Dan Castellaneta

Biography

Daniel Louis Castellaneta was born on October 29, 1957, at Roseland Community Hospital in the West Roseland neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. He was raised in River Forest and Oak Park, Illinois. He is of Italian descent, born to Elsie (née Lagorio; 1926–2008) and Louis Castellaneta (1915–2014), an amateur actor who worked for a printing company. Castellaneta became adept at impressions at a young age and his mother enrolled him in an acting class when he was 16 years old. He would listen to his father's comedy records and do impressions of the artists. He attended Oak Park and River Forest High School and upon graduation, started attending Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the fall of 1975. Castellaneta studied art education, with the goal of becoming an art teacher. He became a student teacher and would entertain his students with his impressions.