Lorraine Bracco

Lorraine Bracco’s multifaceted performances in all arenas have earned her a global fanbase. She is perhaps best known for her role as psychiatrist Dr. Jennifer Melfi who treats New Jersey Mafia heavyweight Tony Soprano on HBO’s hit series, THE SOPRANOS. Her concise, understated portrayal earned her multiple Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award Nominations for Best Actress in a TV Drama. Additionally, Ms. Bracco is the author of her best-selling memoir, ON THE COUCH, the owner of an eponymous wine company and an Academy Award nominee for her performance as a mobster’s wife in GOODFELLAS directed by Martin Scorsese. She starred as Drew Barrymore’s mother in RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS directed by Penny Marshall. In addition to film and television Ms. Bracco starred on Broadway as ‘Mrs. Robinson’ in Terry Johnson’s adaptation of THE GRADUATE. She also continued with the20show on tour. Currently, Bracco has a recurring role on NBC’s LIPSTICK JUNGLE as Janice Lasher, a lively and vicious book publisher pitted against Brooke Shields’ character.

Ms. Bracco was born in Brooklyn to an Italian-American father and an English mother. Though she was voted the ugliest girl in sixth grade, she nonetheless became a Paris fashion model represented by the Wilhelmina Agency. Ms. Bracco told the Los Angeles Times. she was “never glamorous, more the girl-next door type.”

Ms. Bracco worked as a disc jockey for Radio Luxembourg and began to act in films. She appeared in several French comedies and worked with Italian film director Lina Wertmuller. Returning to the U.S., she studied at Stella Adler and the Actors Studio in New York City.

Ms. Bracco made her American feature film debut in the 1987 Ridley Scott’s thriller, “Someone to Watch Over Me.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “Bracco’s portrayal of a cuckolded Queens housewife who forgoes tears to KO her unfaithful detective husband captivated pre-“Thelma & Louise” audiences.”

Other film credits include “The Pick-Up Artist” (directed by James Toback), “Switch” (1991, directed by Blake Edwards), “Radio Flyer” (1992, directed by Richard Donner), “Medicine Man”, (1992, directed by John McTiernan), “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” (1993, directed by Gus Van Sant), “Hackers” (1995, directed by Iaian Softley), and “Basketball Diaries” (1995, directed by Scott Kalvert).

Ms. Bracco lives in New York and is the President of Bracco Wines, a successful, national brand that is held in very high regard by oenophiles and restaurateurs. She continues in her capacity as a member of the Board of Directors of an environmental organization called Riverkeeper.