Alyssa Milano
Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress, producer and former singer, best known for portraying Phoebe Halliwell on The WB television series Charmed (1998–2006). Milano first rose to fame on television for her childhood role as Samantha Micelli on the ABC sitcom series Who’s the Boss? (1984–1992). She also portrayed the role of Jennifer Mancini on the Fox soap opera Melrose Place (1997–98). Milano has a female sports apparel line, Touch.Alyssa Milano is the daughter of Lin, a fashion designer and talent manager, and Thomas M. Milano, a film music editor.Milano was born in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and lived there until a neighborhood shooting prompted the family to relocate to Staten Island. She has a younger brother, Cory (b. 1982), who is also an actor. In a 2003 interview, Milano recalled having had a good childhood, having grown up in a “loving, true family.” Having grown up in front of the camera, Milano did not feel that it jeopardized her childhood: “I love my family very much – they’ve really backed my career. I consider myself to be normal: I’ve got to clean my room, and help in the kitchen.”Milano is cousins with actors Eric Lloyd and Emily Ann Lloyd.
Milano began her career at age eight after winning a role in an open audition for a national tour of Annie. She was one of the four picked out of an audition with over 1,500 girls. She appeared in off-Broadway productions and television commercials, the latter of which she hated doing because of the long hours. Alongside the theater productions, she played a supporting role in the low-budget independent film Old Enough, which she recalled as a “great” way for “starting out”. At age 10, she won her first major role in the television sitcom Who’s the Boss? alongside Tony Danza, Judith Light, Danny Pintauro and Katherine Helmond. She co-starred as Samantha Micelli, the daughter of Danza’s character. After Milano won the role, she and her father relocated from Staten Island to Hollywood. The rest of the family followed a year later, because her mother was initially unwilling to give up her home life “for a show that wasn’t a guarantee.” Although born and raised in Brooklyn, Milano had trouble getting this accent right because she worked to lose it to land more roles in the theater, including in a stage adaption of Jane Eyre. Throughout Who’s the Boss?, Milano felt a strong connection with co-star Danza.On stage, she starred in Tender Offer, a one-act play written by Wendy Wasserstein, All Night Long by American playwright John O’Keefe, and the first American musical adaptation of Jane Eyre. She returned to the theater in 1991, when she starred in and produced a Los Angeles production of Butterflies Are Free from December 26 until January 19, 1992. In 1985, Milano was in the film Commando as Jenny Matrix, daughter of John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Appearing at age 12 in an R-rated action film, Milano admitted she was sometimes “freaked out” by the weapons on set. A few years later this film was shown in Japan, prompting a producer to offer Milano a five-album record deal. Milano’s albums, which she described as “bubblegum pop”, scored platinum in the country, though she in later life showed her discontent in its musical quality. Subsequently, she appeared opposite John Gielgud in the children’s film The Canterville Ghost (1986). The film did not achieve much praise or attention, and Variety magazine noted in its review: “Milano as the catalyzing daughter Jennifer adapts to the ghostly Sir Simon without a qualm; that, of course, is the true charm of the story, but Milano doesn’t exhibit enough presence to match the droll, charming Gielgud. By the late 1980s, Milano was established as a teen idol, appearing in made-for-television teen films such as Crash Course and Dance ’til Dawn (both 1988). Both projects allowed her to work alongside close personal friend Brian Bloom. Bloom and his brother Scott worked with Milano in episodes of Who’s the Boss. This working camaraderie would later expand in 1993 when Milano guest starred in Brian’s series The Webbers. She produced a teen workout video in 1988 called Teen Steam and achieved some fame outside the USA with her music career, which lasted until the early 1990s. Even though she scored platinum in Japan, Milano had no interest to pursue a music career in the United States, explaining: “I’m not interested in crossing over. I’d much rather have it released where it’s appreciated than laughed at.” Simultaneously, she wrote a weekly column called “From Alyssa, with love” for the teen magazine Teen Machine. In 1991, Milano wanted to quit acting to pursue an academic career, but was unable to gain release from her contract. When her role on Who’s the Boss ended in 1992, Milano feared having trouble obtaining other roles, aware of the fate of many grown-up child stars in that period. Nevertheless, she was excited when she found out the show was cancelled, being ready “to move on”, and enthusiastic to “showcase” what she was able to doing. Looking back on eight years of playing the same role, Milano commented: “Creatively, it’s been very frustrating. I gave her more of a personality. I changed her wardrobe, cut her hair, anything to give her new life.” She put her plans to pursue academic goals on hold, due to her negative prospect of having to be in class for four more years after experiencing eight structured years on a set. Instead, Milano auditioned for nearly every film role in her age bracket, including B movies and finally tried to shed her “nice girl” image by appearing nude in several erotic films targeted at adults, such as Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story (1993), Embrace of the Vampire (1994), Deadly Sins (1995), and Poison Ivy II: Lily (1996). Milano said she learned from the nude appearances, particularly to have a nudity clause in her contracts which gives her “full control” over all her nude scenes. In a 1995 interview, she explained her motivation for some explicit scenes in Embrace of the Vampire: “I’m not going to say that I was manipulated into doing things that I didn’t want to do. I did it because it was a woman director and I felt protected. And I learned a lot as far as knowing where the camera is and what coverage they need so that it’s not all explicit.”Before, in 1991, Milano auditioned for female lead as a homeless teenager in the independent film Where the Day Takes You. Although the crew was reluctant to sign a former child star, she was given a small role as a prostitute in the production. Even though she feared that viewers would only recognize her as “the girl from Who’s the Boss?”, she was noticed by the media, that helped her land the controversial role of Amy Fisher in the high profile TV movie Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story. Milano said that her portrayal of Amy Fisher was more based on Joey Buttafuoco’s point of view. In 1994, she was considered to replace Shannen Doherty in Beverly Hills, 90210. In 1996, Milano appeared opposite Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon in the thriller Fear. Even though the film did not receive very positive reviews, Los Angeles Times called Milano “very good” in the production.
Her performance in Fear led to a starring role in Hugo Pool (1997), her first film released through cinemas since Commando. Despite the milestone, Milano was soon out of work and after a period of six months, she decided to return to television. She portrayed bad girl Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place (1997–1998), Meg Winston in Spin City, and most notably as Phoebe Halliwell on the eight-year run of the popular hit TV series Charmed (1998–2006). Her role on Melrose Place was offered to the actress by Aaron Spelling himself in late 1996. Of why he chose Milano, Spelling said: “We were looking for someone with sparkle. Alyssa was the perfect choice.” The stint garnered her new fame and she was named the most successful and popular actress on the primetime soap, alongside Heather Locklear. Milano and close friend Holly Marie Combs became producers for Charmed during the show’s fifth season.
She played the role of Eva Savelot in MCI Inc. commercials. In 2007, Milano filmed a pilot for ABC entitled Reinventing the Wheelers. The series was not picked up for the 2007–2008 season, but instead, Milano appeared in ten episodes of the show My Name Is Earl. This reunited her with Jaime Pressly, who guest-starred in the two-part Season 5 premiere of Charmed, “A Witch’s Tail”. Milano’s commercial work includes appearing in the “Josie” music video by Blink-182, as well as 2007 television ads for Veet and Sheer Cover. She also appeared in mid-1980s commercial for Hi-C Milano was part of TBS’s special coverage installment Hot Corner for the 2007 Major League Baseball playoffs. She reported at Fenway Park during the ALDS between the Boston Red Sox and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. She also reported at Chase Field during the NLCS between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. Milano starred in the 2008 film Pathology alongside Milo Ventimiglia and was then cast in a television sitcom, Single with Parents, which was pulled prior to production. On March 20, 2009, it was announced that Milano would provide a voice for the Ghostbusters: The Video Game. In a 2010 interview, she told the press that she had ‘a blast’ working on the game, although she recalled it being ‘odd’ having to grunt in a room alone. It was speculated that following the voice over in the video game, she was set to star in Ghostbusters III, although Milano claimed she was never approached. On March 24, 2009, her book on her baseball fandom, Safe At Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic, was released. Milano has signed on to star in and produce My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend, a romantic comedy in which she plays a woman with a relationship dilemma. Milano starred in the sitcom Romantically Challenged as Rebecca Thomas, a recently divorced single mom attorney in Pittsburgh who has not dated “since Bill Clinton was president”. The series premiered on ABC on April 19, 2010. On why she accepted the role, Milano commented: “I was so attracted to the writing. Our creative showrunner is Ricky Blitt from Family Guy and I was struck at how funny the female characters were written. Usually the female characters are written pretty straightforward, like the straight-man but with Ricky’s writing, the women get to be equally as funny. That was what hooked me. James Burrows, who’s our director, is another major part of what attracted me to the show. It just seemed like a really good package and something that I could commit to in the long-term.”On May 16, 2010, the series was cancelled after four episodes had aired. On the show’s cancellation, Milano wrote on her website: “It would be so very, very, easy for me to be upset and bitter about it. But… I’m not upset or bitter. I am well aware that I’m in a business that sometimes makes decisions that are inexplicable. Dealing with those decisions is almost just as much a part of the job as memorizing my dialogue. My only true sadness comes from not being able to see Ricky, Mr. Burrows, Josh, Kelly and Kyle’s face every day.” Milano appeared with Owen Wilson, Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate in the comedy Hall Pass (2011), in which she was cast in February 2010. She will produce and lead the cast of Lifetime’s TV film Sundays at Tiffany’s.The latter will be her second collaboration with Lifetime, the first being 2008’s Wisegal. Milano appeared in the ensemble romantic comedy New Year’s Eve. Milano will star in the upcoming ABC drama Mistresses about the romantic lives of four women.
Milano was appointed Founding Ambassador for the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, to which she donated $250,000. The Global Network is an alliance formed to advocate and mobilize resources in the fight to control neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Milano will work to raise awareness of NTDs by educating the mainstream media and general public of the plight faced by the one billion people who are afflicted by NTDs, and the importance in controlling and preventing this global health crisis. Milano is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States. She traveled to India, Kosovo, as well as Angola, to work with UNICEF field officers there. In the fall of 2004, she participated in UNICEF’s “Trick or Treat” campaign as an official spokesperson. She raised approximately $50,000 for South African women and children with AIDS by selling own and school’s photo work. In the late 1980s, she appeared on Phil Donahue’s talk show where she kissed Ryan White, a schoolboy ostracised for having AIDS, to show that she would not catch it from him. In support of PETA, she appeared in an advertisement for them, advocating vegetarianism, in a dress made entirely of vegetables. In honor of her 37th birthday (December 19, 2009), Milano ran an online fundraising campaign for Charity:Water. Her original goal was to raise $25,000, but a donation from her husband put her over the $75,000 mark on December 18. The fundraiser was scheduled to run until December 26.Milano has dyslexia. In a 2004 interview, she explained how she deals with the disorder: I’ve stumbled over words while reading from teleprompters. Sir John Gielgud, whom I worked with on The Canterville Ghost years ago, gave me great advice. When I asked how he memorized his monologues, he said, “I write them down”. I use that method to this day. It not only familiarizes me with the words, it makes them my own. Milano is a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers and writes a regular baseball blog on the Major League Baseball’s website.In 2007, Milano launched her signature “Touch” line of team apparel for female baseball fans, selling it through her blog and Major League Baseball’s website. It also became available in 2009 through a boutique store located in Citi Field, the home of the New York Mets. She has an interest in the Los Angeles Kings, a National Hockey League team, and is involved with a related clothing line. In 2008, she expanded that to NFL football, as a New York Giants fan. Since Milano is in the same hometown as NFL Network’s Rich Eisen (Staten Island), she revealed some of her family’s connections with the New York Giants. Outside of acting, her hobbies include photography, humanitarian work, and spending time with her three dogs and eight horses. Milano has commented on her love for animals, and in a 2009 interview discussed one of her dogs, a German shepherd called Pinto, who had died at the age of 14; he had worked with the LAPD dogs and Milano had owned him for 10 years. Milano dated actor Corey Haim from 1987 to 1990. She has spoken of Corey as having been with him in an ‘on-and-off-relationship’. Starting in 1988, she dated ice hockey defenseman Wayne McBean, until the Indians’ 1990 Calder Cup win. She was engaged to Scott Wolf in 1993. The couple separated after a year and a half. Milano has since expressed her discontent in Wolf discussing their engagement and break-up with the press. In a 2001 interview, she told of the story: “I was 20. We got engaged. I was a child whose parents have been together since they were 15, so I thought that was what you’re supposed to do. I didn’t date—I got engaged. For a year after we broke up, I didn’t really see anybody.”
She was married to musician Cinjun Tate for 10 months in 1999. On the divorce, Milano commented: “I guess I didn’t think it through properly—it should have grown into a friendship and remained that, period. I learned so much from him about love and about myself. Just because it ended doesn’t mean that it wasn’t beautiful.” Milano further expressed in a different interview: “I realized that being married to a musician meant life on the road and in bars, and though he’s still my best friend, our marriage wasn’t working.” After one year of dating, she and CAA agent David Bugliari were engaged December 18, 2008. Milano and Bugliari married on August 15, 2009 in New Jersey, at the home of Bugliari’s family.In February 2011, it was announced that Milano and Bugliari were expecting their first child, a baby boy. In August 2011, she gave birth to a son named Milo Thomas Bugliari.
