Biography

Nancy Cassaro (born Nancy Ellen Cassaro, May 28, 1959, in Massapequa, Long Island, New York) is an American actress and writer who studied performing arts at Hofstra University and tap dancing with Jerry Ames. She is a member of the improvisational theatre company Artificial Intelligence in New York City, for which she wrote and starred in Tony & Tina's Wedding, an interactive revue that ran for 801 performances at the Hanna Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio — the longest-running engagement in the venue's history. She is married to Chris Fracchiolla (since 1988) and they have two children. Her most notable film credits include Joe Buddha's Wife in Goodfellas (1990, directed by Martin Scorsese), Christy in Running with Scissors (2006, with Dianne Wiest), and Esther in Deuces Wild (2002). On television she is best known as Shelly Tucci in Getting Personal (1998, 18 episodes), Connie O'Keefe in Grounded for Life (2002–2004, 5 episodes), Suzanne Epstein in Nip/Tuck (2003, 5 episodes), and Joanne Moltisanti in The Sopranos (1999), with additional credits in Friends (1994), The Nanny (1999, 2 episodes), The King of Queens (2001), The West Wing (1999), Without a Trace (2002), NYPD Blue (2003), Family Album (1993, 8 episodes), Temporarily Yours (1997, 6 episodes), Dirt (2008), and the TV movie Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story (1993). She also wrote the screenplay for Shortcut to Happiness (2007).