Genovese was born and raised in
St. Louis, Missouri to an Italian American family. Genovese earned a master's degree in drama at
Eastern Illinois University and taught acting at
Webster College from 1969 to 1973 before devoting himself to work as actor in Washington, D.C., where he met his future wife, TV/film actress
Ellen Crawford, Chicago, and later Los Angeles. A character actor known for playing heavies, Genovese has appeared in many films such as two
Richard Pryor billed vehicles,
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) and
Harlem Nights, which also co-starred
Eddie Murphy,
Redd Foxx and
Della Reese, and guest roles on TV series such as
The Dukes of Hazzard,
The Paper Chase,
Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Family Matters,
NYPD Blue,
Quantum Leap,
Arli$$,
ER,
Chicago Hope, and
JAG. In 1990 he was a cast member in the short lived series
The Flash where he played Lt. Warren Garfield. For
ER, the long-running medical drama which aired on NBC, Genovese appeared in a recurring role as Officer Al Grabarsky, where he appeared opposite his real life wife, Crawford, who was as cast regular as Nurse Lydia Wright, his character's girlfriend. He appeared in twelve episodes of the series from 1994 through 2000.
Theater roles In 1979, Genovese had a performance as Philip Marlowe at Chicago's Organic Theater in a Stuart Gordon-directed adaptation of
Raymond Chandler's
The Little Sister. In 2005, he appeared as Rev. Tollhouse in
The Book of Liz play by
Amy Sedaris and
David Sedaris at the 2nd Stage Theatre, Hollywood. ==References==