Will Janowitz

William Janowitz
Born	(1980-05-25) May 25, 1980
Other names	John Sharnhorst
Education	University of North Carolina School of the Arts (BFA)
Occupation(s)	Actor, writer
Years active	1999–present

William "Will" Janowitz (born May 25, 1980) is an American actor, writer, and producer for film and television. He is best known for playing Meadow Soprano's fiancé, Finn DeTrolio, on The Sopranos, Hymie Weiss on Boardwalk Empire (2012–2013), and Trevor in Bikini Moon (2017).

Early life and education

Janowitz was born on May 25, 1980, in New York City and is a first-generation American. He has Eastern European and Jewish ancestry. His mother, Katherine Sborovy, a writer, was from Bratislava, Slovakia. His father, James Janowitz, an attorney, is from Berlin, Germany. His father’s family fled to New York City after their family’s window display factory was seized by the Nazis on Kristallnacht. Will is named after his great uncle who perished in the Minsk Ghetto. His other great uncle, Albert Janowitz, died at Auschwitz. Janowitz’s mother’s family were also survivors of the Holocaust and sought refuge in New York City.

Janowitz grew up on the Upper West Side in New York City. Will graduated from high school at the Trevor Day School in Manhattan.

After training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in 2000, Janowitz began acting professionally.

Career

He worked briefly as Mary-Louise Parker's personal assistant on several film and television projects. One of his earliest film credits was a role in David Gordon Green's George Washington (2000).

In 2002, Janowitz booked a recurring role on The Sopranos as Meadow Soprano's (Jamie-Lynn Sigler) boyfriend Finn DeTrolio. He would appear in the fifth and sixth seasons of the show, portraying a novice's perspective of the organized crime ring. Janowitz's character notably disclosed the homosexuality of Vito Spatafore (Joe Gannascoli), one of Tony Soprano's (James Gandolfini) best-earning captains.

Janowitz has appeared in various independent features, including Backseat (2005) and Bristol Boys (2006). In 2005, he appeared in Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories as the voice of Donald Love.

In 2009, Janowitz joined the ensemble cast of Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock and wore a blonde wig and mustache to play Chip Monck, the festival's production designer. That same summer, he went to Marietta, Georgia, to play the role of Leo Frank in The People v. Leo Frank (2009). The film explores the life and trial of Leo Frank, an American-born Jew who was lynched in Marietta, Georgia, on August 17, 1915, after being accused of the murder of a 13-year-old girl who worked in his pencil factory.

He played a comedian in "The Good News" episode of Mad Men in 2010 where he razzes the audience members: Don Draper (Jon Hamm) and Roger Sterling (John Slattery). In 2011 he appeared as a green Goblin in Louie C.K.’s television show, Louie for the “Halloween/Ellie” episode.

Between 2012-2013 Janowitz portrayed a historically ruthless Chicago mobster, Hymie Weiss, on the Boardwalk Empire show. Along with Dean O'Banion (Arron Shiver), the North-Side gang from their flower shop lair, clashed with the Torrio-Capone gang.

In 2014, Janowitz played the character, Alex, in the film H. directed by Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia set in Troy, NY. The film revolves around the aftermath of an apparent meteor strike. H. premiered at the 71st Venice International Film Festival and went on to play at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. He also appeared in the Broad City episode, "Destination Wedding" where he proclaimed to Abbi Jacobson that Penn Station was a “dealbreaker”. Janowitz played the ghost of a Confederate soldier named Josiah, in The Heart, She Holler(2014).

He played Chef Christopher in the Deadbeat (2015) "Table for Sue" episode.

In the American Experience episode “Murder of a President” (2016), Janowitz depicted Charles J. Guiteau who shot President James A. Garfield.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	Terror Firmer	Partier
2000	George Washington	Railroad Worker
2004	Press Gang	Derrick	Short
2005	Backseat	Frankie
	David & Layla	Woody Fine
2006	Bristol Boys	Corey
2007	Bed Head	Will	Short
	Mattie Fresno and the Holoflux Universe	East European Lab Assistant
	Gnome	Gnome	Short
2009	The People v. Leo Frank	Leo Frank
	Taking Woodstock	Chip Monck
	Two Birds	The Other Man	Short
2010	John Sharnhorst	John Sharnhorst	Short
2012	Bottle Poppaz	DJ Lava	Short
	Exposed	Alexi Krustonovich
	Ex-Girlfriends	Matt
2013	B-Side	Evan
	The Volunteer	Joe
	Junkie Doctors	Andersen Stevenson	Short
2014	Google Comes to Collect	Google	Short
	H.	Alex
2015	Lucky and the Long Walk Home	Turkey	Short
2016	Little Boxes	Steve
	Youth in Oregon	Ralph
	Puppy Love	James	Short
2017	Bikini Moon	Trevor
	Troll	Noah	Short
2019	Balk	Rob	Short
	Pitcher/Catcher	Valentine	Short
	Crshd	Tony
2020	The Ride	Cole	Short
2022	Doula	The Priest
2023	Proof of Concept	Eddie Cohen	Short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Law & Order	Bill Horton	Episode: "Slaughter"
2002–06	The Sopranos	Finn DeTrolio	Recurring Cast: Season 4-6
2004	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Rico	Episode: "Shrink-Wrapped"
2008	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Jacob Green	Episode: "Vanishing Act"
2009	Law & Order	Cal	Episode: "Skate or Die"
2010	Mad Men	Comedian	Episode: "The Good News"
2011	Louie	Goblin	Episode: "Halloween/Ellie"
2012–13	Boardwalk Empire	Hymie Weiss	Guest: Season 3, Recurring Cast: Season 4
2013	Inside Amy Schumer	Sam	Episode: "Clown Panties"
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Officer Scott Graver	Episode: "Military Justice"
2014	Broad City	Will	Episode: "Destination Wedding"
	The Heart, She Holler	Josiah	Episode: "Groaning Amore"
2015	Deadbeat	Chef Christopher	Episode: "Table for Sue"
2016	American Experience	Charles J. Guiteau	Episode: "Murder of a President"
	Netflix Presents: The Characters	Jeremiah	Episode: "Paul W. Downs"
	The Night Of	Dr. Ross	Episode: "Ordinary Death"
	The Daily Show	Doug Bailey	Episode: "Common"
2017	Gotham	Wally Clarke	Episode: "Hog Day Afternoon"
2019	Chicago P.D.	Mark Rollins	Episode: "Brotherhood"
2020	FBI: Most Wanted	David Fallon	Episode: "Grudge"

Video Games

Year	Title	Role
2005	Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories	Donald Love (voice)
2008	Grand Theft Auto IV	The Crowd of Liberty City (voice)
	Midnight Club: Los Angeles	Julian (voice)

External links

• Will Janowitz at IMDb