David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956 in Forest Hills, Queens, New York) is an American film and television actor. He is best known to audiences at present for his role as Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the TV series CSI: Miami.
The child of an Italian-American father and an Irish-American mother, Caruso attended elementary and middle school at Our Lady of Mercy in Forest Hills, Queens, the same primary school attended by Ray Romano and Pia Zadora. He later attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens, NY, graduating in 1974.
His first film appearance was in the 1980 film Getting Wasted, in which he played the part of Henry. Caruso then spent the better part of the next decade in supporting roles on the big screen, appearing in such films as An Officer and a Gentleman, First Blood, Blue City, and China Girl.
In television he had a recurring role as the gang leader of "The Shamrocks" on Hill Street Blues in the early 80s. He also had a memorable two-episode appearance on the television series Crime Story, which ran from 1986 to 1988 on NBC.
Strong supporting roles in the crime films King of New York (1990) and Mad Dog and Glory (1992), in which both his characters were cynical streetwise cops, made Hollywood really sit up and take notice. Both films ultimately helped pave the way for his breakthrough starring role on TV.
Said breakthrough role came in 1993, when he landed the part of Detective John Kelly on the new series NYPD Blue. After garnering much praise (TV Guide, to name one example, listed him as one of the six new stars to watch in the '93-'94 season) and award nominations for his work, Caruso made news by leaving the highly-rated show the following year (only four episodes into the second season) to pursue a career in film, but was unable to really establish himself as a leading man movie star despite starring in the crime thrillers Kiss of Death (which was critically well-received but only did so-so financially,1995) and Jade (1995) (which was panned and flopped outright).
In 1997, Caruso returned to television as the star of the short-lived CBS law drama series Michael Hayes, in which he played a Big Apple-based federal prosecutor. It ran for only one season.
He fell out of the spotlight but soon returned to the silver screen with a supporting role as Russell Crowe's mercenary sidekick in the movie Proof of Life in 2000. (Although the film was only a moderate success critics noted Crowe and Caruso's chemistry and banter as veteran soldiers-for-hire.) In 2001 he had a lead role in the horror film Session 9. Since 2002, he has starred as Lt. Horatio Caine in the popular CSI spin-off series CSI: Miami.
Aside from his acting career, Caruso is a co-owner of Steam, a clothing and furniture store in Miami, Florida. He has a daughter, Greta (born June 1, 1984), with his second wife, Rachel Ticotin, and a son, Marquez Anthony (born September 15, 2005), with his girlfriend, Liza Marquez. In 1994 (according to court record) ex-girlfriend Paris Papiro filed a palimony suit. Caruso paid an undisclosed sum in early 1995.[citation needed]
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