18 Amazing Portraits of a Young Steve Buscemi in the 1980s as You’ve Never Seen Him

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.

When Buscemi was 10 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.

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.

Before making his film debut, Buscemi was a regular live performer at the Pyramid Cocktail Lounge and other downtown no wave venues; for many years performing comic skits with Mark Boone Junior. In 1988 they presented as a duo called Buscemi and Boone an evening of original black comedy at La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club that they called In Your Mind, with one extended playlet titled Two Americans in Paris. Prominent solo performances were given in John Jesurun’s Chang in a Void Moon series, as well as appearing in an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Titus Andronicus, directed by Kęstutis Nakas.

Buscemi made his film debut in the 1985 film The Way It Is or Eurydice in the Avenues, directed by Eric Mitchell, which was part of the no wave cinema movement. Other early performances include Parting Glances (1986) as well as an appearance in an episode of the television series Miami Vice in 1986.

In 1989, he appeared in four films, including James Ivory’s comedy Slaves of New York, Howard Brookner’s ensemble period film Bloodhounds of Broadway and the New York Stories segment directed by Martin Scorsese entitled, “Life Lessons” starring alongside Nick Nolte and Rosanna Arquette. The film screened out of competition at the 1989 Cannes Film Festival to mixed reviews with the Scorsese segment being hailed as the standout by Roger Ebert. Buscemi also appeared in Jim Jarmusch’s independent film Mystery Train (1989) as Charlie the Barber, and was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male.

Here, a collection of 18 vintage portraits of a very young Steve Buscemi in the 1980s as you’ve never seen him: