Photo Gallery Marisa Tomei, Video

FULL LIST CELEBRITY PHOTOS | Marisa Tomei Celebrity Photos

Marisa Tomei Photo album

Short Biography

Marisa Tomei (born December 4, 1964) is an American stage, film and television actress. Tomei first came to prominence as a supporting cast member on The Cosby Show spinoff A Different World in 1987.

She won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in the comedy My Cousin Vinny (1992). She received Best Supporting Actress nominations from the Academy Awards and Golden Globes for her roles in In the Bedroom and The Wrestler, as well as a BAFTA Award nomination for The Wrestler.

Her most commmercially successful film to date was What Women Want, followed by Wild Hogs (2007), and Anger Management (2003). She received critical acclaim for her performances in Unhook the Stars (1996) and Before the Devil Knows You`re Dead (2007).

Early life

Tomei, an Italian American, was born in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Patricia "Addie," an English teacher, and Gary A. Tomei, a trial lawyer. She has a younger brother, actor Adam Tomei, and was partly raised by her paternal grandparents, Rita and Romeo Tomei. She is not related to actress Concetta Tomei. Tomei grew up in the Midwood neighborhood of Brooklyn. 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, transferring to New York University in 1983 after landing a role in the soap opera As The World Turns. Soon afterward, she dropped out of school as her career began achieving success.

Career

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

Former Saturday Night Live cast member Jay Mohr wrote in his book Gasping for Airtime that, as guest host in October 1994, Tomei insisted that a proposed sketch about another actress not be used because she didn`t like the idea of making fun of her, which displeased the writers and performers, given the show`s penchant for satirizing celebrities.

In 1996, Tomei made a guest appearance on the sitcom Seinfeld, playing herself in "The Cadillac" two-part episode. In this episode, George attempts to get a date with Tomei through a friend of Elaine. She has also made an appearance on The Simpsons, as movie star Sara Sloane who falls in love with Ned Flanders.

She received her first Golden Globe Award nomination and her second Academy Award-nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Todd Field`s In The Bedroom (2001).

In 2003, Tomei appeared in the hit Anger Management with Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson. In 2005, she was 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, Tomei had a recurring role on the TV series