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There are a lot of distinct voices in Hollywood, but you’ll find few as memorable as Joe Pesci’s. He has a tough guy demeanor and that memorable voice to match, which allowed him to play some of the most notable roles in gangster and mob films. He’s most known for working with director Martin Scorsese during his career, but Pesci has also shown that he’s got comedic and singing chops to round out his resume.

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Pesci was a New Jersey kid through and through, having been born in Newark on February 9, 1943. His parents worked jobs like bartending and haircutting, but Pesci was more interested in the entertainment lifestyle. “My father loved me so much that he did not want me to be a laborer or anything,” Pesci said. “I don’t know if it’s the right thing to do - push your kids into something and then stay on them until they do it. Let them pick what they want to do.”

At just a few years old, Pesci was singing and acting on stage for the first time, and his music really helped to stand out. As a teenager, he was recording music with the likes of Frankie Valli. Pesci’s film debut came as an extra during his later teenage years in the early 1960s with “Hey, Let’s Twist”. Five years later, he made his television debut a musician on “The Lucy Show”, also recording albums during this time with “Little Joe Sure Can Sing!”. It wasn’t until the mid 1970s that Pesci became more involved with acting after having stage shows, and had his first starring spot in 1976’s “The Death Collector”.

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The film helped to establish Pesci’s career as it caught the attention of director Martin Scorsese. He then cast Pesci in the film “Raging Bull” alongside Robert De Niro, and the film ended up being one of the most critically well-received films of all-time. It even earned Pesci his first Oscar nomination in 1981 for Best Supporting Actor. “Scorsese and De Niro taught me to bring out the natural side of myself,” Pesci said of working with the two. “And they taught me to think of myself as the average guy. Sometimes the average guy belongs in a role more than your matinee idol-type of person. We have to have people we can relate to.”

Because of the film’s success, Pesci appeared in several more movies during the early 1980s including “Dear Mr. Wonderful”, “Once Upon a Time in America” and “Easy Money”. Pesci decided to give television a shot during the mid 1980s when he starred on NBC’s “Half Nelson”, but the series lasted for just six episodes before being cancelled. Since then, Pesci’s had just one acting role on television with a guest appearance on “Tales from the Crypt” in the early 1990s. So instead, Pesci returned to the big screen.

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He wrapped up the 1980s with films such as “Man on FIre”, “Moonwalker” and “Lethal Weapon 2”. Then, the beginning of the 1990s marked perhaps the biggest year of his career. Not only did he star in “Betsy’s Wedding”, but Pesci also had starring roles in the massively successful films “Goodfellas” and “Home Alone”, the latter of which spawning a sequel two years later. The former, however, would earn Pesci his second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, this time taking home the title over the likes of Al Pacino and Andy Garcia.

Pesci continued to have big hits in the early 1990s with another “Lethal Weapon” film, as well as “JFK” and “My Cousin Vinny”. The middle of the decade saw Pesci in films like “Casino”, but he was still more focused on comedy, starring in “Gone Fishin’”, “Jimmy Hollywood” and “8 Heads in a Duffel Bag”.

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When the new millennium started, however, Pesci said that he didn’t want the spotlight anymore and wanted to focus on music more than acting. Because of this, Pesci has been mostly retired, but has made the occasional appearance. He had a cameo in the 2006 film “The Good Shepherd” and starred in 2010’s “Love Ranch”. Five years later, Pesci lent his voice to “A Warrior’s Tail”, and will once again work with Martin Scorsese on the highly anticipated film “The Irishman”.

Of all of the actors that have achieved fame, Pesci will be the first one to tell you that he has been fortunate. “There are great actors we’ll never see,” Pesci said. “Just because they haven’t had my luck.” Because of his good luck, though, Pesci has been able to pick roles when he returns to acting. “I love to star in movies, but I want to have good roles,” he said. “It doesn’t help to get starring roles in something that’s no good. I mean, that will just kill you.”

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So what would Pesci have done with his life if he wasn’t such a popular entertainer? “I would have done something else,” he said. “Something more calming, in a different area where I did not have to use my emotions...I’m a bore. I save all my energy for my characters.”

Pesci sticks true to his word, as he now lives back in New Jersey and doesn’t do public appearances or interviews since his retirement. The only time that many of us have really seen him was when Pesci appeared in a Snickers commercial. It makes you wonder how much the candy bar company had to pay the actor to get him to come out of retirement for a 30 second advertisement.