ALYSSA MILANO Biography - Actors and Actresses

 
 

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ALYSSA MILANO

Name: Alyssa Jayne Milano                                                             
Born: 19 December 1972 Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A.                                     
                                                                                       
Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and former         
singer. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Samantha Micelli in the             
sitcom Who's the Boss?, Phoebe Halliwell on the supernatural series Charmed or         
via her new female apparel clothing line Touch. Recently, she has appeared in a       
recurring role on My Name is Earl.                                                     
                                                                                       
Milano was born in New York City, the daughter of Italian-American parents Lin,       
a former fashion designer and talent manager, and Thomas M. Milano, a film music       
editor and a well-known boating enthusiast. She has a younger brother, Cory (born     
in 1982), who is also an actor, but has more recently started a band, called           
Chloroform Days, in which he is the lead singer. Milano was born in Brooklyn but       
grew up in Staten Island, New York and was raised Catholic. She began her             
career at the age of eight when she won a part in an open audition for a               
national tour of Annie. She appeared in television commercials and off-Broadway       
productions. At the age of eleven, she earned her first major role in the TV           
show Who's the Boss?, alongside Tony Danza, Judith Light, Danny Pintauro and           
Katherine Helmond. She starred as Samantha Micelli, the daughter of Danza's           
character, Tony Micelli. When Milano won the role, her family relocated from           
Staten Island to Hollywood. She produced a teen workout video in 1988 called           
Teen Steam. In 1985, Milano was in the film Commando as Jenny Matrix who was           
John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger)'s daughter. A few years later this film was       
shown in Japan prompting a producer to offer Alyssa a five album record deal.         
                                                                                       
At the beginning of her career, Milano was known mainly for her role on Who's         
the Boss? (1984-1992). She tried to shed her "nice girl" image by appearing in         
several films targeted at adults, such as Casualties of Love: The Long Island         
Lolita Story (1992), Embrace of the Vampire (1994), Confessions of a Sorority         
Girl (1994), Deadly Sins (1995), and Poison Ivy II: Lily (1995), where she             
starred opposite Johnathon Schaech and Xander Berkley. She gained more                 
mainstream success in TV as Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place (1997-1998), Meg         
Winston in Spin City and most notably as Phoebe Halliwell on Charmed (1998-2006).     
Both Milano and Holly Marie Combs became producers for Charmed during the show's       
fifth season. In 2007, Milano filmed a pilot for ABC entitled Reinventing the         
Wheelers. The series was not picked up for the 2007-2008 season. She also played       
the role of Eva Savelot in the MCI's 1-800-COLLECT commercials.                       
                                                                                       
On stage, she starred in Tender Offer, a one-act play written by Wendy                 
Wasserstein, All Night Long by American playwright John O'Keefe, and the               
first American musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. She returned to the theater in         
1991, when she starred in and produced a Los Angeles production of Butterflies         
Are Free. Milano also appeared in the Josie music video by Blink-182, and in           
2007, Milano began appearing on television again in commercials for Veet and           
SheerCover.                                                                           
                                                                                       
Milano was part of TBS' special coverage installment Hot Corner for the 2007           
Major League Baseball playoffs. She reported at Fenway Park during the ALDS           
between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. She also             
reported at Chase Field during the NLCS between the Arizona Diamondbacks and           
Colorado Rockies.                                                                     
                                                                                       
Starting in November 2007 Milano will appear in a minimum of eight episodes on         
the show My Name is Earl as a "possible love interest for Jason Lee". This will       
reunite her with Jaime Pressly who guest starred in the Season 5 premiere of           
Charmed, A Witch's Tail.