Laura San Giacomo
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Laura San Giacomo was born in West Orange, New
Jersey, to MaryJo and John San Giacomo. She was raised in the nearby
city of Denville. She went to Morris Knolls High School in Denville,
where she got the acting bug and had the lead in several school plays.
Laura got a Fine Arts degree, specializing in acting, at Carnegie
Mellon School of Drama (Pittsburgh). After graduation, she moved to New
York.
During the late 1980s (1987-89) before starting her film career, she
appeared on
Spenser: For Hire (1985),
Crime Story (1986),
The Equalizer (1985),
All My Children (1970) and
Miami Vice (1984). Her breakout
film was her first credited role in
Steven Soderbergh's
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989).
The movie won the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Prize, the Palme d'Or.
Laura received a Los Angeles Film Critics Association's New Generation
Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her role. Next, she was Kit De
Luca in Pretty Woman (1990) (1990)
opposite Julia Roberts and
Richard Gere. The film won the People's
Choice Awards for Best Comedy and Best Film.
On stage, Laura has appeared in many theater productions. She was on
the Los Angeles stage in the
Garry Marshall-Lowell Ganz
production of "Wrong Turn at Lungfish", in "North Shore Fish" (WPA
Theatre), in "Three Sisters" (Princeton/McCarter Theatre, New Jersey,
1992) and in "Beirut" (Off-Broadway, Westside Arts Theatre, New York
City, 1987). She also starred in "Italian American Reconciliation"
(Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, 1988) and "The Love Talker"
(Off-Broadway in 1988). In regional theater, Laura was in Shakespeare's
"The Tempest", "As You Like It" and "Romeo and Juliet". She also
starred in "Crimes of the Heart".
During the early 1990s, she was busy making movies
(Vital Signs (1990),
Quigley Down Under (1990),
Once Around (1991) (where she played
Holly Hunter's sister),
Under Suspicion (1991),
Where the Day Takes You (1992)
and
Nina Takes a Lover (1994)). In
1994, she also appeared in
Stephen King's television
miniseries, The Stand (1994).
During the mid 1990s, she also provided her voice to an animated series
Gargoyles (1994). Offscreen, Laura
got married to Cameron Dye in 1990 (and
divorced in 1998). They had a son, Mason, in 1996. Having a child
influenced Laura to make the transition to television. She started in
the sitcom
Just Shoot Me! (1997), which
also starred George Segal (as her
father, Jack), Wendie Malick,
Enrico Colantoni and
David Spade. Television gave her a more
regular work schedule and less traveling. The series lasted for seven
seasons and 148 episodes. She appeared in all of them together with the
other four regular cast members.
After Just Shoot Me! (1997)
was canceled in 2003, Laura appeared infrequently on television and in
feature films. She was the narrator for
Snapped (2004), a true crime series.
In 2005, she appeared in two feature films
(Checking Out (2005) and
Havoc (2005)). In 2006, she was reunited
with her Just Shoot Me! (1997)
co-star Enrico Colantoni in
Veronica Mars (2004), where she
played Harmony Chase for three episodes. In September 2006, she secured
a starring role in
Saving Grace (2007) as Grace's
(Holly Hunter's) best friend, Rhetta
Rodriguez. Laura continued to play the role through all three seasons.
Jersey, to MaryJo and John San Giacomo. She was raised in the nearby
city of Denville. She went to Morris Knolls High School in Denville,
where she got the acting bug and had the lead in several school plays.
Laura got a Fine Arts degree, specializing in acting, at Carnegie
Mellon School of Drama (Pittsburgh). After graduation, she moved to New
York.
During the late 1980s (1987-89) before starting her film career, she
appeared on
Spenser: For Hire (1985),
Crime Story (1986),
The Equalizer (1985),
All My Children (1970) and
Miami Vice (1984). Her breakout
film was her first credited role in
Steven Soderbergh's
Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989).
The movie won the Cannes Film Festival's Grand Prize, the Palme d'Or.
Laura received a Los Angeles Film Critics Association's New Generation
Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her role. Next, she was Kit De
Luca in Pretty Woman (1990) (1990)
opposite Julia Roberts and
Richard Gere. The film won the People's
Choice Awards for Best Comedy and Best Film.
On stage, Laura has appeared in many theater productions. She was on
the Los Angeles stage in the
Garry Marshall-Lowell Ganz
production of "Wrong Turn at Lungfish", in "North Shore Fish" (WPA
Theatre), in "Three Sisters" (Princeton/McCarter Theatre, New Jersey,
1992) and in "Beirut" (Off-Broadway, Westside Arts Theatre, New York
City, 1987). She also starred in "Italian American Reconciliation"
(Manhattan Theatre Club, New York City, 1988) and "The Love Talker"
(Off-Broadway in 1988). In regional theater, Laura was in Shakespeare's
"The Tempest", "As You Like It" and "Romeo and Juliet". She also
starred in "Crimes of the Heart".
During the early 1990s, she was busy making movies
(Vital Signs (1990),
Quigley Down Under (1990),
Once Around (1991) (where she played
Holly Hunter's sister),
Under Suspicion (1991),
Where the Day Takes You (1992)
and
Nina Takes a Lover (1994)). In
1994, she also appeared in
Stephen King's television
miniseries, The Stand (1994).
During the mid 1990s, she also provided her voice to an animated series
Gargoyles (1994). Offscreen, Laura
got married to Cameron Dye in 1990 (and
divorced in 1998). They had a son, Mason, in 1996. Having a child
influenced Laura to make the transition to television. She started in
the sitcom
Just Shoot Me! (1997), which
also starred George Segal (as her
father, Jack), Wendie Malick,
Enrico Colantoni and
David Spade. Television gave her a more
regular work schedule and less traveling. The series lasted for seven
seasons and 148 episodes. She appeared in all of them together with the
other four regular cast members.
After Just Shoot Me! (1997)
was canceled in 2003, Laura appeared infrequently on television and in
feature films. She was the narrator for
Snapped (2004), a true crime series.
In 2005, she appeared in two feature films
(Checking Out (2005) and
Havoc (2005)). In 2006, she was reunited
with her Just Shoot Me! (1997)
co-star Enrico Colantoni in
Veronica Mars (2004), where she
played Harmony Chase for three episodes. In September 2006, she secured
a starring role in
Saving Grace (2007) as Grace's
(Holly Hunter's) best friend, Rhetta
Rodriguez. Laura continued to play the role through all three seasons.
Funny Women of Television
Funny Women of Television
We salute the brilliant women behind all those unforgettable laughs on the small screen.