Law & Order: Criminal Intent : Vincent D'Onofrio

Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio is an actor and producer best known for his riveting portrayal of the intense, almost Sherlock Holmes like Major Case Squad Detective Robert (Bobby) O. Goren on NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

D'Onofrio's Early Life

Born on June 30, 1959, D'Onofrio, along with his sister, Elizabeth, moved around a lot when he was young. He grew up in Florida, Colorado and Hawaii.

In 1977 D'Onofrio graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School in Miami, Florida. For eighteen months, he went to Colorado University then left college to purse his acting career. He was accepted to the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York where he became a full member in 1984 and appeared in several of their productions.

D'Onofrio made his Broadway debut playing Nick Rizzoli in Open Admissions. Before his big break on Broadway, D'Onofrio acted in student films at New York University and worked as a bouncer.

D'Onofrio's Career

D'Onofrio's first major acting role came in 1987 when he played Private Leonard "Gomer Pyle" Lawrence in Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam War classic, "Full Metal Jacket." D'Onofrio also appeared in "Adventures in Babysitting" in the same year, portraying Dawson, the owner of Dawson's garage.

D'Onofrio has a wide variety of film roles to his credit. He played Orson Welles in Tim Burton's "Ed Wood," as well as Farmer Edgar and the evil Bug alien in "Men in Black" opposite Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. He portrayed Abbie Hoffman in "Steal This Movie," a distant future time traveler in "Happy Accidents," and serial killer Carl Stargher in "The Cell."

Dabbling in production, D'Onofrio has produced two films. In 1996, he produced "The Whole Wide World" and "Guy" in 1997. He was the executive producer of "The Velocity of Gary" in 1998 and "Steal This Movie" in 2000. In 2005, D'Onofrio directed the short film "Five Minutes, Mr. Welles."

In 1997, D'Onofrio received a nomination for an Emmy award for his portrayal of victim John Lange in the "Homicide: Life on the Street" episode, "Subway." D'Onofrio was also given a Best Actor award at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November 2005. The award was given to him for his role as Mike Cobb in "Thumbsucker," an independent film.

Appearing on the big screen in 2006, D'Onofrio acted alongside Jennifer Lopez and Vince Vaughn, playing Vaughn's eccentric brother in the film, "The Break Up." Because of some physical similarities, mannerisms and the fact that D'Onofrio and Vaughn share the same first name, some movie fans confuse the two actors.

On the big screen, D'Onofrio's notable appearances include: "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys" opposite Jodie Foster, "The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer, the science fiction thriller "Imposter" with Gary Sinise, "Strange Days," "The Thirteenth Floor," and Oliver Stone's "JFK."

D'Onofrio's Personal Life

In 1992, D'Onofrio's daughter, Leila George D'Onofrio, was born in Australia. Actress Greta Scacchi is Leila's mother. D'Onofrio made several movies with her in the late 1980's and early 1990's, including "The Player" and "Fires Within."

On March 22, 1997 D'Onofrio married Carin van der Donk. Their son, Elias D'Onofrio, was born in 1997. The couple separated in October of 2003 but reconciled and is still married. The D'Onofrio family lives in New York where Law & Order: Criminal Intent is filmed.

D'Onofrio's Health Scare

D'Onofrio collapsed on the set of Law & Order: Criminal Intent on November 10, 2004. A few days later, he once again collapsed at home. He was taken to the hospital where he underwent thorough testing and was diagnosed with exhaustion.

This prompted the producers to cut back on D'Onofrio's workload thus splitting up D'Onofrio's appearances on the show with two new Major Case Squad detectives.