Aida Turturro, born September 25, 1962, in New York City, can be seen in numerous feature films in addition to her most well-known role as Janice on HBO's
"Sopranos" series.
Turturro has show business in her blood, attested by the careers of her cousins,
Nicholas Turturro and
John Turturro (actor-brothers), and is a long-term friend of
"Sopranos" co-star
James Gandolfini. She and
Gandolfini have made collaborate film appearances in
"Fallen" (1998) and
"Angie" (1994) -- in the latter of which,
Turturro supported the role of
Geena Davis as her best friend. In 1992,
Turturro and
Gandolfini starred with
Jessica Lange and
Alec Baldwin on Broadway in A Streetcar Named Desire.
Residing in New York for much of her life,
Turturro attended the State University of New York at New Paltz as a theater student and graduated in 1984. Her first feature-film appearance came in 1989 as Grace in
"True Love", a film involving Italian family life. She has since made numerous film and network television appearances, including the features
"Jersey Girl" and
"Denise Calls Up", and multiple episodes of both
"Law & Order" and
"Mr. & Mrs. Smith".
In 1998, she collaborated with cousin
John Turturro in a supporting role under his direction in
"Illuminata".
"Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles" (2001), a silly adventure film following up a pair of
"Dundee" hits in the 1980s, featured
Turturro in the role of Jean. In that same year, she appeared in
Edward Burns'
"Sidewalks of New York", the title of which attracted gratuitous attention to its theatrical release shortly after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. on September 11, 2001.
She enjoyed a long run on The Sopranos, and acted in her brother John's idiosyncratic musical Romance & Cigarettes, and had a major part in 2010's A Little Help. ~ Sarah Sloboda, Rovi
