Laura San Giacomo: Biography
Laura San Giacomo was born November 14, 1962 in West Orange, New Jersey, and was raised in the nearby city of Denville. She went to Morris Knolls High School in Denville, where she first got into acting, playing the lead in several school plays. She carried the interest on to college, where she completed a fine arts degree with an emphasis on acting at Carnegie-Mellon University.
After early guest appearances in the series Crime Story and The Equalizer, Laura became a 1999 Golden Globe nominee as Best Actress in a Series (Comedy or Musical). San Giacomo made an impressive film debut playing a barmaid who has an affair with her sister’s (Andi MacDowell) husband (Peter Gallagher) in the 1989 breakthrough independent film “sex, lies and videotape.” Critics and fans alike were quickly drawn to one of the sexiest, most sensuous actresses to hit the screen in a long time. The role, which garnered her a Golden Globe nomination, remains probably her best known role. The film won the Palme D’Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival and earned the actress the prestigious New Generation Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
Next, she was Julia Roberts’s friend in Pretty Woman. Succeeding films included Quigley Down Under (alongside Tom Selleck, Under Suspicion, and Stuart Saves His Family. In 1994, she finally got to play a starring role – the title character in a small independent film called Nina Takes a Lover. Unfortunately, the film was not a commercial success despite being beautifully made and featuring one of Laura’s most endearing performances yet. Laura also appeared in the The Apocalypse (1997) and she recently completed Mom’s on the Roof, a film produced by Penny Marshall, which also stars Elle Macpherson and Adam Arkin.
Television work of hers includes the miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand and the telefilms The Right To Remain Silent and For Their Own Good. In 1997, she made her sitcom debut in Just Shoot Me with George Segal and David Spade. The main factor in Laura’s decision to do a sitcom was the birth of her first child. Television would provide a much more conventional work schedule and a more stable environment, for her both Laura and her baby. She and son Mason currently live in the San Fernando Valley.