Born and raised in Yonkers, N.Y. Youngest of three sons. His father was a Heating Contractor and his Mother was a school teacher. As a young boy, he fell in love with Saturday Night Live and the film Raging Bull. At thirteen, inspired by both Belushi and Deniro, he became part of a Children's Repertory Company. At seventeen, Erik was arrested for assault and the charges were later expunged. He went to an all boys catholic High School, Archbishop Stepinac in White Plains, NY. Fellow alums included, Jon Voight and Alan Alda, he later worked with the latter of the two on ER. Palladino attended Marymount Manhattan College and received his BA in theater. A few years out of college he was cast on the FOX sitcom, LOVE AND MARRIAGE, which brought the NY bred Palladino to Los Angeles. Erik has been a musician most of his life, playing in several bands, including, NO HAPPY FACES and HEARING RED. His career defining role came on TV's ER in 2000 as DR DAVE MALUCCI. His pivotal acting role, on FX's OVER THERE as SGT SCREAM, was when critics really took notice of his talent. Over the years, he has shown a real diversity moving seamlessly from comedy to drama in both film and television. Erik has won a TV GUIDE award for best drama, ER, 2000. He also has two Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, ER, both 2000 and 2001. Palladino was starring on both the number one TV show in the US (ER) and the number one box office film (U-571) on the same week in April 2000. Erik has been married to Jaime Palladino since 2005. They have two sons, Roman and Enzo.