Happy Birthday today October 18th

Vincent Spano

Vincent M. Spano (born October 18, 1962) is an American film, stage and television actor; he is also a film director and producer.

Spano was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Italian-American (Sardinian) parents, Vincent & Theresa.

His career started when he was 14 years old in the Broadway drama, The Shadow Box. He was originally credited as Vincent Stewart because his first agent felt the name Spano was "too ethnic", and he was even instructed to sign autographs using that stage name. At age 16, in respect for his Italian heritage, Spano stopped using he stage name and has used his real name, Spano, ever since,

His debut in The Shadow Box was in 1977, first at the Long Wharf Theatre, in New Haven, Connecticut, and later on Broadway in New York City. Spano's film debut was at the age of 15, in the mystery The Double McGuffin, which he shot in the winter of 1978. Following The Double McGuffin, he shot "Over the Edge" in the summer of 1978.

He subsequently appeared in many Hollywood films, including the romantic-comedy Baby, It's You (1983) and the drama City of Hope (1991), both directed by John Sayles; the drama Rumble Fish (1983), directed by Francis Ford Coppola; the biographical survival drama Alive: The Miracle of the Andes (1993), directed by Frank Marshall; the horror television film The Rats (2002), directed by John Lafia; the drama Over the Edge (1979) and the comedy Creator (1985).

In the adventure film The Black Stallion Returns (1983), Spano appeared as a handsome, young, Arabic rider, Raj, who returns home from university to compete in a major horse race and befriends an American boy, Alec Ramsey (played by Kelly Reno), along the way. He also appeared in the Italian drama film Good Morning, Babylon (1987), written and directed by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani; and the crime drama film Alphabet City (1984). Spano co-starred with Dylan and Cole Sprouse in the comedy film A Modern Twain Story: The Prince and the Pauper (2007). He appeared on ION Television opposite Lou Diamond Phillips in the Western television film Lone Rider (2008). Spano had a recurring role as FBI Agent Dean Porter on the police procedural crime drama television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since its eighth season in 2006.

In the fantasy horror-thriller film, The Prophecy 3: The Ascent (2000), he appeared as Zophael, a handsome angel that was after a young man named Danyeal, a Nephilim, and was after him to take his heart from his body. In the process, he manages to scare Danyeal's girlfriend Maggie into helping him kill Danyeal. Failing, he was killed near the end of the film.

Spano starred in the television drama film Landslide (also known as Buried Alive; 2005) as a fireman trapped in a collapsed building with his son. He has also appeared in Italian projects including the drama television series L'onore e il rispetto – Parte seconda (2009) in the role of the mafia boss Rodolfo di Venanzio, and the film Caldo Criminale (2010) as Police Inspector Lai.

A prolific actor, Spano has starred in numerous television series episodes, television films and theatrical films.