Steve Buscemi

Steven Vincent Buscemi was born on December 13, 1957, in the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, to Dorothy (née Wilson) and John Buscemi. His father was a sanitation worker and served in the Korean War, and his mother was a hostess at Howard Johnson's. Buscemi's paternal ancestors were from the town of Menfi in Sicily, Italy and his mother is of English and Dutch ancestry. He has three brothers: Jon, Ken and Michael. Michael is also an actor, whose most notable role to date was as Officer Jimmy in BlacKkKlansman (2018). Buscemi was raised Catholic.

When Buscemi was ten years old, the family moved from East New York to Valley Stream in Nassau County. Buscemi graduated in 1975 from Valley Stream Central High School along with future writer Edward J. Renehan Jr. and future actress Patricia Charbonneau. In high school, Buscemi wrestled for the varsity squad and participated in the drama troupe. (Buscemi's 1996 film Trees Lounge, in which he starred and served as screenwriter and director, is set in and was largely shot in his childhood village of Valley Stream.) In 1977, Buscemi took the New York City Firefighter’s exam and joined Engine Company 55, fighting fires for four years. Following the September 11 attacks, he temporarily rejoined Engine Company 55 to serve at the site of the World Trade Center.

Buscemi briefly attended Nassau Community College before moving to Manhattan to enroll in the Lee Strasberg Institute.