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Joe Cirillo (born c. 1931 or 1932 in the Bronx, New York) is an American actor, writer, producer, and former New York City Police Department officer whose two-decade law enforcement career opened the door to a film and television acting career spanning the 1970s through the 1990s. He is best known to Ghostbusters fans for portraying the Police Captain in Ghostbusters (1984), the city official who oversees the shutdown of the Ghostbusters' containment unit.
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Cirillo was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. He served in the United States military during the Korean War before returning home and joining the New York City Police Department in the 1950s, beginning a career that would last roughly twenty years.12
While still serving on the NYPD, Cirillo came to the attention of director Mike Nichols, who arranged his first film role in Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather (1972).1 That debut, playing against type as a working actor rather than a technical adviser, set the pattern for the rest of his career: a former cop whose authentic law enforcement background made him uniquely valuable to crime dramas both in front of and behind the camera.
Cirillo joined the production of the CBS crime drama Kojak as a technical adviser, eventually becoming a close collaborator and personal associate of star Telly Savalas. He contributed storylines to the series and worked alongside Savalas on several projects Savalas directed and produced outside of Kojak.1 When Kojak ended in 1978, Cirillo remained in California and was cast as Detective Malfitano in the short-lived NBC police series Eischeid (1979-1980), where he also served as assistant producer and technical adviser alongside lead Joe Don Baker.1
Beyond Ghostbusters, Cirillo appeared in a range of films and television productions throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, frequently cast in law enforcement roles:
He also wrote Maniac II: Mr. Robbie (1986).3
Parallel to his acting, Cirillo founded and ran two security companies, Film World Security and Movie World Security, providing personal and on-set security for major celebrities including Frank Sinatra, Telly Savalas, Tom Hanks, Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Barbra Streisand, and Al Pacino.1 He also worked as a location scout, location manager, and production manager, with credits including NY COP, and directed commercials, TV pilots, and a cooking series. Later he served as executive producer of the faith-based television series You Feed Us and sat on the board of trustees for the Long Island Motion Picture Arts Center and Museum.1
In Ghostbusters (1984), Cirillo portrayed the Police Captain, the city official who appears in the scene where EPA representative Walter Peck arranges for the Ghostbusters' containment unit to be shut down, leading to the mass release of captured ghosts across New York City. The scene was filmed at the former New York Police Headquarters building at 240 Centre Street in Manhattan, a location Cirillo knew firsthand: during his NYPD career he had been on detail at that same building.
The scene appears in Chapter 21 (Out of Biz) and Chapter 22 (Holding Cell) of the film. Cirillo's role may be uncredited in the final release print, though his involvement is documented in production records and on IMDb.4
In his later years Cirillo continued writing and producing through his company Blue Shirt Productions LLC in New York and as a partner and producer at Oroloro Entertainment.1 Around 2021, at approximately ninety years of age, he published his autobiography An Offer I Couldn't Refuse: From the NYPD to Hollywood (ISBN 9798705756902), recounting his progression from Korean War veteran to NYPD officer to Hollywood actor and producer.2 He also published It's Your Time (2003) and a lyrics collection, Lyrics for Composers and Poetry Lovers Too, co-edited with Dennis J. Cirillo.5
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
Oroloro Entertainment, "Joe Cirillo - Partner and Producer." https://www.oroloroentertainment.com/production-team/joe-cirillo/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7
Long Island Herald Community Newspapers, "Officer turned actor shares story in book." https://www.liherald.com/merrick/stories/officer-turned-actor-shares-story-in-book,133626 ↩ ↩2
The Movie Database (TMDB), "Joe Cirillo." https://www.themoviedb.org/person/189816-joe-cirillo ↩
The original GBFans.com wiki entry noted that Cirillo's stunt and acting credits may have been submitted in error or combined; IMDB lists him under actor, writer, and stunts categories. ↩
Goodreads, "Joe Cirillo." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/971070.Joe_Cirillo ↩