Edie Falco
- Actress
- Producer
- Casting Director
Edith Falco, called Edie, was born on July 5, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, to Judith Anderson, an actress, and Frank Falco, a jazz drummer. She is of Italian (father) and Swedish, English, and Cornish (mother) descent. Edie grew up on Long
Island and attended SUNY Purchase, where she was trained in acting at
the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film. She moved to
Manhattan after graduation, auditioning for roles and supporting
herself as best she could; for example, working parties for an
entertainment company where she would wear a Cookie Monster costume and
urge people to get on the dance floor. Falco began getting film roles,
mostly smaller supporting parts, starting in the late 1980s. Her first
notable role was a supporting part in
Bullets Over Broadway (1994).
Ironically, it was in television where the conservatory-trained Falco's
career first flowered. She obtained her first recurring roles in 1993,
on the acclaimed police dramas
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993),
as the wife of a blinded police officer, and
Law & Order (1990) as a Legal Aid
attorney. Next came a recurring role on the prison drama
Oz (1997), as a sympathetic corrections
officer. All the while she continued to work in film, still in small
supporting roles.
Supporting herself in acting continued to be a challenge until at last
Falco found success in 1999, when she was cast in the HBO series
The Sopranos (1999), as Carmela,
the wife of New Jersey Mafia street boss Tony Soprano. "The Sopranos"
gained her a great deal of visibility and praise for her exceptionally
strong dramatic skills. In 2000 Falco became one of the few actresses
in history to sweep all of the major television awards (the Emmy, the
Golden Globe and the SAG Award) in one year for a dramatic role. She is
also the first female actor ever to receive the Television Critics
Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.
Interestingly, her roles have frequently put her on one side of the law
or the other--a defense attorney, a corrections officer, a cop's wife,
a mobster's wife, a police officer (in a pilot for a television
adaptation of the movie Fargo (1996)). She
has also worked frequently on the stage, such as her award-winning work
in the play "Sideman," in "The Vagina Monologues," and in revivals of
"Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (which was hugely
successful) and "'night Mother."
Unlike her brashly assertive alter-ego Carmela Soprano, Falco is
self-described as shy, but is clearly a witty and down-to-earth person.
She sometimes travels with her beloved dog Marley, driving so that the
dog does not have to travel in the baggage compartment. At one point
Falco had a relationship with her "Frankie and Johnny" co-star
Stanley Tucci. She was treated for
breast cancer in 2004 and her prognosis is very good. In December 2004,
Falco adopted a baby boy, whom she named Anderson, after her mother's
surname. Another adoption, of a baby girl named Macy, followed in 2008.
Island and attended SUNY Purchase, where she was trained in acting at
the prestigious Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film. She moved to
Manhattan after graduation, auditioning for roles and supporting
herself as best she could; for example, working parties for an
entertainment company where she would wear a Cookie Monster costume and
urge people to get on the dance floor. Falco began getting film roles,
mostly smaller supporting parts, starting in the late 1980s. Her first
notable role was a supporting part in
Bullets Over Broadway (1994).
Ironically, it was in television where the conservatory-trained Falco's
career first flowered. She obtained her first recurring roles in 1993,
on the acclaimed police dramas
Homicide: Life on the Street (1993),
as the wife of a blinded police officer, and
Law & Order (1990) as a Legal Aid
attorney. Next came a recurring role on the prison drama
Oz (1997), as a sympathetic corrections
officer. All the while she continued to work in film, still in small
supporting roles.
Supporting herself in acting continued to be a challenge until at last
Falco found success in 1999, when she was cast in the HBO series
The Sopranos (1999), as Carmela,
the wife of New Jersey Mafia street boss Tony Soprano. "The Sopranos"
gained her a great deal of visibility and praise for her exceptionally
strong dramatic skills. In 2000 Falco became one of the few actresses
in history to sweep all of the major television awards (the Emmy, the
Golden Globe and the SAG Award) in one year for a dramatic role. She is
also the first female actor ever to receive the Television Critics
Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.
Interestingly, her roles have frequently put her on one side of the law
or the other--a defense attorney, a corrections officer, a cop's wife,
a mobster's wife, a police officer (in a pilot for a television
adaptation of the movie Fargo (1996)). She
has also worked frequently on the stage, such as her award-winning work
in the play "Sideman," in "The Vagina Monologues," and in revivals of
"Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune" (which was hugely
successful) and "'night Mother."
Unlike her brashly assertive alter-ego Carmela Soprano, Falco is
self-described as shy, but is clearly a witty and down-to-earth person.
She sometimes travels with her beloved dog Marley, driving so that the
dog does not have to travel in the baggage compartment. At one point
Falco had a relationship with her "Frankie and Johnny" co-star
Stanley Tucci. She was treated for
breast cancer in 2004 and her prognosis is very good. In December 2004,
Falco adopted a baby boy, whom she named Anderson, after her mother's
surname. Another adoption, of a baby girl named Macy, followed in 2008.
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