About Me
Alyssa Jayne Milano (born December 19, 1972) is an American actress and former singer. Her acting career began after she appeared in the Broadway show Annie. Her childhood role as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? made her famous. Her eight-year stint as Phoebe Halliwell on the supernatural series Charmed brought her a new round of fame. She has a female sports apparel line, Touch. Milano is the daughter of Italian American parents Lin, a fashion designer and talent manager, and Thomas M. Milano, a film music editor and boating enthusiast. Milano was born in Brooklyn, grew up in Staten Island, and was raised Roman Catholic. She has a younger brother, Cory (born in 1982), who is also an actor. Milano began her career at eight when she won a part in an open audition for a national tour of Annie. She appeared in television commercials and off-Broadway productions. At eleven, she earned her first major role in the TV show Who's the Boss?, alongside Tony Danza, Judith Light, Danny Pintauro, and Katherine Helmond. She starred as Samantha Micelli, the daughter of Danza's character, Tony Micelli. When Milano won the role, her family relocated from Staten Island to Hollywood. She produced a teen workout video in 1988 called Teen Steam. In 1985, Milano was in the film Commando as Jenny Matrix, who was John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger)'s daughter. A few years later this film was shown in Japan, prompting a producer to offer Milano a five-album record deal.
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.
At the beginning of her career, Milano was known mainly for her role on Who's the Boss? (1984–1992). She tried to shed her "nice girl" image by appearing in several 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), where she starred opposite Johnathon Schaech and Xander Berkeley. Milano portrayed 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 series Charmed (1998–2006). 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's 1-800-COLLECT 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; and 2007 television ads/commercials for Veet and Sheer Cover. 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 upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game. 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 has dyslexia. In an interview in 2004, Milano 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. Milano has eight tattoos on her body, including one on each wrist and ankle, shoulder, neck, hip, and lower back. Milano is a vegetarian and appears in numerous PETA advertising campaigns for vegetarianism. 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. In 2005, she was ranked #5 in the "50 Cutest Child Stars — All Grown Up". Milano was engaged to Scott Wolf in 1993. She was married to singer–songwriter Cinjun Tate in 1999; they were divorced later that year. She briefly dated Justin Timberlake in 2002. She has dated a number of professional athletes, including Brad Penny, Carl Pavano, Barry Zito and Russell Martin. 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. 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, 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 her own and a school's photo work. In support of PETA, she appeared in an advertisement for them, advocating vegetarianism, in a dress made entirely of vegetables.
