Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Milano

Active - 1984 - 2023  |   Born - Dec 19, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York, United States  |   Genres - Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

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Biography by AllMovie

Born and raised in Brooklyn to Italian-American parents, actress Alyssa Milano started acting on the stage in a national tour of Annie at the age of eight. She rose to teen stardom as the tomboyish Samantha Micelli on the ABC sitcom Who's the Boss, which ran from 1984-1992. Never really making the transition to feature films, she appeared in sleazy made-for-TV movies, provocative ad campaigns, and nude photographs. In one of her more prominent TV performances, she portrayed Amy Fisher in Casualties of Love: The "Long Island Lolita" Story on CBS in 1993. Her few feature film credits include the quirky romantic comedy Hugo Pool and the thriller Below Utopia, starring Ice-T. She joined the cast of Melrose Place on FOX for the 1997-1998 season before moving over to the WB for Charmed, co-starring Shannen Doherty and Holly Marie Combs. In the late '90s, she released several pop/rock albums, which did quite well in Japan. Since the popularity of Charmed, she's appeared in major television ad campaigns and the comedies Kiss the Bride, Buying the Cow, and Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. She would go on to enjoy TV runs on My Name is Earl and Romantically Challenged, and movies like Hall Pass and New Year's Eve. In 2013, she returned to being a series regular on TV in the primetime soap Mistresses. After winning several legal battles involving her nude images on the Internet, Milano helped to launch the index safesearching.com.

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Factsheet

  • Toured the U.S. in a production of the musical Annie, as one of the orphans, at the age of 7.
  • Featured in an exercise video for teens in 1988.
  • Has released five albums in Japan; all went platinum.
  • Played Amy Fisher in the TV-movie Casualties of Love: The 'Long Island Lolita' Story (1993).
  • Joined the cast of Melrose Place from 1997-98.
  • She and her family created a family-friendly Web site for searching out celebrities in movies, television and music. This came on the heels of unscrupulous use of her image on the Internet.
  • In 2007, launched Touch, a sports-clothing line for women.
  • An avid baseball fan, she wrote Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic; the 2009 book included a foreword by famed manager Joe Torre.
  • Is a vegetarian who is active with PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals).
  • She has also been involved in UNICEF.