Edith "Edie" Falco (pronounced /ˈiːdi ˈfælkoʊ/; born July 5, 1963) is an American television, film and stage actress, known for her lead role as Carmela Soprano on the HBO series The Sopranos.
Family
Falco was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Judith Anderson, an actress, and Frank Falco, a jazz drummer.1 Her father is Italian American and her mother Swedish American.23 Falco's siblings are Joseph, Paul and Ruth. Her uncle is novelist, playwright and poet Edward Falco, an English professor at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. She was raised in Northport and West Islip,4 on Long Island. She has an adopted son named Anderson Falco and an adopted daughter named Macy Falco.
Education
Falco graduated from Northport High School in 1981, after playing Eliza Doolittle in a production of My Fair Lady. She attended SUNY Purchase with fellow actors Stanley Tucci and Ving Rhames; she remains friends with both.
Career
Her first big break in films was a small speaking role in the 1994 Woody Allen film Bullets Over Broadway. Her friendship with former SUNY Purchase classmate Eric Mendelsohn, who was the assistant to Allen's costume designer, Jeffrey Kurland, helped her to be cast in the role. Mendelsohn would go on to direct Falco in his feature film Judy Berlin, for which he won "Best Director" honors at the Sundance Film Festival.
Falco, The X-Files star Gillian Anderson, Ugly Betty star America Ferrera, and 30 Rock's Tina Fey are the only actresses to have received a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a SAG Award in the same year. Falco won these awards in 2003 for her performance as Carmela during the fourth season of The Sopranos. Prior to that, she was a regular performer on Oz. She has also had recurring roles on Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street.
Edie has won three Emmys, two Golden Globes and five Screen Actors Guild Awards.5
Falco has appeared in the films Trust, Cop Land, Random Hearts, Freedomland, and John Sayles' Sunshine State, for which she received the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for "Best Supporting Actress". On Broadway, she appeared in the Tony Award-winning Side Man and in the revivals of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune opposite Stanley Tucci, and 'night, Mother opposite Brenda Blethyn. She has also appeared as a guest star on the television shows 30 Rock and Will & Grace.
Edie is set to star as the title character in the Showtime dark comedy series Nurse Jackie, premiering in June 2009.6789
Politics
During the 2004 U.S. presidential election, Falco appeared in a 30-second television commercial on behalf of M.O.B. (Mothers Opposing Bush) in which she said "Mothers always put their children first. Mr. Bush, can you say the same?" referring to George W. Bush who was running for re-election.10
Records show that she donated $1,000 to John Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign, $300 to the Democratic National Committee in 2004, and two separate sums of $1,000 and $300 to Hillary Clinton in 2005.11
Edie Falco has become the spokesperson for Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and appeared on CNN on June 25, 2009.12
Personal life
Falco has said she had problems with alcohol and decided to become sober after "one particular night of debauchery." She said in an interview that it is hard to be around the hard-partying cast of The Sopranos; "This cast (of the Sopranos) in particular, they really love to hang out and party. They make it look like fun. And it was fun for me! They spend a lot more time without me than with me, by my own choice—I’m always invited, and I’m always there for two minutes and I leave, because I can’t live in that world anymore. It's too dangerous."13
In 2003, Edie was diagnosed with breast cancer, which she subsequently survived. She chose not to make the news public for approximately one year.13
Awards and recognition
Awards won
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
- Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress - TV Drama Series
- 2000: The Sopranos
- 2003: The Sopranos
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor - Drama Series
- 2000: The Sopranos
- 2003: The Sopranos
- 2007: The Sopranos
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble - Drama Series
- 2000: The Sopranos
- 2007: The Sopranos
Award nominations
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series
- Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series
- Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress - TV Drama Series
- 2001: The Sopranos
- 2002: The Sopranos
- 2005: The Sopranos
- 2007: The Sopranos
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor - Drama Series
- 2001: The Sopranos
- 2002: The Sopranos
- 2005: The Sopranos
- Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble - Drama Series
- 2001: The Sopranos
- 2002: The Sopranos
- 2003: The Sopranos
- 2005: The Sopranos
References
- ^ Edie Falco Biography (1964-)
- ^ Steven Priggé - Interview with Edie Falco
- ^ Mob happy, July 13, 2002. Accessed July 2, 2008.
- ^ Green, Jesse. Edie Falco, Unmarried to the Mob, The New York Times, November 7, 2004. Accessed July 2, 2008.
- ^ Edie Falco - Awards
- ^ "Nurse Jackie: Official Site". Sho.com. http://www.sho.com/site/nursejackie/home.do. Retrieved on March 3, 2009.
- ^ Starr, Michael (June 30, 2008). "Nurse Edie: First Look at Sopranos Star's Dark, New Hospital Comedy". New York Post. NYPost.com. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06302008/tv/nurse_edie_117899.htm. Retrieved on March 8, 2009.
- ^ Krukowski, Andrew (July 18, 2008). "Showtime Orders Nurse Jackie, Grows Weeds". TVWeek.com. http://www.tvweek.com/news/2008/07/showtime_orders_nurse_jackie_g.php. Retrieved on March 8, 2009.
- ^ "Cable Networks Draw Big Names For New 2009 Series". NBCWashington.com. December 22, 2008. http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/entertainment/Cable_Networks_Draw_Big_Names_For_New_2009_Series.html. Retrieved on March 8, 2009.
- ^ FOXNews.com - Groups Want Piece of Campaign Ad Buy Pie - You Decide 2004
- ^ NEWSMEAT ▷ Edie Falco's Federal Campaign Contribution Report
- ^ Edie Falco on CNN, June 25, 2009
- ^ a b Nussbaum, Emily. The Loneliest Soprano, New York Magazine, April 1, 2007. Accessed July 2, 2008.
External links
![video Join us on June 25 to tell Congress,](../viewVideo.html?title=Edie Falco for Health Care for America NowYouTube=YouTube&summary=Join us on June 25 to tell Congress, "Health Care Cant Wait!" Text HEALTH to 94553 or go to http://www.healthcare09.org.&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/-89Is9Bl2ZA&fs=1&hl=en&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://0.gvt0.com/vi/-89Is9Bl2ZA/default.jpg&celebrity=Edie Falco&videoType=YouTube)
![The Sopranos [Region 2]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51PW1F60T2L._SL160_.jpg)
![Come Together - A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music [VHS]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KSMS514WL._SL160_.jpg)