Vincent Gallo (/ˈɡɑːloʊ/; born April 11, 1961) is an American actor, director, model, musician, painter and former motorcycle racer. Though he has had minor roles in mainstream films such as Arizona Dream, The Funeral and Palookaville, he is most associated with independent movies, including Buffalo '66, which he wrote, directed, scored and starred in and The Brown Bunny, which he also wrote, directed, produced, starred in and photographed. In the early 2000s, he released several solo recordings on Warp Records.
Vincent Gallo was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Janet, a hairdresser, and Vincenzo Vito Gallo, also a hairdresser and professional gambler. Both of his parents emigrated from Sicily, Italy.
During Gallo's artistic period in the 1980s, when he worked as a musician and painter in New York City, he also began experimenting with film. He made the short film "If You Feel Froggy, Jump" and appeared in the 1981 film Downtown 81 with painter Jean-Michel Basquiat. In 1984, Gallo acted in The Way It Is (1985) by Eric Mitchell, which included actors Steve Buscemi and Rockets Redglare. After starring in the obscure 1989 film Doc's Kingdom, he began acting in small parts in more well-known films such as Goodfellas, The House of the Spirits, and The Perez Family. French director Claire Denis hired Gallo to act in several films such as the short film Keep It for Yourself, the made-for-TV U.S. Go Home, and its follow-up feature Nénette et Boni (1996)."