Name: Marisa Tomei
Date: December 4, 1964
Birth Place: Brooklyn, New York, USA
Nationality: American
Education: Boston University for one year; Edward R
Murrow High School Brooklyn, New York
Claim to fame: as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny
(1993)
Occupation: Actress
Marisa began her career with a bit part in The Flamingo
Kid with Matt Dillon. Her one line"You're
so drunk"convinced her to try acting full-time.
She dropped out of college and found work in daytime
soaps and as Lisa Bonet's roommate in A Different World.
Her first break, if you can call it that, came as Sylvester
Stallone's daughter in the ill-conceived Oscar.
Though this role could have been the end of her career,
Tomei rebounded nicely with her portrayal of Mona Lisa
Vito, Joe Pesci's gum-popping, funny fiancée
in the 1992 sleeper My Cousin Vinny. The part earned
her an Academy Award (although wild rumors circulated
through Hollywood that presenter Jack Palance actually
read the wrong name). Tomei lived up to her sudden stardom
in Untamed Heart, her first lead role, but recent efforts
to climb higher (The Paper and Only You) have faltered
on untamed scripts.
The 1996 film Unhook the Stars fortunately provided
Tomei with a solid script to sink her teeth into and
an excellent co-star in the person of Gena Rowlands,
and she delivered solid supporting turns in 1997's harrowing
war-correspondent film Welcome to Sarajevo and 1998's
family comedy Slums of Beverly Hills.