Tony Shalhoub

Anthony Marc Shalhoub (/ʃəlˈhuːb/ shəl-HOOB; Arabic: أنتوني مارك شلهوب; born October 9, 1953) is an American actor. He is known for a variety of roles ranging from comedic to dramatic on stage and screen. He has received several accolades including five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Tony Award as well as a nomination for a Grammy Award.

His breakout role was as Antonio Scarpacci on the NBC sitcom Wings from 1991 to 1997. He later starred as Adrian Monk in the USA Network series Monk (2002–2009), winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. For his supporting role as Abe Weissman, a professor turned activist and critic in the Amazon period comedy-drama The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017–2023), he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Shalhoub has starred in films such as Quick Change (1990), Barton Fink (1991), Big Night (1996), Men in Black (1997), Gattaca (1997), Paulie (1998), The Siege (1998), Galaxy Quest (1999), Spy Kids, Thirteen Ghosts, and The Man Who Wasn't There (all 2001). He has voiced roles for the Cars franchise (2006–present), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016) and Rumble (2021).

On stage, he made his Broadway debut in a revival of The Odd Couple (1985). He went on to win the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Tewfiq Zakaria in The Band's Visit (2018). He was Tony-nominated for his performances in the Herb Gardner play Conversations with My Father (1992), the Clifford Odets play Golden Boy (2013), and the James Lapine play Act One (2014).

The ninth of ten children, Shalhoub was born and raised in a Lebanese Christian household in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The family lived on Doty Street, and Shalhoub's mother kept the large family harmonious despite the chaos. Shalhoub described his mother as "funny and nutty" and said she would not allow Shalhoub and his siblings to express anger. Shalhoub attributed his therapy as an adult to that emotional restriction but has stated that it enabled him to play calm and relaxed roles in his career.

His father, Joseph, was from Zahle, Lebanon while it was still part of the Ottoman Empire and immigrated to the United States as a child after his own parents, Milhem and Mariam, died during World War I. After immigrating to America, Joseph became a meat peddler who drove a refrigerated truck.

Joseph married Shalhoub's mother, Helen Seroogy, a Lebanese American. The two met when Joseph was taken in to be raised by her family, when both were young. The Seroogy family operated a candy store that remains a family business. One of Shalhoub's maternal great-great-grandfathers, Abdul Naimy, although Lebanese, was reportedly killed by being crucified in 1895 during the Hamidian massacres committed against Christian Armenians in the Ottoman Empire.

Shalhoub was introduced to acting by an older sister, who put his name forward to be an extra in a high-school production of The King and I. After graduating from Green Bay East High School, he spent a short time at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay before participating in the National Student Exchange to the University of Southern Maine where he later transferred and earned a bachelor's degree. He later went on to earn a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama in 1980.