Background and career
Robert John Davi (born June 26, 1951) is an American actor, singer, and filmmaker. Over the course of his acting career, Davi has performed in more than 130 films. Among his most known roles are opera-singing Jake Fratelli in The Goonies (1985), FBI Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard (1988), James Bond villain Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill (1989), police deputy chief Phil Heinemann in Predator 2 (1990) and strip club manager Al Torres in Showgirls (1995). On television, he portrayed FBI Special Agent Bailey Malone in the NBC television series Profiler (1996–2000). Classically trained as a singer, Davi launched his professional singing career in 2011. His first album, Davi Sings Sinatra – On the Road to Romance, hit No. 6 on the Billboard jazz charts. Praised for his strong baritone voice and vocal interpretations, Davi debuted as a headliner at The Venetian Las Vegas six months after the record was released. In 2016, Davi replaced Jerry Doyle as radio host for a nationally syndicated radio program on Talk Radio Network.
Robert Davi was born on June 26, 1951, in Astoria, Queens, New York, the son of Maria (née Rulli) and Sal Davi. His mother was an Italian American whose family came from Nusco, Avellino, Campania, and his grandfather and father were from Torretta, Palermo, Sicily. His grandfather, Franco, enlisted in the U.S. Army after emigrating and served in World War I. He received an Oak Leaf Cluster for his services. Davi spoke Italian during his childhood. He attended Seton Hall, a Roman Catholic high school in Patchogue, New York. There he studied opera vocals, and became the winner of the New York State School Music Association Solo Competition at the age of fifteen. He has two sisters, Yvonne Davi (deceased), and Michelle Queal. He graduated from Hofstra University, which he attended because of that university's strong drama department as well as its reproduction of Shakespeare's Globe Theater. Davi studied with acting coach Stella Adler when he moved to Manhattan. During this time he was also a member of the Actors Studio, where he studied with Lee Strasberg.
Davi made his television film debut in Contract on Cherry Street, in which he shared the screen with Frank Sinatra. Davi later mentioned Sinatra as an early supporter. He was also the lead in "Terrorist on Trial: The United States vs. Salim Ajami", a performance that received critical praise. In 1989, he had a recurring role on the television series Wiseguy. As for major motion pictures, he has appeared in films including The Goonies, where his role of Jake Fratelli was based upon Davi’s own artistic ideas differing from the original script. He also appearred in Predator 2, Illicit Behavior, Night Trap, The Iceman, Mob Town, Buckle Up, Inside Man, Die Hard, Showgirls, Son of the Pink Panther, and in the Bond film Licence to Kill (1989) as the villain Franz Sanchez, a South American drug lord and murderer. During the 1990s, he played the role of FBI detective Bailey Malone on the television series Profiler. He also starred in comedic films, including the 2002 movies The 4th Tenor and The Hot Chick. The year he also produced and was lead actor in the independent film The Hitters. In 2004, Davi was cast as the antagonist Acastus Kolya in the television series Stargate: Atlantis, a military leader for the enemy group the Genii. In 2014, Davi appeared as Goran Vata in The Expendables 3. In 2015, Davi appeared in a music video for Bob Dylan's recording of "The Night They Called It a Day", from Dylan's album Shadows in the Night, a selection of songs which had been recorded by Frank Sinatra. Rolling Stone suggested that Davi's role in the video may be a nod towards Davi's having made his acting debut alongside Sinatra in the crime film Contract on Cherry Street, and Davi's release of his own album of Sinatra covers. In 2014 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Long Island Film and TV Foundation. In 2015, he interpreted Gabriele Tinti's poetry giving voice to the Boxer at Rest at the Getty Museum. As of 2021, he had acted in more than 160 films and television shows.
Davi is the owner and founder of Sun Lion Films. In 2007, Davi made his directorial debut with The Dukes, a parable regarding the mid-2000 economic crisis and its impact. The film starred Davi himself, Chazz Palminteri, and Peter Bogdanovich. The Dukes was selected for the premiere section at the Rome Film Festival, along with films by Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Penn, Robert Redford, and Sidney Lumet. Davi was the only first-time director in the premiere section. The film was screened internationally and won awards at Queens International Film Festival, WorldFest Houston, Monte-Carlo Comedy Film Festiva and the Festival international du film de comédie de l'Alpe d'Huez. In 2011, David sold an original screenplay entitled The Voice to Atmosphere Entertainment MM. The production company said of Davi’s anticipated role in the film that “The character that he will portray is so impassioned and obsessed with finding the secret to Sinatra’s voice that it brings him to the brink of insanity.”
In 2017, a documentary entitled Davi’s Way, about Davi’s real life performance of Sinatra’s work, was premiered at the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival. Davi directed his third film, My Son Hunter, it was released on September 7, 2022. He was approached in 2021 to direct the film by documentary filmmakers Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney, which focuses on the relationship between Hunter Biden and his father.
In high school, Davi was praised for his singing, and auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera after being awarded first place at the New York State School Music Association's Solo Competition, where he sang Vincent Youman's "Without A Song". He subsequently received classical training with vocal teachers Samuel Margolis and Danial Ferro of Juilliard and Tito Gobbi. Davi damaged his voice and later explained that he was a baritone with the "heart of a tenor and had pushed too hard, too early". Davi began to focus again on singing in 2011, and worked with Gary Catona as he prepared to record his first children's album. With a thirty-piece orchestra, Davi recorded the album at the Capitol Records Building in Hollywood. The album was produced by Phil Ramone, engineered by Dan Wallin, and mixed by Al Schmitt. The album, Davi Sings Sinatra -- On The Road To Romance, was released on October 24, 2011, and garnered positive reviews. Jazztimes called Davi Sings Sinatra "uniformly impressive", and critic Don Heckman wrote in the Orange County Register that "there are, of course, dozens of Sinatra imitators and simulators. But what Davi does is a whole different matter. A tribute? Yes, indeed; all that and more." AllMusic noted that "Davi makes no attempt to copy Sinatra's vocal sound ... Rather, he is his own singer." The album reached the Top 10 on the Billboard jazz charts. In December 2012, Davi appeared along with Roger Cicero in the French/German Arte TV program Durch die Nacht mit … The episode was shot in the Little Italy area of New York City and featured conversation between Cicero and Davi and solos of Sinatra standards by both performers. In December 2013, Davi released a Christmas single, "Mistletoe and Holly", with all proceeds benefiting The Salvation Army. That year he performed tribute concert series for Frank Sinatra at the Venetian Showroom in Las Vegas. During his Sinatra performances, which he has toured with, he has a selection of 300 songs to choose from depending on the audience and mood in the room. He has been called one of the premiere Frank Sinatra cover acts in the United States, with the Huffington Post calling him “A legend in the making” in 2013.
