Lorraine Bracco

Bracco was born on October 2, 1954, in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. She is the daughter of Eileen (née Molyneux, 1926–2010) and Salvatore 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, with French ancestry. Her parents met during World War II; Eileen came with Salvatore to the United States as a war bride. Bracco grew up in Hicksville, New York, on Long Island, from fourth grade. Bracco graduated from Hicksville High School in 1972.

Bracco moved to France in 1974, where she became a fashion model for Jean-Paul Gaultier. She lived there for about a decade.

She married Frenchman Daniel Guerard in 1979; they divorced in 1982. They have one daughter, actress Margaux Guerard.

Bracco's second marriage was to actor Edward James Olmos in 1994; they divorced in 2002.

During the audition process for The Sopranos, David Chase wanted Bracco to read for the lead female role of Carmela Soprano. However, Bracco had read the script and was drawn to the part of psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi. Bracco felt strongly enough about her ability and desire to play this part that she arranged a meeting with Chase and talked him into letting her have a chance as Melfi. It netted her three consecutive nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series at the Emmy Awards in 1999, 2000, and 2001, and at the Golden Globe awards for Best TV Actress in a Drama in 2000, 2001, and 2002. She lost out at the Emmys in 1999 and 2001, and at the Golden Globes in 2000 to her co-star Edie Falco. She was nominated again at the 2007 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and thus was pitted against her The Sopranos co-star Aida Turturro for the award.

Bracco is the owner of Bracco Wines, in association with Straight-Up Brands LLC. Her line of wines was featured on the Season 1 finale of Bravo's show Top Chef in 2006. She appeared as a guest judge for the show's two-episode finale and as a special judge on Top Chef: All Stars, in the episode titled "An Offer They Can't Refuse", which featured Italian cuisine. Bracco also appeared on a season 6 episode of Throwdown! with Bobby Flay, as a guest judge for the ravioli throwdown.

Bracco is a practitioner of Shotokan Karate. In 2015, she wrote a self-help book, To the Fullest: The Clean Up Your Act Plan to Lose Weight, Rejuvenate, and Be the Best You Can Be.

Beginning in 2016, Bracco had a recurring role as Toni on the Showtime comedy series Dice. From 2017 to 2018, she had a five-episode recurring role as Mayor Margaret Dutton in the CBS police drama series Blue Bloods.

Happy birthday! Lorraine Bracco turns 65 today - Mediamass

Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos, ...) is celebrating her 65th birthday today. As a number of online tributes attests, she is one of the most acclaimed actresses of her generation.