John Emil D'Angelo is known for his Mafia roles. His family stems from Palermo, Sicily and Naples, Italy with a hint of Rolex. Acting wasn't John's first passion however; it was martial arts which he's been involved with since grade school. After high school, John competed nationwide in Naska martial arts events. It was then that the UFC was introduced in 1993 combining all the fighting disciplines to see which was superior. The three letter acronym for MMA (Mixed Martial Arts)was first billed as NHB (No Holds Barred) where 8 men competed in a bracketed tournament. Up until that point, Kickboxing was the martial artists' full contact sport of choice to test toughness. During this time, John owned Georgia's premier martial arts equipment store, Pro Rank, and captained the world class Pro Rank Competition Team consisting of tournament, boxing, and kickboxing fighters; later adding NHB fighters to the team.

D'Angelo is best known for pioneering and developing some of the rules of NHB by creating the 5 minute round system and developing the amateur and semi-pro divisions in 1995 which are now used in the sport today.

John D'Angelo was inducted into the GA. Martial Arts Hall of Fame (2010), Action International Martial Arts Hall of Honors (2011), and the Legends of Martial Arts Hall of Fame (2013) for his contributions to the development of the arts.

John got his first acting gig in 1999 when the coach of his competition team, Niko Ashford, asked him to be a part of a fight scene in the movie Sharpe. Unaware of acting and fight scene etiquette, John actually kicked his scene partners (lightly) thinking it would make it more realistic.... It turned out to be very realistic!

In 2010, John began pursuing that new found passion he left on the back burner for ten years. He's studied with some great acting coaches and seems to be making his way to a Movie Screen Hall of Fame....or is it a Sidewalk Star?

See photos of celebrities before they hit the big-time.

John Emil D'Angelo

Actor

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