Edie Falco biography

Synopsis

Early Career

Edie Falco was born on July 5, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. The daughter of jazz drummer Frankie Falco and actress Judith Loney, Falco graduated from the State University of New York at Purchase in 1986.

With an ambitious taste for challenging roles, Falco began her career with memorable film work in Hal Hartley's The Unbelievable Truth in 1989 and Trust in 1991. She co-starred in Nick Gomez's gritty crime drama Laws of Gravity in 1992 and had a small speaking role in Woody Allen's 1994 film, Bullets Over Broadway. She appeared in Cost of Living in 1997, for which she earned a Best Actress Award from Los Angeles' AFI Film Festival. That same year she turned out strong performances in Cop Land, Hurricane Streets and Trouble on the Corner. In 1999, Falco played the title character, a disarming would-be movie star, in Eric Mendelsohn's acclaimed independent feature Judy Berlin and had her first major role in a mainstream Hollywood picture supporting Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas in Random Hearts.

Big Break

In 1997, Falco began earning kudos for her performance as Officer Diane Whittlesey on the HBO prison drama Oz; and she stayed with the show for two years. In 1999, she landed her star-making role as Mafia wife Carmela Soprano in the acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos. She was awarded an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award for her work on the show in 1999. In 2003, the show's executive producer announced that its sixth season would be the last.

In 2002, Falco appeared in the Broadway revival of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune with actor Stanley Tucci. The two became romantically involved for a time, but they later broke up. She returned to Broadway in 2004 in another revival, this time in the stage drama 'night, Mother with Brenda Blethyn. That same year, Falco adopted a son and named him Anderson.

After wrapping The Sopranos in 2007, Falco made several appearances on the Golden Globe-winning comedy, 30 Rock, starring Alec Baldwin and Tina Fey. Falco earned an Emmy nomination for her guest appearance on the show. In 2009, she signed a deal with Showtime to star in the new drama Nurse Jackie. The show premiered in June 2009.

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