Max Casella (born June 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series The Sopranos, Doogie Howser, M.D., and as the voice of Daxter in the Jak and Daxter video game series.
Casella was born Max Deitch in Washington, D.C., the son of Doris Casella, a social worker, and David Deitch, a newspaper columnist.[1] He is of half Italian and half Jewish descent.[2] He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He attended school with Traci Bingham and Matt Damon.
In 1992, Casella played Racetrack Higgins in the movie Newsies. The movie was based upon true events in the 1899 newsboys strike against Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst. In 1997, Casella played Timon in the Broadway production of The Lion King.
Casella also took part in the musical The Music Man. He played Pvt. Dino Paparelli in Sgt. Bilko. He has been a cast member of the HBO series The Sopranos since its third season, playing the role of Benny Fazio. He is also in the 1999 mob movie Analyze This. In 2007 Casella plays Dick Howser in the ESPN mini-series The Bronx is Burning. He also starred in The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea as a penguin named Tip who is searching for the chance to be a hero, and in Cro, a 1993 cartoon that aired on ABC, as the title character. In 2008, Casella also appeared in the movie Leatherheads as Mack Steiner.
While filming "The Sopranos", Casella, who is only 5'2" tall often had to stand on a box in scenes with his co-stars.
He is married, lives in New York City, and has two children.
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