frequently using one-liners, many of which include him putting on his sunglasses mid-sentence. A comical compilation has been available on YouTube. Caruso's sunglasses and one-liners are constantly ridiculed on the television program The Soup by host Joel McHale. On an episode of the Late Show with David Letterman that aired on March 8, 2007 comedian Jim Carrey satirically impersonated Caruso. Carrey asked for an “intense close-up” from the camera, spoke in a deep voice and put sunglasses on. Paul Schaffer and the CBS Orchestra played the CSI: Miami theme and Carrey ran off screen. Caruso is a co-owner of Stream, a clothing and furniture store in Miami, Florida. He has a daughter, Greta (born June 1, 1984), with his second wife, Rachel Ticotin. In 1994, (according to court record) ex-girlfriend Paris Papiro filed a palimony suit. Caruso paid an undisclosed sum in early 1995. He and his girlfriend Liza Marquez have two children together: Son, Marquez Anthony (born September 15, 2005), and daughter, Paloma Raquel. |
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