Alyssa Milano
From Charmed
Alyssa Milano (born December 19, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York) portrays Phoebe Halliwell.
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[edit] Biography
Alyssa Milano is the daughter of Italian-American parents Lin, a fashion designer, and Tom, a film music editor. Alyssa was born in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn and grew up in a modest house on Staten Island. One day, her babysitter, who was an aspiring dancer, dragged Alyssa along to a an open audtion for the first national tour of Annie. But it was Alyssa, not the sitter, who beat out 1,500 other wanna be stage actresses to snag a role. So at the tender age of seven, with her mother in tow, Alyssa joined the tour as July, one of the orphans. After 18 months on the road, Alyssa, who had begun to garner a reputation as an energetic and charismatic young actress, left Annie to be featured in off-Broadway productions and television commercials. Then, in 1983 at age 10, she landed her breakthrough role on the new sitcom "Who's the Boss?" (1984) as Tony Danza's saccharine sweet daughter, Samantha Micelli, a kid whose native Brooklyn accent rivaled her TV dad's. In order for Alyssa to accept the gig, the Milano family had to uproot and move 3,000 miles to Hollywood.
[edit] Career
- Who's the Boss? (1984-1992)
- Poison Ivy 2: Lily (1996)
- Fear (1996)
- Melrose Place (1997-98)
- Lady and the Tramp 2 (2001) (voice)
- Charmed (1998-2006)
- The Blue Hour (2007)
- My Name Is Earl (2007-2008)
[edit] Personal Life
Alyssa has dyslexia. In an interview in 2004, Milano explained how she deals with the disorder:
"I've stumbled over words while reading from teleprompters. Sir John Gielgud, whom I worked with on The Canterville Ghost years ago, gave me great advice. When I asked how he memorized his monologues, he said, 'I write them down.' I use that method to this day. It not only familiarizes me with the words, it makes them my own."
She is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 2007 she created her own signature "Touch" line of team apparel for female baseball fans, currently available on Major League Baseball's website, along with her own baseball blog, which began selling in 2009, through a boutique store located in Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. She has an interest in the Los Angeles Kings, a National Hockey League team and is involved with a related clothing line. In 2008, she expanded that to NFL football, as a New York Giants fan. Since Milano is in the same hometown as NFL Network's Rich Eisen (Staten Island), she revealed some of her family's connections with the New York Giants while she picked the winners of NFL games for week 7 of 2008.
Milano has eight tattoos on her body, including one on each wrist and ankle, shoulder, neck, hip, and lower back. Milano is a vegetarian and appears in numerous PETA advertising campaigns for vegetarianism. Outside of acting, her hobbies include photography, humanitarian work, and spending time with her three dogs and eight horses. In 2005, she was ranked #5 in the "50 Cutest Child Stars — All Grown Up".
Milano was briefly married to singer-songwriter Cinjun Tate in 1999; they were divorced later that same year. She briefly dated Justin Timberlake in 2002. She has dated a number of professional athletes, including Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Barry Zito and Russell Martin. She is currently engaged to CAA agent David Bugliari; the couple became engaged on December 18, 2008, after more than a year of dating. The couple were married on August 15, 2009 in an italian, garden-themed ceremony at her parents' New Jersey estate.
[edit] Trivia
- Alyssa has dyslexia
- Alyssa loves Baseball but hated the fact that there was no baseball clothing for woman. This is the reason behind her own clothing line Touch by Alyssa Milano.
- She is a big fan of the LA Dodgers.
- Alyssa is a big supporter of "Trick or Treat for UINCEF".
- Alyssa is a big supporter of PETA.
- Alyssa is a vegetarian and supports it openly
- She is a big part of the "Help to cure AIDS" in Africa.
- She has a best-selling excercise video in 1988 called Teen Steam.
- Holly Marie Combs and Shannen Doherty were her bridesmaids at her wedding to Cinjun August Tate.
- Alyssa is allergic to soy products.
- Alyssa and Holly are close friends.
