Robert Davi was born to parents he described as "the expressive restaurant type." As a youth he crooned arias in the streets of Queens and when a nun took notice of his voice, she told his parents that he must sing. He studied in Florence, Italy with Tito Gobi and made his performing debut at 19 with the Lyric Opera Company of Long Island.
      Robert's fondness for the cinema drew him to acting. Upon graduating from high school, he earned a drama scholarship to Hofstra University. While at Hofstra he appeared onstage and gave more than 400 performances in works ranging from Brecht to Shakespeare. He left after 3 years and later studied under the noted Stella Adler and at the prestigious Actor's Studio. He later studied with the legendary Lee Strasberg, and under the tutleage of Sandra Seacat, Milton Katselas, Eric Morris, and Martin Landau, among others.
      Robert's professional acting career began with a role in the 1977 telefilm "Contract on Cherry Street" which starred Frank Sinatra. Davi won the part by sneaking into Columbia Pictures' Manhattan offices and brazeningly introducing himself to the producers.
      Robert later relocated to California and appeared in several telefilms, usually playing thugs and hoodlums. In films, Robert often played the same type of roles he played on television, starting off with Richard Bemjamin's "City Heat". Later, he got the chance to show off his vocal talents when playing a bank robber in Richard Donner's "The Goonies". Robert's role as an accused PLO leader in the CBS telefilm "Terrorist on Trial: The U.S. vs. Salim Ajami," is considered by him to be one of the most challenging roles of his career. The telefilm earned Davi great acclaim and a wider audience.
      Davi went on to portray Latin American cocaine kingpin Franz Sanchez in the James Bond adventure "Licence to Kill", directed by John Glenn. Davi was the youngest actor to portray one of 007's nemesis and brought a new wrinkle to the series. He was regarded as one of James Bond's more formidable foes by those who were fans of Ian Fleming's stories.
      Robert continued playing an assortment of roles in cable and direct-to-video films, including a detective in pursuit of a resurrected officer in William Lustig's "Maniac Cop" trilogy; Zalman King's "Wild Orchid 2;" and in "Christopher Columbus: The Discovery," directed by John Glenn.
      The actor recently portrayed a veteran FBI agent in the NBC series "Profiler." To prepare for the role, he consulted with noted profiler Robert Ressler and several personnel from Quantico, VA, home to the FBI' Behavioral Sciences.
      Robert has a son by his first wife and 2 daughters by his second wife, former model Christine Bolster.
Photo © NBC - Written by Robert Baum © 2001 - [used with permission]