Lorraine Bracco is an Oscar and Emmy-nominated Actress and is best known for her roles on HBO’s The Sopranos and the Martin Scorsese film, Goodfellas. Currently, she stars in TNT’s blockbuster hit series, Rizzoli & Isles, playing the Rizzoli family matriarch.
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. She told The Los Angeles Times that she was "never glamorous, more the girl-next door type."
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 US, she studied at Stella Adler and the Actors Studio in New York City.
Her American feature film debut came 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, Switch, Radio Flyer, Medicine Man, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, Hackers, Basketball Diaries, Riding In Cars With Boys, and Tangled.
Bracco was named "Woman of the Year" by the New York City Police Athletic League. Bracco is also an environmentalist and works to help women in the arts.
Her commitment to health has led her to develop her own comprehensive line of cleanse and supplement products, Liv4Mor.
Her nationally bestselling memoir, On the Couch, was published in 2006. Her newest book, To the Fullest, was released in April 2015.
Lorraine has two daughters, Margaux and Stella, and has recently become a grandmother. She splits her time between New York and Los Angeles.