Marisa Tomei

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Marisa Tomei
Image:Seinfeld s7e15.jpg Marisa with Jason Alexander on Seinfeld
Born	December 4 1964 (age 43) Brooklyn, New York
Awards Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress 1992 My Cousin Vinny

Marisa Tomei (born December 4, 1964) is an Academy Award-winning American film and stage actress.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Career 1.3 Personal life 1.4 Oscar "mistake" myth 2 Filmography 3 Academy Awards 4 Footnotes 5 External links

Biography

Early life

Tomei, an Italian American,^[1][2] was born in Brooklyn, New York to Patricia, an English teacher, and Gary A. Tomei, a trial lawyer.^[3] She has a brother, Adam, and was partially raised by her paternal grandparents, Rita and Romeo Tomei.^[4] Tomei grew up in Midwood, a Jewish neighborhood.^[5] While there she became captivated by the Broadway shows that her theater-loving parents took her to, and became drawn to acting as a career. After graduating from Edward R. Murrow High School she attended Boston University for a year, then transferred to New York University in 1983 after landing a role in the soap opera As The World Turns. Soon after, she dropped out of school altogether as her career began to take off. She stated in a 2005 interview that she had aspirations to return to NYU in the near future to study civics.

Career

Tomei followed up As the World Turns in 1987 with a role on the sitcom A Different World. Her breakthrough performance came in My Cousin Vinny (1992), for which she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. After her Oscar win, she received a Screen Actor's Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Female Supporting Actor for Unhook the Stars. Next, got an American Comedy Award nomination for Funniest Supporting Actress for Slums of Beverly Hills. She was nominated for a Satellite Award as Best Supporting Actress for What Women Want.

She received a second Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for In The Bedroom (2001). Tomei has also done substantial work in the theater, including taking lead roles on Broadway in Wait Until Dark (1998) and Salomé (2003), and many Off-Broadway plays.

In 1996, Tomei made a guest appearance on the sitcom Seinfeld, playing herself in "The Cadillac, Part 1" and "2." She has also made an appearance on The Simpsons, as a movie star who falls in love with Ned Flanders. In 2005, Tomei featured in an ad campaign for Hanes with the slogan "Look who we've got our Hanes on now", featuring various other celebrities including Michael Jordan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Damon Wayans, Matthew Perry and, on Spanish-language advertising, Aracely Arambula and Pablo Montero. In 2006, the campaign added Kevin Bacon and Christina Applegate to its lineup.

In 2006, Tomei had a recurring role on the TV series Rescue Me, playing Johnny's ex-wife Angie.

Personal life

In the early 1990s, Tomei dated Robert Downey, Jr. In 1999, she dated Dana Ashbrook and had a relationship with Frank Pugliese. She usually likes to keep her personal life away from the media. In 2005, she stated that she would like to return to NYU to study civics.

Oscar "mistake" myth

There is an urban legend that Tomei's Best Supporting Actress Oscar for My Cousin Vinny should have gone to one of the four other nominees in 1993 (Miranda Richardson, Joan Plowright, Judy Davis or Vanessa Redgrave) but that:

During the 'Oscar' ceremony, Jack Palance announced Tomei as best supporting actress winner, although actually there was another name on his note. The mistake was considered too embarrassing to correct.

This rumor was debunked by Snopes.^[6] As the Academy has explained many times, two officials from the accounting firm of Price Waterhouse (now PricewaterhouseCoopers), the official tabulators of the Academy Award ballots, have been stationed in the wings at every Academy Awards ceremony since 1953 just in case such a situation should arise. If a wrong name were ever read, one of the officials would immediately step up to the podium and announce the correct winner.

Filmography

As the World Turns (1983-'85) TV Series The Flamingo Kid (1984) The Toxic Avenger (1985) (uncredited) Playing for Keeps (1986) A Different World (1987) TV Series Oscar (1991) Zandalee (1991) My Cousin Vinny (1992) Equinox (1992) Chaplin (1992) Untamed Heart (1993) The Paper (1994) Only You (1994) The Perez Family (1995) Four Rooms (1995) Unhook the Stars (1996) A Brother's Kiss (1997) Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)

My Own Country (1998) (TV) Happy Accidents (2000) The Watcher (2000) What Women Want (2000) Dirk and Betty (2000) In the Bedroom (2001) Someone Like You (2001) The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002) Just a Kiss (2002) The Guru (2002) Anger Management (2003) Alfie (2004) Loverboy (2004) Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (2005) Factotum (2005) Rescue Me (2006) (TV) Danika (2006) Wild Hogs (2007) War, Inc. (2007) (filming)

Academy Awards

• 1993 - Won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for My Cousin Vinny (1992)
• 2002 - Nominee Best Actress in a Supporting Role for In The Bedroom (2001)

Footnotes

Wikipedia information about Marisa Tomei This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Marisa Tomei". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.