Biographie

He filmed Scarface (1983) in Los Angeles, California at the same time as Amadeus (1984) in Prague, Czech Republic, necessitating four round trip flights between the two films.

During a ceremony in Rome, he was awarded the "Premio per gli Italiani nel Mondo". This is a prize distributed by the Marzio Tremaglia Foundation and the Italian government to Italian emigrants and their descendants who have distinguished themselves abroad.

One of his first plays in Los Angeles was a dramatization of a work by Ray Bradbury: "The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit". He and Bradbury remained friends until Bradbury's death on June 5, 2012.

Attended the University of Texas at El Paso and the University of Texas at Austin.

He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and brought up in El Paso, Texas. His father, Fred Abraham, was a Syrian immigrant, of the Antiochian Orthodox faith. His mother, Josephine (Stello) Abraham, was also born in Pennsylvania, to Italian parents.

[from the Star Trek : Insurrection (1998) Special Collector's Edition DVD] If I could do only Star Trek movies for the rest of my career, I would. That's how strongly I feel about this organization. I do not say that lightly.

[on the so-called "Oscar jinx"] The Oscar is the single most important event of my career. I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia. If this is a jinx, I'll take two. Even though I won the Oscar, I can still take the subway in New York, and nobody recognizes me. Some actors might find that disconcerting, but I find it refreshing.

[accepting his Best Actor Oscar, 1985] It would be a lie if I told you I didn't know what to say, because I've been working on this speech for about twenty-five years. But you're not going to hear any of those speeches, because none of the speeches were less than forty-five seconds. You know, it's easy to gamble everything when you've got nothing to lose, and Milos Forman had a great deal to lose when he gave these brilliant roles to Tom Hulce and me, and his courage became my inspiration. There's only one thing that's missing for me tonight, and that's to have Tom Hulce standing by my side.

[announcing Geraldine Page as the winner of the Best Actress Oscar, 1986] I consider this woman the greatest actress in the English language.

You keep getting offered the same role you got the Oscar for. Every time you complain, they don't change the script; they just offer you more money. For the first 15 years of my career, I was only doing comedy - all comedy - and as soon as Salieri happened, I was offered all sinister villains.