Vincent D'Onofrio was born in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, to Gennaro (Gene) D'Onofrio, an interior designer and theater production assistant, and Phyllis, a waitress and restaurant manager. The couple met while Gene was stationed in Hawaii with the U. S. Air Force; they later relocated to the mainland.[citation needed] In 1956 they had their first child, Antoinette, who now owns the Rib City restaurant in American Fork, Utah. She was followed in birth by Elizabeth (1957), an actress and drama coach now residing in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, then by Vincent, the couple's only son.[citation needed]
D'Onofrio's parents divorced when he was young, and his mother later married George Meyer who had a son, Guy, and daughter, Connie, from a previous marriage. The family relocated to the Hialeah area of Florida, and in 1977 Vincent graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School. He went on to attend the University of Colorado, but left after 18 months to pursue acting. He began his acting career by performing in many New York University student productions while working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe and other various clubs around the city. In 1984 D'Onofrio joined the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York and studying under coaches Sonya Moore and Sharon Chatten of the Actors Studio, went on to appear in a number of their productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open Admissions.
D'Onofrio's parents divorced when he was young, and his mother later married George Meyer who had a son, Guy, and daughter, Connie, from a previous marriage. The family relocated to the Hialeah area of Florida, and in 1977 Vincent graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes Senior High School. He went on to attend the University of Colorado, but left after 18 months to pursue acting. He began his acting career by performing in many New York University student productions while working as a bouncer at the Hard Rock Cafe and other various clubs around the city. In 1984 D'Onofrio joined the American Stanislavsky Theatre in New York and studying under coaches Sonya Moore and Sharon Chatten of the Actors Studio, went on to appear in a number of their productions, including Of Mice and Men and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He also made his Broadway debut as Nick Rizzoli in Open Admissions.