Steve Crosetti | |
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![]() Det. Steven "Steve" Crosetti | |
First appearance | January 31, 1993 (1x01, "Gone for Goode") |
Last appearance | January 27, 1994 (2x04, "A Many Splendored Thing) (HLOTS) February 13, 2000 Homicide: The Movie |
Created by | Tom Fontana |
Portrayed by | Jon Polito |
In-universe information | |
Nickname | (Little Italian) Salami Brain |
Gender | Male |
Title | Detective |
Occupation | Homicide Detective (formerly) |
Spouse | Unnamed (divorced) |
Children | Beatrice (daughter) |
Religion | Catholic |
Nationality | Italian American |
Det. Steven Crosetti is a fictional character on the television drama series Homicide: Life on the Street portrayed by actor Jon Polito for the show's first two seasons. [1] He is believed to be based on Baltimore Police Department Detective Sergeant Terry McLarney, [2] who was a squad supervisor in the BPD homicide unit in David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets ; the character's ancestry was changed from Irish to Italian because Polito got the role. [3]
Crosetti is a veteran police detective who is partnered with Meldrick Lewis. A deeply religious man, Crosetti is shown to have both a scapular and a rosary. In one episode, he recounts an incident several years before when he had been gunned down, hit with at least three rounds. He spent considerable time in recovery, requiring multiple operations.
As evidenced by the teleplay in "Gone for Goode" and later "Rockets' Dead Glare", Crosetti was fascinated and probably obsessed by the Lincoln assassination and rejected the belief that John Wilkes Booth was the lone assassin. In the first episode, he tells Meldrick he was up all night pondering the assassination. In "Rockets' Dead Glare", he is like a little kid when being shown Washington DC sites with any connection to Lincoln or Booth by the FBI Agent played by Ed Lauter.
A dear friend of Crosetti's, a police officer named Chris Thormann, is shot in the head while apprehending a suspect. Thormann survives, but is left blind and deeply depressed. Crosetti tries his best to help him and his wife get through it, and forces himself into the investigation. Eventually, his emotions cloud his judgment and he apprehends the wrong suspect, but Lewis eventually arrests the right one. This storyline was based on the real-life shooting and blinding of BPD Officer Gene Cassidy, and is a major part of the David Simon book which spawned the series.
Crosetti's own marriage had fallen apart sometime before the beginning of the series. He has a teenage daughter, Beatrice, whom Crosetti says "was as close to perfection as God allows." He apparently has at least joint custody. Crosetti is very protective of her, and is appalled that her mother was indifferent to the girl's having a boyfriend over to spend the night.
Crosetti is absent from the squadroom at the beginning of season 3; Lewis mentions that he has gone to Atlantic City on vacation. As weeks go by without any word from him, the detectives begin to complain about his tardiness in returning to work. In the sixth episode of season 3, "Crosetti", Detectives Stanley Bolander and John Munch are called when a body is fished out of the bay. The body turns out to be Crosetti, and the initial evidence suggests a suicide. Lewis refuses to believe that Crosetti would kill himself, especially in light of his faith and his daughter. Lewis does everything he can to get the death classified a homicide, even going as far as to tell Crosetti's friends and neighbors not to give any information to Bolander (the primary detective on the case). He finally accepts the truth when he hears the medical examiner's report, which states that Crosetti had high levels of alcohol, tranquilizers, and antidepressants in his system and died by drowning. Lewis later recalls that before his vacation Crosetti had offered to give a him a childhood possession of his, a valuable vintage yo-yo, and realizes this was possibly a kind of going-away present.
Because his death was a suicide, the department refuses an honor guard at the funeral. Frank Pembleton, unwilling to attend the church funeral after his faith was shaken on a recent case, stands alone in his dress blues on the station house steps, saluting the fallen detective as the procession goes by. Lewis carries a lot of guilt over Crosetti's death, thinking back constantly to see if there had been any hint of Crosetti's suicidal tendencies beforehand. His death also deeply affects the other detectives in the squad (especially during the third season), as the reasons for Crosetti's suicide are never explained. The episode itself mentioned job stress, the divorce, and a possible gambling addiction as possible motives; but never confirmed any specific reason. The actor who played Crosetti, Jon Polito, also expressed a certain discomfort with the character's committing suicide. [4] Because NBC aired some of the Season 3 episodes out of order, a mention of a still living Crosetti appeared after the episode that revealed the suicide. When NBC gave Tom Fontana an ultimatum of "write off Polito or this show will be cancelled", Fontana told Polito he had to do it but would bring him back later in Season 3 once the show was renewed. Polito then gave an interview where he called out Fontana and revealed spoilers on his demise, which led to a permanent estrangement with Fontana and the end of the plan to bring Polito back as a new character. Polito later apologized publicly to Fontana, stating that he didn't know the showrunner well enough at the time to know that he was a man who kept his word, and that he caused the end of his work on H:LOTS by wrongly believing Fontana was lying about the return plan.
Crosetti's final appearance is in the TV movie Homicide: The Movie , which concluded the series. Al Giardello, his shift commander, dies as a result of complications from surgery to save his life after he is shot and seriously wounded. Giardello finds himself in an afterlife version of the homicide squadroom, filled with past murder victims and police officers, and enters the break room to discover Crosetti and fellow detective Beau Felton drinking coffee and playing cards. They invite him to join the game, commenting that he can spend eternity peacefully in this place even though it is not heaven. Giardello takes note of an empty chair and wonders if his son Mike might be the next to die, but Crosetti and Felton urge him not to worry about that or anything else from his life.
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police drama television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit. Created by Paul Attanasio, it ran for seven seasons and 122 episodes on NBC from January 31, 1993, to May 21, 1999, and was succeeded by Homicide: The Movie (2000), which served as the series finale. The series was created by Paul Attanasio and based on David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991). Many of the characters and stories used throughout the show were based on events depicted in the book.
Jon Raymond Polito was an American actor. In a film and television career spanning 35 years, he amassed over 220 credits. His television roles included Detective Steve Crosetti in the first two seasons of Homicide: Life on the Street and Phil Bartoli on the first season of Crime Story. He also appeared in several films including The Rocketeer, The Crow and Gangster Squad, as well as his work with the Coen brothers. He appeared in five of their films, including Miller's Crossing, Barton Fink and The Big Lebowski. Polito also portrayed "hungry i" nightclub impresario Enrico Banducci in a large supporting role in Tim Burton's 2014 film Big Eyes starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz.
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Alphonse Michael 'Gee' Giardello Sr. is a fictional character from the television drama Homicide: Life on the Street. The character was played by Yaphet Kotto. He is based on Baltimore Police Department Shift Lieutenant Gary D'Addario, a member of the BPD homicide unit described in David Simon's book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets which served as the inspiration for the series as a whole. The character also appeared in the Law & Order episode "Baby, It's You".
Meldrick Lewis is a fictional character on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street, played by Clark Johnson. The character is loosely based on Baltimore detective Donald Waltemeyer and appeared in the series for its entire run. Lewis had the very first and last lines of the series.
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"Gone for Goode" is the first episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 31, 1993, immediately following Super Bowl XXVII. The episode was written by series creator Paul Attanasio and directed by executive producer Barry Levinson. "Gone for Goode" introduced regular cast members Daniel Baldwin, Ned Beatty, Richard Belzer, Andre Braugher, Wendy Hughes, Clark Johnson, Yaphet Kotto, Melissa Leo, Jon Polito, and Kyle Secor.
"Ghost of a Chance" is the second episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 3, 1993. The teleplay was written Noel Behn based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana, and the episode was directed by Martin Campbell. In it Bayliss begins his investigation into the murder of 11-year-old Adena Watson, Munch and Bolander investigate the unusual death of an elderly man, and Howard insists she is receiving advice about her murder case from a ghost.
"Son of a Gun" is the third episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 10, 1993. The teleplay was written by James Yoshimura based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana, and the episode was directed by Nick Gomez. In the episode, recurring character Officer Thormann is shot while on duty, and his close friend Crosetti takes the investigation personally.
"A Shot in the Dark" is the fourth episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 24, 1993. The teleplay was written by Jorge Zamacona based on a story by executive producer Tom Fontana, and the episode was directed by Bruce Paltrow. In the episode, Crosetti focuses his investigation into the shooting of Officer Thormann on one suspect, while Lewis continues to investigate. Meanwhile, Pembleton and Bayliss pursue different leads in the murder case of 11-year-old Adena Watson.
"A Dog and Pony Show" is the sixth episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 10, 1993. In the episode, Pembleton and Bayliss investigate the murder of a police dog, Crosetti helps his friend adjust after a serious injury, and Felton and Howard suspect a drug dealer for a brutal murder.
"And the Rockets' Dead Glare" is the seventh episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 17, 1993. In the episode, Howard testifies in a murder trial, Pembleton is offered a promotion, and Lewis and Crosetti go to the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C. to investigate a political refugee's murder.
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 24, 1993. In the episode, Howard and Bayliss attempt to quit smoking, Gee discovers secret asbestos removal in the squad room, and Munch and Bolander investigate the beating death of a 14-year-old boy. The episode was written by James Yoshimura and Tom Fontana, and was directed by Wayne Ewing, who doubled as director of photography.
"Night of the Dead Living" is the ninth episode and first season finale of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on March 31, 1993. In the episode, the homicide squad works the night shift on a summer evening, but no calls come in, leaving the detectives to brood over their personal matters. The teleplay was written by Frank Pugliese based on a story he wrote along with executive producer Tom Fontana. It was directed by Michael Lehmann.
"Law & Disorder" is the 15th episode of the third season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC on February 24, 1995. The episode was written by Bonnie Mark and Julie Martin and directed by John McNaughton. The episode concludes elements of a storyline about the shooting of Beau Felton, Kay Howard, and Stanley Bolander.
"See No Evil" is the second episode of the second season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street, and the eleventh overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on January 13, 1994. In the episode, Felton's friend kills his father in an assisted suicide, and Felton tries to convince Lewis to look the other way. In a subplot, Pembleton investigates what appears to be the police shooting of an unarmed suspect.
"Nearer My God to Thee" is the third season premiere of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street, and the fourteenth overall episode of the series. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on October 14, 1994. In the episode, the homicide department is assigned to the politically volatile murder of a beloved social worker, whose body is found wearing nothing but a pair of white gloves. Meanwhile, Felton struggles with marital problems, while Lewis and Munch try to find a business partner with whom to open a bar.
"Fire" is the season premiere of the fourth season of the American police drama television series Homicide: Life on the Street. It originally aired on NBC on October 20, 1995. The episode was written by Julie Martin and was directed by Tim Hunter. The two-part story centres on Pembleton and Bayliss' investigation into a pair of arson-related homicides, and introduces a new regular character, Arson Squad detective Mike Kellerman, who subsequently transfers to Homicide and partners with Det. Meldrick Lewis. This episode also flagged the permanent departure of regular characters Stanley Bolander and Beau Felton.