Vincent Gallo
Born in Buffalo in 1961, Vincent Gallo moved to New York in 1978, where he began playing in the experimental band Gray with artist Jean Michel Basquiat. After leaving Gray he formed the band Bohack and recorded the avant-garde album It Took Several Wives. During the same period Vincent also became known in New York for his very unusual street performances, which were spontaneously executed in public: The One Armed Man, The Man with No Face and Boy Hit by a Car to name a few. These performances were disturbing and meant to provoke self-reflection and consciousness. Some invited guests could witness his performance's impact on people. One invited guest, the underground filmmaker Eric Mitchell, chose Vincent as the lead in his film The Way It Is (1985) alongside newcomer Steve Buscemi. It was his first appearance in a feature length film, though previously he had directed himself in several short films. From then on, Vincent starred in several major movies, such as Kusturica's Arizona Dream (1993) with Johnny Depp, the cult comedy Palookaville (1995) and the more recent Tetro (2009) by Francis Ford Coppola.
