Debi Mazar Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Debi Mazar
OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Television Actress
BIRTH DATE: August 13, 1964 (Age: 48)
PLACE OF BIRTH: New York, New York
ZODIAC SIGN: Leo

Best Known For

Debi Mazar is an actress known for roles in films such as Goodfellas and The Doors and the TV series Entourage.

Quiz

Think you know about Biography?

Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.

Play Now

Debi Mazar - Ghost Stories watch more videos (0)

Print Cite This

Debi Mazar

APA Style

Debi Mazar. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 09:04, May 19, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032.

Harvard Style

Debi Mazar. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032 [Accessed 19 May 2013].

MLA Style

"Debi Mazar." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 19 2013, 09:04 http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032.

MHRA Style

"Debi Mazar," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032 [accessed May 19, 2013].

Chicago Style

"Debi Mazar," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032 (accessed May 19, 2013).

CBE/CSE Style

Debi Mazar [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032.

Bluebook Style

Debi Mazar, http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032 (last visited May 19, 2013).

AMA Style

Debi Mazar. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/debi-mazar-23032. Accessed May 19, 2013.

Soon she found herself employed as Madonna's makeup artist, making cameo appearances in late-80s music videos for Madonna songs such as "True Blue" and "Justify My Love."

Tough-talking Roles

Those music video appearances sparked Mazar's interest in acting; while still working as Madonna's make-up artist, she began taking acting classes. Then, with no acting experience to her name save a handful of music videos and an uncredited appearance as a dancer in a 1984 TV movie called Graffiti Rock, she landed a role in Martin Scorsese's landmark 1990 mob film Goodfellas. Mazar earned wide acclaim for her portrayal of Ray Liotta's junkie mistress and almost instantly became typecast as a New York tough girl.

But being typecast may have been the best thing that could have happened for Mazar's career at the time. She soon landed similar parts—always fast-talking and street-smart—in films like The Doors (1991), Money for Nothing (1993) and Batman Forever (1995), as well as the TV courtroom dramas Civil Wars (1991-93) and L.A. Law (1993-94). "Being typecast is a great thing for an actor," Mazar says, because then "you work. I was considered one of the New York actors ... one of the New York mob actors. But I did get tired of the way people would think of me. My heart was deeper."

Entourage

After several appearing in such acclaimed films as Empire Records (1995), The Insider (1999) and More Dogs than Bones (2000), in 2004 Mazar landed her most visible role to date on the HBO hit show Entourage. She plays Shauna, the irrepressible publicist who offers a rare female presence in the show's male-dominated world of celebrity hanger-on characters. Despite her winning performance, though, Mazar insists that she actually despises her character—and showbiz publicists in general. "I'm not in the business to make people aware of me," she says. "And publicists are very expensive—they're $3,500 a month! I don't want to spend that kind of money so I can get a stupid article in Interview magazine." Entourage recently completed its seventh season and both an eighth season and a feature film are in the works. In addition to her work on Entourage, Mazar competed on the celebrity dancing show Dancing with the Stars in 2009.

Off Camera

For Debi Mazar, now a mature mother of two, the days of playing sexy young heroines are likely in the past. Nevertheless, she relishes the opportunity to shed her youthful image and reinvent herself as a mature actress and woman. "I've never wanted to be the ingénue," Mazar says. "Now that I'm getting into my 40s, I think my time as a woman has arrived; I think I might have a new moment in my career. I have that drive left—just for a little while."

Debi Mazar married Italian musician Gabriele Corcos in 2002, and the pair has two daughters. Mazar and Corcos, both of whom are avid foodies, host a popular Internet cooking show called Under the Tuscan Gun.