Pantoliano grew up on welfare in a public housing project in Hoboken, New Jersey. He has described his parents as "bohemian"--his father was a hearse driver with mob ties and his mother was a bookie--who separated when he was a 12-year-old. Reading at a third grade level at age 17, Pantoliano decided that acting was a way out of a life that seemed to be leading to criminal behavior. Because of his comprehension skills, he had to memorize his scenes just to audition but it paid off as his literacy and confidence increased. Pantoliano moved to Manhattan where he waited tables, took acting lessons and built up stage credits.
Pantoliano moved to L.A. in 1976 where he found work in TV sitcoms. He gained attention with his performance in the TV miniseries version of "From Here to Eternity" (NBC, 1979) as Angelo Maggio, the role played by fellow Hoboken native Frank Sinatra in the 1953 film. Pantoliano first registered in features as the comic yet threatening Guido 'The Killer Pimp' in "Risky Business" (1983). He went on to regular work in film and TV in strong supporting roles: the ruthless anti-Communist attorney Roy Cohn in the miniseries "Robert Kennedy and His Times" (CBS, 1987); a bumbling criminal outwitted by kids in both "The Goonies" (1985) and "Baby's Day Out" (1994); John Malkovich's long-suffering sidekick in Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" (1987); and the slippery bail bondsman in "Midnight Run" (1988). Playing a more laudable character than usual, Pantoliano took part in a critical and commercial hit as Cosmo, one of Tommy Lee Jones's marshals, in "The Fugitive" (1993).
Pantoliano has also done several TV guest shots ("Amazing Stories", "L.A. Law"), stints as a recurring character on hit series ("NYPD Blue") and a regular on flops ("The Fanelli Boys"). He returned to TV in the fall of 1996 playing a shady supporting character on the short-lived CBS crime drama series "EZ Streets". Also in 1996, he played a frightening money launderer for the mob in the feature "Bound" opposite Jennifer Tilly as his mistress.
After reprising his role of Deputy Marshal Renfro in the sequel "U.S. Marshals" (1998), Pantoliano had his biggest box-office hit as the traitorous renegade Cypher in the blockbuster "The Matrix" (1999). The busy actor went on to play a seedy character that played off his on-screen persona in the stylish thriller "Memento" (2000) and joined the cast of the popular HBO series "The Sopranos" in 2001, playing the hotheaded, loudmouthed mob lieutenant Ralph Cifaretto, who becomes a major thorn in the side of Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini). Pantoliano's adroit portrayal made Ralph a love-to-hate-him character and at last had audiences connecting that well-known face to a now recognizable name. After his "Sopranos" tenure came to a memorable end in 2002, 'Joey Pants' next essayed Ben Urich, the dogged reporter on the trail of the secret identity of the super hero "Daredevil" (2003), before reprising his previous role as police captain Howard, comic foil to Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the sequel "Bad Boys 2." In that same year, after winning a dramatic supporting actor Emmy for his much-admired work on "The Sopranos," Pantoliano held down a starring role as a FBI agent in the CBS drama series "The Handler."