Concetta Tomei
Encyclopedia
Concetta Tomei is an American
theatre
, film
and television character actress, best known for her roles as Maj. Lila Garreau on the ABC
series China Beach
(1988–1991) and as Lynda Hansen on the NBC
series Providence
(1999–2002).
. She earned a degree in education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
and worked four years as a school teacher before deciding to pursue her love of theatre at the Goodman Theatre School in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a BFA
and moved to Houston, Texas
, where she worked for the Alley Theatre
for two years before moving to New York City
. In the Milwaukee area, she studied at Sunset Playhouse with Alan Furlan
.
productions, including Caryl Churchill
's Cloud Nine
and Larry Kramer
's The Normal Heart
. She appeared opposite Kevin Kline
in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Richard III
(winning New York's Bayfield Shakespearean award for her performance) and starred with David Bowie
in the Broadway production of The Elephant Man
, continuing in the national tour.
In the 1980s, she moved to California
and appeared in many regional theatres, including Los Angeles
' Mark Taper Forum, the Oregon Contemporary Theatre, and San Francisco's ACT
. She also appeared in recurring roles in TV series, including Providence
, China Beach
, Picket Fences
, Max Headroom
, and Judging Amy
.
In 1991 she guest appeared in Season 3 Episode 10 of the TV sitcom Wings titled "The Late Mrs. Biggins" where she played the former wife of Roy Biggins.
She starred in the 1992 Television miniseries The Burden of Proof
. In 2006, she returned to Off-Broadway with an acclaimed performance in Sarah Ruhl
's The Clean House
. Also in 2006, Tomei guest appeared in an episode of The King of Queens
. In 2007 she appeared opposite Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner in the hit Broadway production of Cyrano
.
From 2003 to 2011, Tomei played guest roles on TV shows, such as Judging Amy
, 7th Heaven
, Second Time Around, The King of Queens
, Weeds
, Numb3rs
, Kitchen Confidential
, The Closer
, Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer
, Nip/Tuck
, Rubicon
and Necessary Roughness
.
She is an animal rights activist.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television character actress, best known for her roles as Maj. Lila Garreau on the ABC
ABC Network
ABC Network may refer to any of the following:*American Broadcasting Company, a private television network in the United States.*Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, regional radio and television broadcaster in Japan....
series China Beach
China Beach
China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans...
(1988–1991) and as Lynda Hansen on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series Providence
Providence (TV series)
Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
(1999–2002).
Early life
Tomei was born in Kenosha, WisconsinWisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. She earned a degree in education from the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
and worked four years as a school teacher before deciding to pursue her love of theatre at the Goodman Theatre School in Chicago, Illinois. She earned a BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
and moved to Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, where she worked for the Alley Theatre
Alley Theatre
The Alley Theatre is a Tony Award-winning indoor theatre in Downtown Houston, Texas, and hosts two stages. The "Hubbard" is the main stage with seating for 824; the more intimate "Neuhaus" seats 310. Nine towers and open-air terraces give the Alley Theatre a castle-like quality. Inside, a staircase...
for two years before moving to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In the Milwaukee area, she studied at Sunset Playhouse with Alan Furlan
Alan Furlan
-Biography:Born Aleardo Furlan in Farla, in the North Friuli region of Italy, Furlan acted in films in Europe and the United States, on Broadway and in commercials....
.
Career
Tomei appeared in the original cast of several pioneering Off-BroadwayOff-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
productions, including Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
's Cloud Nine
Cloud Nine (play)
Cloud Nine is a two-act play written by British playwright Caryl Churchill after workshops with the Joint Stock Theatre Company in late 1978 and first performed at Dartington College of Arts, Devon, on 14 February 1979....
and Larry Kramer
Larry Kramer
Larry Kramer is an American playwright, author, public health advocate, and LGBT rights activist. He began his career rewriting scripts while working for Columbia Pictures, which led him to London where he worked with United Artists. There he wrote the screenplay for Women in Love in 1969, earning...
's The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart
The Normal Heart is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on the rise of the HIV-AIDS crisis in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay Jewish-American founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group...
. She appeared opposite Kevin Kline
Kevin Kline
Kevin Delaney Kline is an American theatre, voice, film actor and comedian. He has won an Academy Award and two Tony Awards, and has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards and an Emmy Award.- Early life :...
in the New York Shakespeare Festival's Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
(winning New York's Bayfield Shakespearean award for her performance) and starred with David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
in the Broadway production of The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man (play)
The Elephant Man is a 1977 play by Bernard Pomerance. The production's Broadway debut in 1979 was produced by Richmond Crinkley and Nelle Nugent, and directed by Jack Hofsiss...
, continuing in the national tour.
In the 1980s, she moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and appeared in many regional theatres, including Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
' Mark Taper Forum, the Oregon Contemporary Theatre, and San Francisco's ACT
American Conservatory Theater
American Conservatory Theater is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Playhouse and Carnegie Tech by theatre and...
. She also appeared in recurring roles in TV series, including Providence
Providence (TV series)
Providence is an American drama series that aired on NBC starring Melina Kanakaredes. The show ran for five seasons from January 8, 1999 until December 20, 2002.-Synopsis:The show revolves around Dr...
, China Beach
China Beach
China Beach is an American dramatic television series set at an evacuation hospital during the Vietnam War. The title refers to My Khe beach in the city of Da Nang, Vietnam, which was nicknamed "China Beach" by unknown foreigners, most likely Americans...
, Picket Fences
Picket Fences
Picket Fences is a 60-minute American television drama about the residents of the fictional town of Rome, Wisconsin, created and produced by David E. Kelley. The show initially ran from September 18, 1992, to June 26, 1996, on the CBS television network in the United States...
, Max Headroom
Max Headroom (TV series)
Max Headroom is a British-produced American science fiction television series by Chrysalis/Lakeside Productions that aired in the United States on ABC from March 1987 to May 1988. The series was based on the Channel 4 British TV pilot Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future...
, and Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
.
In 1991 she guest appeared in Season 3 Episode 10 of the TV sitcom Wings titled "The Late Mrs. Biggins" where she played the former wife of Roy Biggins.
She starred in the 1992 Television miniseries The Burden of Proof
The Burden of Proof (film)
The Burden of Proof or Scott Turow's The Burden of Proof is a 1992 television miniseries based on the novel of the same name by Scott Turow. The story follows the character Sandy Stern following events in the film and book Presumed Innocent....
. In 2006, she returned to Off-Broadway with an acclaimed performance in Sarah Ruhl
Sarah Ruhl
Sarah Ruhl is an American playwright. She is the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship.-Biography:Ruhl was born in Wilmette, Illinois. Originally, she intended to be a poet. However, after she studied under Paula Vogel at Brown University , she was convinced to switch to playwrighting...
's The Clean House
The Clean House
The Clean House is a play by Sarah Ruhl, which premiered in 2004 at Yale Repertory Theatre and has since been produced in many American cities. The play is a whimsical romantic comedy centered on Matilde, a Brazilian cleaning woman who would rather be a comedian.-Plot summary:The play opens with...
. Also in 2006, Tomei guest appeared in an episode of The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
. In 2007 she appeared opposite Kevin Kline and Jennifer Garner in the hit Broadway production of Cyrano
Cyrano
Cyrano can refer to:In drama:* Cyrano , 1913 opera by Walter Damrosch* Cyrano, a 1958 musical by David Shire and Richard Maltby, Jr.* Cyrano , 1973 musical with music by Michael J...
.
From 2003 to 2011, Tomei played guest roles on TV shows, such as Judging Amy
Judging Amy
Judging Amy is an American television drama that was telecast from September 19, 1999, through May 3, 2005, on CBS-TV. This TV series starred Amy Brenneman and Tyne Daly...
, 7th Heaven
7th Heaven
7th Heaven is an American family drama television series, created and produced by Brenda Hampton. The series premiered on August 26, 1996, on the WB, the first time that the network aired Monday night programming, and was originally broadcast from August 26, 1996 to May 13, 2007...
, Second Time Around, The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
, Weeds
Weeds (TV series)
Weeds is an American television comedy created by Jenji Kohan and produced by Tilted Productions in association with Lionsgate Television. The central character is Nancy Botwin , a widowed mother of two boys who begins selling marijuana to support her family after her husband dies suddenly of a...
, Numb3rs
NUMB3RS
Numb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
, Kitchen Confidential
Kitchen Confidential (TV series)
Kitchen Confidential is an American television sitcom that debuted on September 19, 2005 on the Fox network, based on Anthony Bourdain's New York Times bestselling book, Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly...
, The Closer
The Closer
The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods...
, Cold Case, Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer
Ghost Whisperer is an American television supernatural drama, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005 to May 21, 2010.The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon , who has the ability to see and communicate with ghosts...
, Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
, Rubicon
Rubicon (tv series)
Rubicon is an American television series created by Jason Horwitch and produced by Henry Bromell that was broadcast on the AMC television network...
and Necessary Roughness
Necessary Roughness (TV series)
Necessary Roughness is a USA Network television series starring Callie Thorne and Marc Blucas. The one-hour drama series was picked up for 12 episodes on January 19, 2011...
.
She is an animal rights activist.