Assante was born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and raised in Cornwall, New York

Cornwall, New York

Cornwall is a town in Orange County, New York, USA. It is located about 50 miles north of New York City on the western shore of the Hudson River. The estimated population in 2007 was 12,827....

, the son of Katherine (née Healy), a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian

Italian American

An Italian American , is an American of Italian ancestry. The designation may also refer to someone possessing Italian and American dual citizenship...

 and his mother was Irish

Irish American

Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...

, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family. Assante was married to Karen McArn from 1982 to 1994, and has two daughters, Anya and Alessandra.
During the 1970s, Assante was a regular on two NBC soap operas, How to Survive a Marriage

How to Survive a Marriage

How to Survive a Marriage is a soap opera which aired on the NBC television network from January 7, 1974 to April 17, 1975. The serial was created by Anne Howard Bailey, with much input from then-NBC Vice President Lin Bolen...

as Johnny McGee and The Doctors as Dr.