That so many of the actors in the Hollywood star system have Italian ancestry is well known. In fact, the migratory movements that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries led millions of Italians, especially in southern Italy, to move to the United States in search of a better life.

So here it is that many of these Italian immigrant families in the decades that followed were fortunate and proud to see their children and grandchildren establish themselves in the world of American cinema. Today there are so many celebrities of Italian descent and some of them have Apulian blood in the veins. We discover some of the best-known personalities who have distant family lineage in Apulia.

Sylvester Stallone

Sylvester Stallone is one of the best-known American actors in the world and has lent his face to such unforgettable characters as the soldier Rambo and the boxer Rocky Balboa. Registered at the registry office as Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, he was born in 1946 in New York City.

Her mother Jackie was a dancer and astrologer, while her father was an Italian hairdresser and beautician born in Gioia del Colle who moved to the United States in the 1930s with his parents, Silvestro Stallone and Pulcheria Nicastri.

Steve Carell

An eclectic performer capable of ranging from comedy to drama, Steve Carell has achieved fame by appearing in such films as A week from God and to TV series, including The Office. Born in Massachusetts, he is the son of a psychiatric nurse and an electrical engineer of Italian descent whose last name was Caroselli.

The family surname was later changed in the 1950s, becoming Carell. In an interview the actor related that his great-grandfather was a butler from Bari who had lived in Naples. In the late 1800s the ancestor had taken a ship with his wife to New Jersey.

John Turturro

John Turturro's father and grandparents also hail from the province of Bari. The American actor and director famous for such films as The Big Lebowski, My Mother and Raging Bull was born to jazz singer Katherine Incerella and Italian carpenter Nicholas Turturro, who had moved to the United States at age 6 from Giovinazzo.

Throughout his long career, Turturro has remained very attached to his Apulian roots, so much so that in 2019 he was awarded honorary citizenship by the City of Giovinazzo and holds Italian citizenship.

Burt Young

Born in Queens, New York, Burt Young is the pseudonym of Gerald "Jerry" Tommaso DeLouise. He became famous for the role of Paulie Pennino in Rocky and for the role of Joe in Sergio Leone's Once Upon a Time in America.

He has taken part in many other films and TV series and has also received an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor. Young is the son of two Italian Americans of Apulian descent. Specifically, his maternal grandparents came from Toritto, a small town in the province of Bari.

Dan Castellaneta

Since the mid-1980s Dan Castellaneta has taken part in many films and television productions, both as an actor and as a voice actor. Some of his major roles include being the American voice of Homer Simpson.

However, he also starred in such successful works as The Pursuit of Happiness, The War of the Roses, and The Fantastic Four. Born and raised in Chicago, his mother was Elsie Lagorio and his father Louis Castellaneta belonged to a Bari family.

Ralph Macchio

Ralph Macchio began his film career in the 1970s, also participating in the TV series The Bradford Family. He officially debuted in 1983 in the film The Boys on 56th Street, but it was not until 1984 that he rose to prominence for playing the boy who in Karate Kid Learns the teachings of Master Miyagi.

He, too, comes from an Italian-American family in that his mother's relatives had emigrated from Giovinazzo and his father's were originally from Toritto.  

Joe Mantegna

Joseph Anthony Mantegna Jr. was born in 1947 in Chicago and is best known for the character of David Rossi in the TV show Criminal Minds. However, he has taken part in such masterpieces as The Godfather - Part III and Woody Allen's Celebrity and has also lent his voice to Italian-American boss Tony Ciccione in The Simpons.

In Joe Mantegna's case, the Apulian roots involve his mother Marianna Novelli, who was from Acquaviva delle Fonti, near Bari. In contrast, his father Joseph Anthony Mantegna was from Calascibetta, in the province of Enna.