Lorraine Bracco

Although born in Brooklyn, Bracco first found success as a fashion model on the runways of Paris in the '70s. She had just a handful of European film appearances on her résumé when she embarked on her Hollywood career. With her handsome beauty and pronounced Noo Yawk accent, the actress often portrayed tough, long-suffering wives (Someone to Watch Over Me, her flashy, Oscar-nominated turn in Goodfellas), a role she played off screen as well, with an expensive and drawn-out child-custody battle with her ex-husband, actor Harvey Keitel, and an acrimonious split from her next spouse, Edward James Olmos. In the '90s, a series of disastrous projects (the inane Medicine Man, the tepid neo-noir Traces of Red) hurt her reputation and, along with her advancing age, relegated her to supporting parts. But in 1999, the voluptuous player accepted her first regular TV role on The Sopranos, earning multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nods — and legions of new fans — for her layered portrayal of a mobster's psychiatrist.