Sam Ingraffia On His 40+ Years As An Actor, Writer, Producer & Director, Upcoming Projects, Joe Piscopo, Writing Books & More

Sam Ingraffia’s entry into show business was a bit unusual. After graduating with honors from UCLA, he was completing a Masters Degree in Finance. A director friend called and said he was having difficulty casting a small part in a play. Would Sam help him out and do the role? At the first rehearsal, Ingraffia realized he knew what he was supposed to do with his life and promptly quit graduate school.

Over 100 film and television performances have afforded Ingraffia with the opportunity to work as an actor with such acclaimed directors as John Schlesinger, Ron Howard, Mike Newell, Oliver Stone, Danny DeVito and Robert Zemeckis. His prolifc writing and producing credits include feature films, television, pilots, comedy specials and Internet series. His award-winning plays have been produced in theaters around the country. He is also a novelist, having written the novel The Right Stiff.

On February 15, 2022, I had pleasure of speaking with Sam Ingraffia via Zoom, as embedded below. Beyond his credits and upcoming projects, we talked about his experience co-writing an HBO special with Joe Piscopo, his mid-1980s meeting with Van Halen’s David Lee Roth, and what it was like being under television and film studio’s infamous “holding deals.” More on Ingraffia is here, here and here.

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Tags: Authors, Barry, comedy, Danny DeVito, Joe Piscopo, LA, Los Angeles, Sam Ingraffia

About the Author

Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."