Linda Fiorentino
Linda Fiorentino | |
|---|---|
| Born | Clorinda Fiorentino March 9, 1958 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Education | Rosemont College |
| Occupation | Actress, photographer |
| Years active | 1984–2009 |
| Known for | The Last Seduction (1994) Men in Black (1997) Dogma (1999) |
| Spouse(s) | John Byrum (div. 1993) |
Clorinda "Linda" Fiorentino[1] (born March 9, 1958[1][2] or 1960[3][4]) is an American former actress. Fiorentino made her screen debut with a leading role in the 1985 coming-of-age drama film Vision Quest, followed that same year with a lead role in the action film Gotcha! and an appearance in the film After Hours. Fiorentino gained attention for her lead roles in the erotic thriller Jade (1995), the science-fiction action comedy film Men in Black (1997) and the fantasy comedy Dogma (1999). For her performance in the 1994 film The Last Seduction, she won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress, the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
Early life and education[edit]
One of either seven[5] or eight children[1][6] in an Italian-American family, Fiorentino was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[1] She was raised in South Philadelphia and later moved with her family to the Turnersville section of Washington Township in nearby South Jersey.[7]
In 1976, Fiorentino graduated from Washington Township High School in Sewell, New Jersey.[8] She began performing in plays at Rosemont College in suburban Philadelphia, from which she graduated in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science.[1][7][9] She trained at the Circle in the Square Theater School in Manhattan while working as a bartender at the nightclub Kamikaze, where Bruce Willis also worked.[6]
Career[edit]
Fiorentino got her first professional role in 1985 when she starred in Vision Quest as "Carla". Film critic Roger Ebert said of the newcomer, "Without having met the actress, it's impossible for me to speculate on how much of Carla is original work and how much is Fiorentino's personality. What comes across, though, is a woman who is enigmatic without being egotistical, detached without being cold, self-reliant without being suspicious. She has a way of talking - kind of deliberately objective - that makes you listen to everything she says."[10] In a 1994 appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, Fiorentino said she chose to stop acting for a period of time after Warner Bros. executive Mark Canton told her during the filming of Vision Quest, "you have a great ass, but I think your jeans need to be tighter." She said she returned to acting later to pay off mounting credit card debt.[11]
In 1985 she starred in the espionage comedy film Gotcha! which was filmed in Los Angeles, California; Paris, France; and Berlin, Germany.[12] Her co-star, Anthony Edwards, later directed her in Charlie's Ghost Story.
After having taken various roles she next received accolades for her performance in director John Dahl's 1994 neo noir film The Last Seduction, playing the murderous femme fatale, Bridget. Her performance won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress and the London Film Critics' Circle Award for Actress of the Year, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She followed this as the femme fatale in the 1995 erotic thriller Jade, a critical and box-office failure. She later worked again with Dahl on his film Unforgettable (1996).
Fiorentino played the female lead in the highly successful Men in Black in 1997, then appeared in the direct-to-video Body Count in 1998.[13] In 1999, she starred in Dogma as an abortion clinic employee tasked with saving the world. The film and Fiorentino’s performance drew negative reviews and she did not get along with director Kevin Smith, which garnered negative press for her.
After a co-starring role with Paul Newman in the 2000 heist film Where the Money Is, and a lead role as the titular character in the 2002 film Liberty Stands Still, Fiorentino's career slowed to a halt. She was in talks to star in a series being prepared by Tom Fontana, but ultimately did not take the project.[14] Fiorentino was attached to a Georgia O'Keeffe biographical drama called Till the End of Time, but the project stalled when Fiorentino had a falling out with German producer Karel Dirka.[15]
In 2007, Fiorentino optioned the rights to a screenplay about Russian poet Anna Akhmatova, with plans to produce and to possibly star in and direct, but the project was dropped. During this period, she was reported to be developing two documentaries,[16] neither of which moved forward.
Her last screen role was a supporting character in Once More with Feeling in 2009, the same year that her involvement in an incident came to light, relating to her criminal ex-boyfriend and the conviction of her FBI ex-boyfriend. The film was released direct to video.
Personal life[edit]
Fiorentino divorced film director and writer John Byrum in 1993.[6][17] Her sister Donya Fiorentino, who was a model, was married to filmmaker David Fincher and then to actor Gary Oldman.[18][19][20]
In 2009, former Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Mark T. Rossini pleaded guilty to illegally accessing FBI computers during the prosecution of Los Angeles private investigator Anthony Pellicano. Law enforcement officials said Fiorentino previously had a relationship with Pellicano and wanted to assist his defense.[21] According to prosecutors, Fiorentino was then dating Rossini, and told him she was researching a screenplay based on the case. He conducted searches of government computers for information related to the Pellicano case and passed the results to Fiorentino,[22] who then handed the files over to Pellicano's lawyers in a failed effort to help Pellicano avoid a 15-year prison sentence.[21]
Filmography[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "Linda Fiorentino". TV Guide. Archived from the original on July 22, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- ^ "Linda Fiorentino: Facts & Data". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on November 20, 2019. Retrieved November 19, 2019.
- ^ "Linda Fiorentino". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on November 23, 2018.
- ^ "Linda Fiorentino Filmography". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2019.
- ^ Gaul, Lou (April 23, 2000). "Actress tries to remain unforgettable". The Beaver County Times. Beaver, Pennsylvania: Calkins Newspapers. Retrieved October 4, 2013.
- ^ a b c Longsdorf, Amy (February 24, 1996). "Spotlight on Linda Fiorentino & John Dahl: Director, Actress Make an 'Unforgettable' Team". The Morning Call. Allentown, Pennsylvania. Archived from the original on June 25, 2020. Retrieved June 25, 2020.
- ^ a b Donahue, Deirdre (May 27, 1985). "Leggy Linda Fiorentino says Gotcha! to Some of the Silver Screen's Cutest Virgin Hunks". People. Time Inc. Archived from the original on August 14, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
- ^ Musket '76: The Yearbook of Washington Township High School. Sewell, New Jersey: Washington Township High School, Washington Township Public School District. 1976. p. 62 – via Ancestry.com.(subscription required)
- ^ "Linda Fiorentino: About". TCM.com. New York City: Turner Classic Movies. 2021. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
- ^ "Vision Quest movie review & film summary (1985) | Roger Ebert".
- ^ Linda Fiorentino on Letterman. April 30, 2020. Archived from the original on November 18, 2021. Retrieved May 7, 2021 – via YouTube.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (May 3, 1985). "Screen: The 'Gotcha!' Game". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 28, 2020.
- ^ "Fiorentino takes 'Split'". Variety. December 3, 1996. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
- ^ Schneider, Michael; Adalian, Josef (March 28, 2001). "'Law' chases Fiorentino, literally". Variety. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
- ^ "Inside Move: O'Keeffe suit dropped". July 17, 2003.
- ^ McNary, Dave (July 16, 2007). "Fiorentino revives Russian poet". Variety. Archived from the original on September 1, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
- ^ Gaul, Lou (April 23, 2000). "Actress tries to remain unforgettable". The Beaver County Times. Beaver, Pennsylvania: Calkins Newspapers. Retrieved September 13, 2021.
- ^ "Regrets Only". Los Angeles. May 1997. p. 22.
- ^ Walker, Tim (October 8, 2010). "David Fincher: All the best connections". The Independent. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
- ^ Matheou, Demetrios (September 18, 2011). "Gary Oldman: The spy who came in, and brought the cold with him". The Independent. Archived from the original on February 14, 2019. Retrieved June 22, 2015.
- ^ a b Wilber, Del Quentin (May 15, 2009). "Ex-FBI Agent Mark Rossini Sentenced for Using Bureau Computers in Pellicano Case". The Washington Post. Washington, D.C. Archived from the original on October 5, 2019.
- ^ Stein, Jeff (January 14, 2015). "The Inside Information That Could Have Stopped 9/11". Newsweek. New York City, New York. Archived from the original on October 8, 2019.
External links[edit]
- Linda Fiorentino at IMDb
- Linda Fiorentino (television). Charlie Rose (PBS). April 14, 2000. Retrieved September 1, 2017. Includes link to text transcript. Transcript archived from the original on November 28, 2017.
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
| Other | |
- Living people
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- American people of Italian descent
- Actresses from New Jersey
- Rosemont College alumni
- Actresses from Philadelphia
- Circle in the Square Theatre School alumni
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead winners
- People from Washington Township, Gloucester County, New Jersey
- 1958 births