He was born and raised in New Jersey. He graduated from Villanova University with an Economics Degree and Communications Minor. He briefly worked on Wall Street at Oppenheimer & Co. After he left Wall Street he studied with Sanford Meisner disciple William Esper for two years in New York. His mother is of Greek, Ashkenazi Jewish and Italian descent. He was raised Greek Orthodox and his full name is Vlasis Wally Parlapanides.
