Edie Falco Biography

EDIE FALCO

Date of Birth: July 5, 1963

In perhaps her best-known role, actress Edie Falco played brash, assertive mob-boss matriarch Carmela Soprano on the hit TV series The Sopranos. Self-described as shy, Edie’s convincing portrayal is due in part to her prestigious background in acting.

Hailing from Brooklyn, New York, Edie (Edith) attended the theater program at SUNY Purchase (State University of New York at Purchase), and was trained in acting at the renowned Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film.

After she graduated, she took up odd jobs as an entertainer at children’s parties to support herself in between auditions. Edie’s early features included a handful of smaller guest roles, beginning in the late 1980s. Her first high-profile film role came in 1994, when she played Lorna in Woody Allen’s crime comedy Bullets Over Broadway.

Edie’s career really flourished on the small screen. Throughout the 1990s, she landed roles on many popular TV shows such as Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-97), Law & Order (1990), and Oz (1997). Tom Fontana, executive producer of Homicide, cast Edie as Eva Thormann, the wife of an injured police officer, after seeing her performance in the 1992 feature Laws of Gravity.

Even though she was landing more acting jobs, Edie was still a struggling actress. She has said that money she earned from filming television guest appearances would only pay for one month’s worth of her rent. She was still being cast in a number of films in smaller, supporting roles including Trust (1990), Cop Land (1997) and Random Hearts (1999).

Edie’s big break finally came in 1999, when she was cast in the HBO series The Sopranos as Carmela, the wife of notorious mafia boss Tony Soprano. Her portrayal of this character would earn her much recognition, and throughout its eight year run, The Sopranos received wide acclaim. Edie's performance was so highly praised that in 2003, she became one of the few actresses to win all of the major television awards (an Emmy, Golden Globe, and SAG award) in one year. She also made history again by being the first actress to ever receive the Television Critic’s Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama.

In April 2003, Edie was starring in a Broadway production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune when she began an affair with her co-star, Stanley Tucci. He was married at the time to Kathryn Louise Spath Tucci, whom he wed in 1995, and they had three children together. Stanley and his wife legally separated.

While she was starring on The Sopranos, Edie was dealing with personal struggles off-screen. The actress was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2003, however, she did not make the news public until the following year. She also encountered some challenges in maintaining her own sobriety while being around the hard-partying Sopranos cast.

By March 2004, Stanley had returned to his wife and family and Edie adopted her first child, a boy she named Anderson. Meanwhile, during this exciting time, her newfound success was only just beginning. After The Sopranos came to an end in 2007, Edie starred in yet another critically acclaimed series, Nurse Jackie, in the title role. The dark comedy aired for seven seasons, and earned countless nominations and awards, including another Emmy award.

In 2008, Edie adopted her second child, a baby girl named Macy.

Edie returned to her theatrical roots in 2011, playing the part of Bananas in the Broadway revival of House of Blue Leaves alongside Ben Stiller and Jennifer Jason Leigh. She would received her first and only Tony Award nomination for her performance. Edie would continue to star in many off-Broadway productions in the years that followed.

Edie’s most recent work includes playing the character Sylvia Wittel on Horace and Pete, a web series directed by Louis C.K. In her next big screen role, Edie will star in Megan Leavey (2017), a biographical drama about the true story of U.S. Marine Megan Leavey and her combat dog, Rex.

Filmography:

Megan Leavey (2017)
Landline (2017)
The Comedian (2016)
Gods Behaving Badly (2013)
3 Backyards (2011)
Freedomland (2006)
The Quiet (2005)
Family of the Year (2004)
Sunshine State (2002)
Death of a Dog (2000)
Random Hearts (1999)
Judy Berlin (1999)
Cost of Living (1997)
Cop Land (1997)
Breathing Room (1996)
Bullets Over Broadway (1994)
Laws of Gravity (1992)
Trust (1990)
Sweet Lorraine (1987)