Edie Falco | |
|---|---|
 Falco in 2025 | |
| Born | Edith Falco (1963-07-05)July 5, 1963 (age 62) New York City, U.S. |
| Education | State University of New York at Purchase (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Edward Falco (uncle) |
| Awards | Full list |
Edith Falco (born July 5, 1963)[1] is an American actress. A prominent figure in American television, she is known for her roles on stage and screen and has receivednumerous accolades including fourPrimetime Emmy Awards, twoGolden Globe Awards, and fiveScreen Actors Guild Awards, as well as a nomination for aTony Award.
Her role as mob wifeCarmela Soprano on theHBO seriesThe Sopranos garnered widespread acclaim, and is often regarded as one of the greatest performances in television history, with Falco winning threePrimetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] She also received aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for playing the title role in theShowtime seriesNurse Jackie (2009–2015). She was Emmy-nominated for her roles as C.C. Cunningham in30 Rock (2008) andLeslie Abramson inLaw & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders (2018). She also has acted in theNBC seriesHomicide: Life on the Street (1993–1997), theHBO prison dramaOz (1997–2000), the web seriesHorace and Pete (2016), and theFX seriesImpeachment: American Crime Story (2021).
On film, she made her film debut in the dramaSweet Lorraine (1987). Her film work includes lead roles inLaws of Gravity (1992), for which she was nominated for theIndependent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, andJudy Berlin (1999), and supporting roles in films includingBullets Over Broadway (1994),Sunshine State (2002),Freedomland (2006),The Comedian (2016), andAvatar: The Way of Water (2022).
She made herBroadway debut in theWarren Leight playSide Man (1999). For her role as Bananas Shaughnessy in the Broadway revival of theJohn Guare playThe House of Blue Leaves (2011) she received a nomination for aTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. She has acted in the Broadway revivals of the playsFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (2002), and'night, Mother (2004).
Falco was born in the New York City borough ofBrooklyn on July 5, 1963, the daughter of Judith Anderson, an actress, and Frank Falco, a jazz drummer who later worked for an advertising agency.[9][10] Her father was of Italian descent and her mother had Swedish, English andCornish (1/16th) ancestry.[11][12][13] She has two brothers, Joseph and Paul, and a sister, Ruth. Her uncle is novelist, playwright, and poetEdward Falco. In 2012, Falco was the subject of an episode ofWho Do You Think You Are? which focused on one of her ancestors, a Cornishmaster mariner fromPenzance who was born at sea and died in 1840.[14][15][16]
From the age of four, Falco was raised onLong Island, moving with her family toHicksville, thenNorth Babylon, and finallyWest Islip.[9][17] As a child, she acted in plays at the Arena Players Repertory Theater inEast Farmingdale, where her mother also performed.[9][10][18] Her family eventually moved toNorthport, where she attended high school and playedEliza Doolittle in a production ofMy Fair Lady during her senior year.[9][10] Falco graduated fromNorthport High School in 1981.[9][10] She attended the acting program atState University of New York at Purchase,[9][10][19] and graduated in 1986 with aBachelor of Fine Arts in acting.[20]
Early in her career, Falco made appearances on television shows likeLaw & Order andHomicide: Life on the Street.Tom Fontana, executive producer ofHomicide, cast Falco as Eva Thormann, the wife of an injured police officer, after watching Falco's performance inLaws of Gravity, a 1992 film directed byNick Gomez. Fontana said of her, "She's an actress who's unadorned by any embroidery. She does everything with such simplicity and honesty, it's breathtaking."[21] A struggling actress at the time, Falco said her salary from these television episodes paid for one month's worth of rent.[22] She debuted on the big screen in 1987'sSweet Lorraine starringMaureen Stapleton.[23]
Later, she had a small speaking role in theWoody Allen comedy filmBullets Over Broadway (1994). Her friendship with formerSUNY Purchase classmateEric Mendelsohn, who was the assistant to Allen's costume designer, Jeffrey Kurland, helped her to be cast in the role. Mendelsohn went on to direct Falco in his feature filmJudy Berlin, for which he won Best Director honors at theSundance Film Festival. Falco would later go on to star in Mendelsohn's next film3 Backyards, for which he won Best Director a second time.[24]
During this time, Falco appeared in the filmsTrust,Cop Land,Private Parts (a nonspeaking part), andRandom Hearts. OnBroadway, she appeared in theTony Award-winningSide Man. In 1997, Falco started portraying prison officerDiane Whittlesey, in theHBO prison drama seriesOz. Falco got the role after working with Fontana onHomicide.[25]
Falco received her breakout role in theHBO dramaThe Sopranos created byDavid Chase, which premiered in 1999 and ended in 2007. She portrayedCarmela Soprano, wife ofMafia bossTony Soprano played byJames Gandolfini. The series received wide acclaim, and is often considered to be one of the greatest television series of all time.[26][27][28][29] For her performance on the series, Falco won numerous awards including threePrimetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for the episodes "College" (1999), "Second Opinion" (2001), and "Whitecaps" (2003).[30] She also earned twoGolden Globe Awards for Best Actress – Television Series Drama and fiveScreen Actors Guild Awards.[31]
As of 2008, Falco,The X-Files starGillian Anderson,Ugly Betty starAmerica Ferrera, and30 Rock'sTina Fey were the only actresses to have received aGolden Globe, anEmmy, and aSAG Award in the same year. Falco won these awards in 2003 for her performance as Carmela Soprano during the fourth season ofThe Sopranos. In the show's final season Alessandra Stanley ofThe New York Times wrote, "The series has always distinguished itself by the quality of its actors, but this season Ms. Falco depicts even more deeply than before, if that's possible, the full range of a mother and wife's anguish."[32]
During her tenure onThe Sopranos, Falco appeared in films such asFreedomland andJohn Sayles'Sunshine State, for which she received the Los Angeles Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress.[33] Falco also guest starred on the television seriesWill & Grace[34] and had a recurring role as C.C. Cunningham on the second season of theNBCsitcom30 Rock as Celeste Cunningham, the later of which earned her a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series. She appeared in the Broadway revivals ofFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune oppositeStanley Tucci, and'night, Mother oppositeBrenda Blethyn.[35]
Falco starred as the title character, Nurse Jackie Peyton, in theShowtimedark comedy seriesNurse Jackie, which premiered on June 8, 2009, and ended on June 28, 2015. For the first season, she won her fourthPrimetime Emmy Award, this time forOutstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. She also received nominations for fourGolden Globe Awards and eightScreen Actors Guild Awards.[36][37][38] Alessandra Stanley ofThe New York Times wrote, "It's the compelling, enigmatic heroine who holds the errant pieces together. Jackie is not Carmela, but Ms. Falco brings some of Carmela's prosaic manner and harsh certainty to the new role. Jackie has a very dry and mitigating sense of humor, but her righteous streak steers the story."[39]
Falco returned to Broadway portraying the part of Bananas in therevival of theJohn Guare playThe House of Blue Leaves (2011) inNew York City at theWalter Kerr Theatre withBen Stiller andJennifer Jason Leigh.[40] For her performance, she received a nomination for theTony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.[41] Theatre criticBen Brantley ofThe New York Times wrote in his review for the show, that "Ms. Falco endows the anguished Bananas with such unvarnished emotional transparency — and clinical exactness — that it hurts to look at her."[42] Marilyn Stasio ofVariety wrote, "Falco is kind of [a] genius...What floors us is Falco's ability to play both comedy and tragedy in the same breath".[43]
It was announced in January 2013 that Falco would star in Liz Flahive'sThe Madrid off-Broadway. The limited engagement, directed by Leigh Silverman, began previews on February 5 with an official opening on February 26. Along with Falco, the play starred John Ellison,Christopher Evan Welch, Phoebe Strole, andFrances Sternhagen.[44] In 2016, Falco started portraying Sylvia Wittel on theLouis C.K. seriesHorace and Pete acting alongside C.K.,Steve Buscemi,Alan Alda andLaurie Metcalf. The first episode was released on January 30, 2016, on C.K.'s website without any prior announcements.[45] New episodes premiered weekly until the tenth episode was released on April 2, 2016.[46] In the series, Falco portrayed Horace and Sylvia's abused mother. James Poniewozik ofThe New York Times noted "Louis C. K. is reportedly submittingHorace and Pete for the Emmys as a drama. If it gets a nomination — Mr. Alda, Mr. Buscemi, Ms. Falco and Ms. Metcalf would all be strong picks".[47]
In September 2017, she began portrayingLeslie Abramson in the first season of theNBCtrue crimeanthology seriesLaw & Order True Crime, subtitledThe Menendez Murders.[48] The role earned her a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the70th Primetime Emmy Awards.[49] That same year she reunited withLouis C.K. for his filmI Love You, Daddy (2017) starring C.K.,Chloë Grace Moretz,Charlie Day,Rose Byrne, andJohn Malkovich. The film premiered at the2017 Toronto International Film Festival. In the film Falco plays C.K.'s long-suffering production manager.[50] The film's release was cancelled after misconduct allegations against C.K. were released byThe New York Times.[51] Falco stated of the film's cancellation, "I was sad. I know that he worked very hard on it. He makes his own stuff and puts it out, and I love that chutzpah"; she also added that C.K. deserves a second chance after owning up to his inappropriate behavior.[52]
In 2020, she appeared as the lead character in thePaul AttanasioCBS police dramaTommy. Falco originally reprised her breakout role asCarmela Soprano for the 2021 filmThe Many Saints of Newark, a prequel toThe Sopranos. However, her scenes were cut from the finished film.[53] Falco also starred in the FX true crime seriesImpeachment: American Crime Story (2021) portrayingHillary Rodham Clinton oppositeClive Owen'sBill Clinton andBeanie Feldstein'sMonica Lewinsky. Ines Bellina ofA.V. Club wrote, "Falco expertly guides us through a whole smorgasbord of human emotions. From rage to heartache to regret to shame to longing to pride to a pure, pure ache, we ride that emotional roller coaster firmly by her side".[54] In 2023 she played Amy Davidson, a fictional version ofPete Davidson's mother, in his semi-autobiographical seriesBupkis onPeacock. It was announced in May 2024 that the series had ended after its first season.[55]
In 2002Stanley Tucci left his family for Falco, with whom he was appearing on Broadway inTerrence McNally'sFrankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, but theaffair ended, and he returned to his wife and children.[56] She adopted a son in 2005 and a daughter in 2008.[57] Falco is aBuddhist.[58][59]
Falco has been in a relationship with musician Keith Cotton since 2023.[60][61]
She is avegan and has worked withPETA on projects, including a public-service message urging parents to keep their children away from the circus.[62] She toldParade magazine, "I believe this is at the base of everything bad in society—you can bring it back to cruelty to animals. If you don't have respect for the life of any kind, it will manifest in more obvious ways."[63]
During the2004 U.S. presidential election, Falco appeared in a 30-second television commercial on behalf of Mothers OpposingBush in which she said, "Mothers always put their children first. Mr. Bush, can you say the same?"[64] Falco has become the spokesperson forHealth Care for America Now and appeared onCNN on June 25, 2009.[65]
Falco has struggled withalcoholism and decided to become sober in the early 1990s after "one particular night of debauchery." She said in an interview that it was difficult to be around the hard-partying cast ofThe Sopranos, stating, "This cast, in particular, they really love to hang out and party. They make it look like fun. And it was fun for me! They spend a lot more time without me than with me, by my own choice. I'm always invited, and I'm always there for two minutes and I leave, because I can't live in that world anymore. It's too dangerous."[66] She is an advocate ofAlcoholics Anonymous' 12-step program.[67]
In 2003, Falco was diagnosed withbreast cancer. She chose not to make the news public until the following year.[66]
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Sweet Lorraine[68] | Karen | Credited as Edith Falco |
| 1989 | The Unbelievable Truth | Jane – The Waitress | |
| Sidewalk Stories | Woman in Carriage | ||
| 1990 | Trust | Peg Coughlin | |
| 1991 | I Was on Mars | Female Cab Driver | |
| 1992 | Laws of Gravity | Denise | |
| Time Expired | Ginny | Short film | |
| 1993 | Rift | Film Director | |
| 1994 | Bullets Over Broadway | Lorna | |
| 1995 | The Addiction | Jean | |
| Backfire! | Mom | ||
| 1996 | Layin' Low | Angie | |
| The Funeral | Union Speaker | ||
| Breathing Room | Marcy | ||
| Childhood's End | Patty | ||
| 1997 | Hurricane Streets | Joanna | |
| Private Parts | Alison's Friend | Uncredited | |
| Cop Land | Berta (Bomb Squad Agent) | ||
| Trouble on the Corner | Vivian Stewart | ||
| Cost of Living | Billie | ||
| 1998 | Blind Light | Diana DiBianco | |
| A Price Above Rubies | Feiga | ||
| 1999 | Judy Berlin | Judy Berlin | |
| Stringer | TV Producer | ||
| Random Hearts | Janice | ||
| 2000 | Death of a Dog | Mom | |
| Overnight Sensation | Festival Coordinator | ||
| 2002 | Sunshine State | Marly Temple | |
| 2004 | Family of the Year | ||
| 2005 | The Girl from Monday | Judge | |
| The Great New Wonderful | Safarah Polsky | Segment: "Emme's Story" | |
| The Quiet | Olivia Deer | ||
| 2006 | Freedomland | Karen Colluci | |
| 2010 | 3 Backyards | Peggy | |
| 2013 | Gods Behaving Badly | Artemis | |
| 2016 | The Comedian | Miller | |
| 2017 | Landline | Pat Jacobs | |
| Megan Leavey | Jackie Leavey | ||
| Outside In | Carol Beasley | ||
| I Love You, Daddy | Paula | ||
| 2018 | Every Act of Life | Herself | Documentary |
| Viper Club | Charlotte | ||
| The Land of Steady Habits | Helene Harris | ||
| 2022 | Avatar: The Way of Water | General Frances Ardmore | |
| 2023 | Fool's Paradise | The Agent | |
| The Mother | Eleanor Williams | ||
| I'll Be Right There | Wanda | ||
| 2025 | The Parenting | Dorothy | |
| Avatar: Fire and Ash † | General Frances Ardmore | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–1995 | Loving | Nurse Becker | Recurring role, 14 episodes |
| 1993–1997 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Eva Thormann | Recurring role, 5 episodes |
| 1993–1998 | Law & Order | Sally Bell | 4 episodes |
| 1995–1997 | New York Undercover | Sgt. Kelly | 3 episodes |
| 1996 | The Sunshine Boys | Carol | Television film |
| 1997 | Firehouse | Kate Wilkinson | Television film |
| 1997 | Fargo | Marge Gunderson | Cancelled television series pilot |
| 1997–2000 | Oz | Diane Whittlesey | Recurring role, 23 episodes |
| 1999–2007 | The Sopranos | Carmela Soprano | Main role, 85 episodes |
| 2000 | The Sight | Ghost | Television film, uncredited |
| 2001 | Jenifer | Wheelchair Saleswoman | Teleivison film |
| 2004 | Will & Grace | Deirdre | 1 episode |
| 2007–2008 | 30 Rock | Celeste "C. C." Cunningham | Recurring role, 4 episodes |
| 2009–2015 | Nurse Jackie | Jackie Peyton | Main role, 80 episodes |
| 2016 | Horace and Pete | Sylvia | Main role, 8 episodes |
| 2017 | Law & Order True Crime | Leslie Abramson | Lead role, 8 episodes |
| 2018 | Animals. | Psycho (voice) | 1 episode |
| 2020 | Tommy | Abigail "Tommy" Thomas | Main role, 12 episodes |
| Impractical Jokers: Dinner Party | Herself | 1 episode | |
| 2021 | Impeachment: American Crime Story | Hillary Clinton | Main role, 7 episodes |
| 2023 | Bupkis | Amy Davidson | Main role |
| The Other Two[69] | Herself | 1 episode | |
| 2025 | Mayor of Kingstown | Nina Hobbs | Main role (season 4) |
| Year | Title | Role | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Side Man | Terry | Classic Stage Company, Off-Broadway | [70] |
| 1999 | Terry (replacement) | John Golden Theatre,Broadway | [71] | |
| 2002 | Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune | Frankie | Belasco Theatre, Broadway | [72] |
| 2004–2005 | 'night, Mother | Jessie Cates | Royale Theatre, Broadway | [73] |
| 2010 | This Wide Night | Lorraine | Peter Jay Sharp Theater, Off-Broadway | [74] |
| 2011 | The House of Blue Leaves | Bananas Shaughnessy | Walter Kerr Theatre, Broadway | [75] |
| 2013 | The Madrid | Martha | New York City Center - Stage I, Off-Broadway | [76] |
| 2018 | The True | Dorothea "Polly" Noonan | Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre, Off-Broadway | [77] |
| 2021 | Morning Sun | Charley | New York City Center - Stage I, Off-Broadway | [78] |
| 2024 | Pre-Existing Condition | A | Connelly Theater, Off-Broadway | [79] |
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