Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio (born June 30, 1959) is an American actor, director, film producer, writer, and singer. Often referred to as an actor's actor, his work as a character actor has earned him the nickname "The Human Chameleon". He first gained attention for his role as Private Leonard Lawrence in the war film Full Metal Jacket and later for his role as Detective Robert Goren in the crime TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent. 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 New York. In 1956 they had their first child, Antoinette, who now owns the Rib City restaurant in American Fork, Utah. She was followed by Elizabeth (1957), an actress and drama coach now residing in Fort Myers Beach, Florida, then by Vincent. 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.