Richard Grieco Movies
American actor Richard Grieco has played leading and supporting roles on television and in features. TV fans will quickly remember him from the sibling '80s police series 21 Jump Street and Booker, in which Grieco played bad-boy detective Dennis Booker. Born in Watertown, NY, the darkly handsome actor's interest in performing began in high school where he was also active in sports, such as lacrosse, hockey, and football. He was so good at the latter sport that he was recruited to play for Central Connecticut University as a linebacker and fullback. Grieco left the school after two years and by the mid-'80s had established himself as a male model for the Elite Agency in New York. After modeling for such major clients as Calvin Klein, Chanel, and Armani for a while, Grieco spent two years studying acting with Alice Spieack, Warren Robertson, and Wally Strauss. He landed the role of Rick Gardner on the ABC daytime soap One Life to Live in 1985 and remained with the show through 1987, the year he moved to Los Angeles and began working as a guest star on such television shows as Who's the Boss? and The Bronx Zoo. In 1988, after a successful guest appearance, Grieco joined the cast of the Fox Network's 21 Jump Street. A year later, he starred in the spin-off, Booker, which ran until 1990. Though the series didn't last long on network television, it had success in syndication. Grieco made his feature-film debut playing Bugsy Siegel in Mobsters (1991), and in If Looks Could Kill. Since then, Grieco has built a solid career appearing in features ranging from Tomcat: Dangerous Desires (1993) to The Demolitionist (1995). In 1995, Grieco also worked in another short-lived television series, Marker. In addition to acting, Grieco has found success as a singer, a side career he launched in 1994. He started out with the Dunmore Band, and after gaining a large following among Los Angeles club hoppers, signed a record contract with a German label and released the CD Waiting for the Sky to Fall, which became a smash hit in Europe. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1987
Premiering April 12, 1987, 21 Jump Street was the Fox Network's first attempt at an action-adventure series. Essentially an updated Mod Squad, the series concerned the exploits of a group of young-looking cops, working undercover as high school students. In the 2-hour opening episode, officer Tom Hanson expresses discomfort at having to be a teenager again; evidently his earlier life was none too pleasant. Jeff Yagher played Hanson in the premiere; he was replaced in all subsequent episodes by star-in-the-making Johnny Depp. Other regulars include Holly Robinson as Judy Hoff, Dustin Nguyen as Ioki, and Peter DeLuise (Dom's son) as Penhall. Frederic Forrest is also on hand as the obligatory authority figure-himself an unreconstructed flower child. 21 Jump Street remained a Fox network fixture until September 17, 1990; an addition season's worth of episodes were filmed in Vancouver for first-run syndication. Trivia note: the series' original title was Jump Street Chapel, but this was changed lest viewers mistaken the program for a religious weekly. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Johnny Depp and the rest of the familiar cast of regulars report for duty as 21 Jump Street enters its third season. As before, Depp plays Officer Tom Hanson, one of a team of youthful LAPD undercover cops who pose as teenagers in order to bust adult wrongdoers. Newcomers to the series include Yvette Nipar as Tom's girlfriend, Jackie Garrett, who works in the DA's office; and Dennis Booker as Tom's new partner, Officer Dennis Booker (not surprisingly, Tom and Dennis don't get along at first, especially since Tom suspects Dennis -- wrongly, as it turns out -- of being a serial rapist). Other recurring characters during season three include Clavo (Tony Dakota), the orphaned nephew of Tom's co-worker Doug Penhall (Peter DeLuise); Doug's live-in girlfriend, Dorothy (Gina Nemo), who dumps him mid-season; and Blowfish (Sal Jenco), Jump Street's clumsy maintenance worker. Guest stars this season include Dom DeLuise, father of series regular Peter DeLuise; Mario Van Peebles, cast as an aspiring dancer; and Bridget Fonda, playing a homeless teen. Season three of 21 Jump Street concludes with the two-parter "Loc'd Out," in which an outraged Tom Hanson seeks personal vengeance against the punks who seriously wounded his fellow officer Ioki (Dustin Nguyen). ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Johnny Depp, Peter DeLuise, (more)
This comedy extends and embellishes characters introduced on Saturday Night Live by regulars Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan in their sketch series of two head-bobbing losers who go on the town, looking for action, when they hear the What Is Love? disco tune. Looking cool, brothers Steve (Ferrell) and Doug Butabi (Kattan) always fail to pick up women in their hapless nightclub jaunts. In Beverly Hills, they work at a fake-flower store run by their father (Dan Hedaya). They are always denied entrance to the Roxbury, a leading discotheque, but an auto accident with Richard Grieco (portraying himself) gives them a foot in the door. Inside, they meet the club's owner (an uncredited Chazz Palminteri), and two gold-diggers (Elisa Donovan, Gigi Rice) believe they are wealthy businessmen. Steve finds his father shoving him into marriage with next-door neighbor Emily (Molly Shannon), but Doug keeps this from happening. Fortune smiles, and the Butabi brothers become the co-owners of a new nightclub. The real-life Roxbury on the Sunset Strip (once the location of the Imperial Gardens and the Players Club) was converted into a Japanese restaurant by the time this film was released. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Will Ferrell, Chris Kattan, (more)
- 1995
After a car wreck claims the life of her beloved husband, socialite Rachel Waring finds solace in the arms of a handsome free-lance photographer. Warmed by his apparent sensitivity, Rachel falls in love and marries him. Unfortunately, they are no sooner on their honeymoon, when things start going awry, beginning with his seemingly innocent request that she pose for a few bondage photos. The poor acquiescent bride has no idea that these photos will constitute an elaborate scam to extort money from her wealthy father. When Rachel learns the truth, the situation becomes deadly. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
A policeman with personal problems finds himself an unexpected hero, making him the target of a psychotic killer in this action thriller. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Nick Mancuso, (more)
Ray (Richard Grieco) and Annette (Maria Conchita Alonso) are a pair of confidence artists in this complex thriller. Ray and Annette are looking for a big score, and they believe they've found one when they encounter a woman who has inherited a large amount of money following a death in the family. Ray and Annette are cooking up a scheme to get their hands on some of the cash, but while she's willing to share, he wants to keep it all for his own purposes. Ray's attempts to keep the money away from Annette and keep her out of the picture lead to an ugly confrontation. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Christopher Plummer, (more)
When lovelorn groom Danny's (Wil Wheaton) wife suffers a tragic death on the couple's wedding day, the arrival of a mysterious book places his entire future in jeopardy in this supernatural drama from filmmaker Harry Ambrose. Shortly after Danny's wife's untimely death, a mysterious courier named Jonah (Isaac Hayes) bestows the grief-stricken groom with a book that features a list of names followed by corresponding death dates. Now faced with the decision of using the book for his own financial gain or helping to protect his loved ones from their own fate at the risk of having years shaved off of his own life, Danny must make an important decision as to how to handle the otherworldly information with which he has been entrusted. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wil Wheaton, Maureen Flannigan, (more)
- 1996
Here's something new in the annals of made-for-cable movies: a dysfunctional family of three in outer space. Coming across a derelict spaceship, Foster Carver (Corbin Bernsen), his wife, Katrina (Lara Harris), and their daughter, Amy (Brittany Ashton Holmes), rescue the vessel's sole survivor, a handsome fellow named Adam (Richard Grieco). It soon develops that everyone else on the derelict ship has been murdered, and that Adam is an android who has been programmed without morals or conscience -- as proven when Adam brazenly sets about to seduce Katrina and wipe out the rest of her family. An extraterrestrial variation on the old theatrical feature Dead Calm, Inhumanoid originally aired July 23, 1996, as part of the Showtime channel's "Roger Corman Presents" series. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Lara Harris, (more)
The thriller Dead Easy stars Richard Grieco and Joanna Pacula as a married couple who are soon to face a series of difficult problems. The two engage in an escalating series of infidelities and mind games that could very well lead to their mutual destruction. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Joanna Pacula, (more)
- 2000
In this thriller, Frank (Richard Grieco) is a career criminal who gets his girlfriend Macy (Brigette Bako) involved in a high-stakes robbery. Frank proves there's no honor among thieves when he double-crosses Macy after she's severely injured during the robbery, taking her share of the loot and leaving her for dead. But Macy makes an unexpected recovery, and she sets out to get revenge against Frank, as well as her share of the money. Also screened under the title Sweet Revenge, Die! Die! Die! also stars Greg Evigan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Brigitte Bako, (more)
- 2003
- R
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A group of American university students looking to leave the hectic pace of city life behind and study the ancient rituals of the Druids are stalked by a bloodthirsty clan of cannibals in this horror film featuring porno legends Jenna Jameson, Ginger Lynn Allen, and Chasey Lain. Shortly after a vacationing American couple is brutally murdered in the same area, a group of college students arrive to study quietly in a cabin comfortably nestled deep in the serene forest. The perceived serenity couldn't be more deceptive, however, and when the descendants of an incestuous family of flesh-eaters learn that there is some fresh meat out in the woods, they descend upon the cabin for a fest fit for a cannibalistic king. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jenna Jameson, Bobbie Phillips, (more)
Disgraced ex-cop Joey Randall (Richard Grieco) is framed for the murder of Sharon Moreno (Priscilla Barnes), who happens to be the unfaithful wife of the police chief, George (John Saxon). Randall had the opportunity to kill her, and perhaps a motive as well since he was having a hot affair with her before her death. Moreno dispatches corrupt police captain James (Martin Kove) to avenge her death -- that is, to kill Randall -- but Randall is innocent. The hot-headed Randall has to focus himself to find a way to prove his innocence, confirm the guilty parties, and avenge Sharon's death. This isn't going to be easy with the entire police force looking to bring him back dead or alive. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Burt Reynolds, Robert Loggia, and Charles Durning star in this crime comedy following three retired war veterans who stumble upon $4million in stolen mob money and quickly find themselves targeted by both the Mafia and the Feds. Sam (Reynolds), Carl (Loggia), and Eddie (Durning) have all managed to survive their turbulent tours of duty, and now all they want is to settle down and enjoy their retirement in the desert paradise of Sunrise Park - located just outside of Phoenix, AZ. Up until now, the biggest concern for these three friends was who would wind up winning the affections of their sultry neighbor, a former Las Vegas showgirl named Christine (Raquel Welch). The stakes get more than a little higher, however, when the Witness Protection Program drops mob-informant Angelo Nitti in their midst. Having recently turned evidence on some of the most dangerous underworld heavies around, Angelo has been given a new name and a new home in Sunrise Park. But despite the fact that he's come clean about his criminal life, Angelo still harbors a whopper of a secret: He's quietly stashed $4million in stolen mob money, and he's planning on spending the rest of his days in style. His plan hits a hitch, however, when his three neighbors discover the loot and head out on a wild spending spree. Now, as Angelo's secret spreads among both the underworld and the authorities, unsuspecting trio Sam, Carl, and Eddie soon find themselves pursued by trigger-happy treasure hunters on both sides of the law. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Burt Reynolds, Raquel Welch, (more)
In this tale of terror, Kelly Jones (Angie Everhart) is a police detective whose latest assignment hits close to home when her partner disappears under mysterious circumstances. Kelly's partner was last seen near the Garden of Eden Nursery, operated by Ben Carter (Malcolm McDowell), a brilliant but reclusive horticulturist, and as Kelly tries to find out more about Ben and what he might have seen, she begins to think that he may have a few secrets more sinister than how to get rid of crabgrass. Also screened under the title The Gardener, Garden of Evil also features Olivia Hussey and Richard Grieco. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Malcolm McDowell, Angie Everhart, (more)
A man bent on delivering his own brand of justice isn't sure who his friends and enemies really are in this thriller based on a novel by Harold Robbins. Ty Kinnick (Richard Grieco) is a United States Naval officer stationed in Hong Kong, whose good friend, J.J. Kemp (Will Foster Stewart), has fallen in with a dangerous crowd. Ty finds out just how deep J.J. has gotten in with the criminal element when J.J. uses Ty as a fall guy for a scam that leads to murder and the theft of a fortune in stolen cocaine. Ty finds himself serving a long term in a barbaric prison, but when control of Hong Kong is handed back to the Chinese, Ty is one of a number of prisoners released early as a goodwill gesture. Ty cut off contact with his wife, Rachel (Athena Massey), when he became convinced she was in cahoots with J.J., but when he returns home to California, Rachel finds Ty and tells him J.J. is still after him, and will kill him as soon as he can find him. Ty is eager to get revenge against his former friend, and takes Rachel up on her suggestion that he fly to the Philippines and murder J.J. Little does Ty know that he's fallen into another trap, but this time, Inez (Joyce Jimenez), a hooker working for J.J., is able to tip Ty off about what lies in wait for him, and together they develop a scheme to take down J.J. once and for all. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Athena Massey, (more)
- 1997
- R
Yasmine Bleeth stars in this drama about a woman looking for a way out of her dead-end existence. Six years after she ran away from her home in Utah, Rachel (Bleeth) is living in Las Vegas, where she gets by as an exotic dancer and occasional prostitute. Rachel lives in a fantasy world as a way of distancing herself from her bleak surroundings, and she imagines that a Prince Charming will one day rescue her from her fallen world. Rachel thinks that her prince may have finally arrived when she meets Navy (Richard Grieco), a gigolo who has tired of his humiliating life in the sex industry. Navy is fond of Rachel, and when he decides to leave male prostitution behind and move to Montana to start a new life, she eagerly joins him. However, along the way she persuades him to make a stop in Utah so that she can check in with her family. Rachel and Navy discover that it's difficult to hide their respective pasts from Rachel's straight laced family and that they're out of step with life in small town America; Navy also finds himself attracted to Rachel's sister Lilli (Monica Potter), which leads a heartbroken Rachel to strike out on her own. Heaven or Vegas also features Sarah Schaub and Andy Romano. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1991
- PG13
Television flavor-of-the-month Richard Grieco made his feature-film debut in this juvenile spoof of James Bond films. He plays a high-school senior named Michael Corben who has flunked out of his French class, but has the chance to make up his grade on the French Club's summer trip to Europe. On the airplane booked to transport the French Club to France is another man by the name of Michael Corben, and this man happens to be a super-spy. When he is killed, the hapless high-school senior is mistaken for the real spy by British intelligence. He becomes involved in a mad plot by Augustus Steranko (Roger Rees) in which Steranko and his evil assistant Ilsa Grunt (Linda Hunt) plan to dominate the European continent by converting the gold standard to coins that will bear Steranko's likeness. Corben goes along with it when he is provided with a red sports car, a tuxedo, and some high-tech weapons. Along with all the spy accouterments, he latches onto a sexy helper -- Mariska (Gabrielle Anwar). ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Linda Hunt, (more)
- 1995
When her daughter's lover begins exhibiting signs of becoming a dangerous abuser, a mother attempts to intervene. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Ann Jillian, (more)
- 1997
Richard Grieco, Jamie Pressly, and Mario Lopez star in this science-fiction adventure in which the tyrannical leader of a military installation in outer space is challenged singe-handedly by a brave espionage agent. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Mario Lopez, (more)
In this fictionalized account based on true figures, a foursome of young thugs decides to team up and take control of New York's east side from the aging bosses who control it. Bugsy Siegel (Richard Grieco) and Frank Costello (Costas Mandylor) control the physical elements of the operation, while Lucky Luciano (Christian Slater) and Meyer Lansky (Patrick Dempsey) bring up the business end. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Christian Slater, Patrick Dempsey, (more)
- 1997
- R
An ambitious prostitute displays a keen grasp on the concept of supply and demand when she helps a low-level office guy win a high paying job, so he'll become a regular customer. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Richard Grieco, Christopher Atkins, (more)
- 2004
Something of a Ghostbusters without the laughs (or the high-end special effects), the direct-to-video thriller Phantom Force involves a prehistoric rock which holds the power to revive ancient demons. Long buried in the ocean, the rock is found by the crew of a nuclear submarine--which is immediately demonized and transformed into a floating weapon of mass destruction. Counter-terrorism expert and part-time psychic Mark Dupree (Richard Grieco) and his crack Phantom Force team are summoned to save the day, and the world. Dupree and company end up duking it out with malevolent spirits in an alternate dimension. Rated "R" on home video, Phantom Force nonetheless looked like the pilot for an unsold TV series, and as such was perfect fare for cable's Sci-Fi Channel, where it made its premiere on March 27, 2004. (Incidentally, director Christian McIntire tried but failed to have his name removed from the credits. Take heed). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
