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Actress Lorraine Bracco plays psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi who treats New Jersey Mafia heavyweight Tony Soprano on HBO's hit series, THE SOPRANOS. Her concise, understated portrayal has earned her multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations for Best Actress in a TV Drama. Most recently, while on hiatus from THE SOPRANOS, Ms. Bracco did a guest star turn for NBC as 'Karla Grizano' in LAW & ORDER: TRIAL BY JURY.
In addition Ms. Bracco was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as a mobster's wife in GOODFELLAS directed by Martin Scorsese. She also starred as Drew Barrymore's mother in RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS directed by Penny Marshall. In addition to film and television Ms. Bracco starred on Broadway as 'Mrs. Robinson' in Terry Johnson's adaptation of THE GRADUATE. She also continued with the show on tour.
Ms. Bracco was born in Brooklyn to an Italian-American father and an English mother. Though she was voted the ugliest girl in sixth grade, she nonetheless became a Paris fashion model represented by the Wilhelmina Agency. Ms. Bracco told the Los Angeles Times she was "never glamorous, more the girl-next door type."
Ms. Bracco worked as a disc jockey for Radio Luxembourg and began to act in films. She appeared in several French comedies and worked with Italian film director Lina Wertmuller. Returning to the U.S., she studied at Stella Adler and the Actors Studio in New York City.
Ms. Bracco made her American feature film debut in the 1987 Ridley Scott's thriller, "Someone to Watch Over Me." According to the Los Angeles Times, "Bracco's portrayal of a cuckolded Queens housewife who forgoes tears to KO her unfaithful detective husband captivated pre-"Thelma & Louise" audiences."
Other film credits include "The Pick-Up Artist" (directed by James Toback), "Switch" (1991, directed by Blake Edwards), "Radio Flyer" (1992, directed by Richard Donner), "Medicine Man", (1992, directed by John McTiernan), "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" (1993, directed by Gus Van Sant), "Hackers" (1995, directed by Iaian Softley), and "Basketball Diaries" (1995, directed by Scott Kalvert).
Ms. Bracco lives in New York and continues in her capacity as a member of the Board of Directors of an environmental organization called Riverkeeper, as well as a member of the Board of the New York Council for the Humanities. She is working on her memoir, due to be published by Putnam in June 2006.
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