Sam takes on a tough appearance while being shown as an unashamed entrepreneur. Sam will go to any lengths to get wealthy 'whales' to place bets at the Montecito. He also appeared in the music documentary I Go Back Home: Jimmy Scott (2016).Vanessa Marcil portrays the fiery and strong Samantha 'Sam' Marquez, who repeatedly says that she is the best casino host in Las Vegas and who fully inhabits that job. In 1999, he announced his retirement from acting and since then, he appeared only occasionally in films, including a cameo appearance in The Good Shepherd (2006). Pesci returned again as fast-talking con man Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 4 (1998). He was lured back by Scorsese to play another deranged gangster named Nicky (based on real-life hood Tony Spilotro ) in the violent Casino (1995), and starred in the comedies 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997) and Gone Fishin' (1997), although both failed to fire at the box office. Pesci was back again as Leo Getz for Lethal Weapon 3 (1992), and was still a bumbling crook in Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), and had a minor role in the Robert De Niro-directed A Bronx Tale (1993). His comedic talents shone again in the mega-popular Home Alone (1990), and he put in a terrific performance as co-conspirator David Ferrie in JFK (1991). He played opposite Rodney Dangerfield in Easy Money (1983), was with buddy DeNiro again in Once Upon a Time in America (1984), nearly stole the show as con man Leo Getz in Lethal Weapon 2 (1989) and scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar playing the psychotic Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas (1990).

His work in the second film was seen by Robert De Niro, who convinced director Martin Scorsese to cast him as Joey LaMotta in the epic boxing film Raging Bull (1980), which really got him noticed in Hollywood. Pesci's first film role was as an uncredited dancer in Hey, Let's Twist! (1961) and then he had to wait another 15 years for a minor role in The Death Collector (1976). He even joined with his friend Frank Vincent to start a vaudeville-style comedy act, but met with limited success (interestingly, Pesci and Vincent would later go on to co-star in several gangster films together, including Goodfellas (1990) and Casino (1995).

In the mid-1960s, he released a record under the stage name Joe Ritchie titled 'Little Joe Sure Can Sing', and was also playing guitar with several bands, including Joey Dee and The Starliters. Pesci first broke into entertainment as a child actor, and by the mid-1950s, was starring on the series 'Star Time Kids'. Compact Italian-American actor Joe Pesci was born Februin Newark, New Jersey, to Mary (Mesce), a part-time barber, and Angelo Pesci, a bartender and forklift driver.

The cast of casino