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Actor/director Joe Mantello is best known for his work on the New York stage, both on and off Broadway, but he has also occasionally tarried with feature films and television. Born and raised in Rockford, IL, Mantello studied at the Carolina School of the Arts. Upon graduating, he and classmates actress Mary-Louise Parker and writer Peter Hedges founded the short-lived Edge Theater in New York City. In 1989, Mantello joined the prestigious Circle Repertory Company as an actor and a director. That year, he made his feature film debut with a small role in Susan Seidelman's Cookie. Mantello is known as a versatile and talented actor and won a Drama Desk Award and a Tony nomination for his work in Tony Kushner's Angels in America. But despite the accolades and his ability, Mantello has found good roles hard to come by and, therefore, has not appeared all that often on Broadway. He has occasionally appeared on such quality television dramas as Law & Order and Sisters. As a director, Mantello has staged a variety of productions, but is best known for directing Terrence McNally's esteemed Love! Valour! Compassion!, a moving chronicle of eight gay men who gather on weekends at a lovely summer cottage. Mantello directed the play off and on Broadway, as well as the 1997 feature film version.