Marisa Tomei

Name: Marisa Tomei
Born: 4 December 1964 (Age: 46)
Where: New York, New York, USA
Height: 5' 6"
Awards: Won 1 Oscar, nominated for 1 BAFTA and 2 Golden Globes.

The Oscars of 2002 were immediately noted for the nomination of several black actors and actresses - far more than has been the norm. But there was another comment worth making; that, aside from perennials like judi dench and maggie smith, another series of great and usually unheralded character actors made the list. Step up jim broadbent, tom wilkinson and Marisa Tomei. Now, it's true that Tomei had already triumphed at the Academy Awards, for My Cousin Vinny, but all of her other performances - many of them scintillating - had gone wholly unnoticed. The plaudits given to her efforts in In The Bedroom were more than well-deserved. She'd been shining for over a decade, and would continue to do so, being nominated for the third time in 2009 for The Wrestler.

Marisa Tomei was born on the 4th of December, 1964, in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Gary A. Tomei was a trial lawyer, while her mother, Patricia, was an English teacher. She has one brother, Adam, born a few years later, who's now also an actor, having appeared in both Independence Day and The Truman Show.

Marisa attended the Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, receiving extra tuition from her mother, who worked hard to erase that tell-tale Brooklyn accent. When Adam was born, the Tomeis moved to a more middle-class district on Manhattan. As both parents worked, the kids were guarded by Gary's mother, Rita. At school, Marisa studied both acting and dance, having been stage-struck at the age of 12 when taken to a performance of A Chorus Line. She abandoned her early ambition to be an archaeologist, and spent her summers in plays at the Golden Bridge Colony in upstate New York. A life in the theatre was her aim, though she was very keen on old movies, particularly those starring that smooth groover Gene Kelly.

An intelligent girl, she enrolled at the prestigious Boston University. But she didn't stay for long. After a single year, she took a summer job as a waitress at Tony Roma's and it was now that her first big breaks came. There was a movie offer, and the chance of a contract with a popular soap. Her father, as fathers do, wanted her to continue her studies, but encouraged by her friends, Marisa left university and took the plunge.

The movie was The Flamingo Kid, wherein Matt Dillon leaves his dull family life to sell flash cars for a slick businessman. Marisa was way down the bill, with only one line - "You're so drunk" - but it boded well. Also down the bill was a young John Turturro.