Marisa Tomei Biography

Marisa Tomei When people talk about the best supporting actor Oscar Curse , they often cite Marisa Tomei as an example. She won an Academy Award for her role in the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny for her role as Mona Lisa Vito. Although Tomei has continued to work steadily since then, she has had a difficult time obtaining the success that earning an Academy Award often brings. Marisa Tomei was born in Brooklyn, New York on December 4, 1964. Her mother Dana was an English teacher, and her father Gary was a lawyer. Tomei grew up in Brooklyn and found her love of acting while watching many Broadway shows as a child. She dropped out of college after one year when she earned a role on the soap opera As the World Turns. In 1987 Tomei was given the role of Maggie Lawton in the Bill Cosby produced television show A Different World. The show, which centered on a fictional black college, had Marisa Tomei playing the white roommate of Lisa Bonet. After one year, her character was dropped from the show. Tomei turned her attention to film and had small roles in Sylvester Stallone's Oscar (1991) and Zandalee (1991) with Nicolas Cage. Her breakout role came in 1992 with the movie My Cousin Vinny. She followed her Oscar winning role with parts in Chaplin (1992) with Robert Downey, Jr., and her first romantic lead opposite Christian Slater in Untamed Heart (1993). The following year Tomei worked with Robert Downey, Jr. again in the romance Only You. However, none of the films following her Oscar win gained her critical acclaim and people began talking about the Oscar Curse and saying that her win was a fluke. Rumors even circulated that presenter Jack Palance had named her the winner when actually someone else's name was on the card. The rumor has been discredited. Tomei continued to work steadily through the 1990 s. In 2001 she broke the Oscar Curse and wowed critics again with her performance in In the Bedroom. She was again nominated for an Academy Award. Tomei continues to work steadily and although she is not one of Hollywood's most famous actresses, Tomei is now one of Hollywood's most respected. Romantically, Marisa Tomei has not followed the typical Hollywood path of dating one star after another. She was romantically linked with actor Dana Ashbrook in the early 1990 s. She then had an on again off again relationship with a New York playwright, Frank Pugliese for years. In 1999, Tomei reportedly began her relationship with Ashbrook again and the two still seem to be together. Marisa Tomei has three movies slated for release in 2007. Wild Hogs with Tim Allen, Before the Devil Knows You re Dead with Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney, and The Night Job with Roy Liotta and Mickey Rourke.

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