Lorraine Bracco

Born: 02 October 1954

Age:

Years Active: 1979-present

Lorraine Bracco (born October 2, 1954) is an American actress best known for her performance as psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi on the HBO crime drama series The Sopranos (1999–2007) and for her breakthrough role portraying Karen Hill in the Martin Scorsese film Goodfellas (1990). Bracco began her career modeling in France and appeared in Italian-language films in the 1980s. Her English-language debut came in The Pick-up Artist (1987), which was followed by roles in Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Sing (1989), and The Dream Team (1989). She has been nominated for an Academy Award, four Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, and three Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Bracco was born on October 2, 1954, in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of the Brooklyn borough of New York City. She is the daughter of Eileen (née Molyneux) and Salvatore S. Bracco Sr. She has a sister, actress Elizabeth Bracco, and a brother, Salvatore Jr. Her father was of Italian descent, while her mother was born in England, and had some French ancestry. Her parents met during World War II, marrying in Andover in 1946; Eileen would then come back with Salvatore to the United States. Bracco grew up in Hicksville, New York, on Long Island, from fourth grade, and graduated from Hicksville High School in 1972.