Biography of Alyssa Milano

Alyssa Jayne Milano is an American actress and former singer. Her acting career began after she appeared in the Broadway show Annie. She played regular roles on television as Samantha Micelli in the sitcom Who's the Boss? and as Phoebe Halliwell on the supernatural series Charmed. She also has a female apparel clothing line, Touch.

Milano was born in New York City, the daughter of Italian American parents Lin, a former fashion designer and talent manager, and Thomas M. Milano, a film music editor and a well-known boating enthusiast. She has a younger brother, Cory , who is also an actor, but has more recently started a band, called Chloroform Days, in which he is the lead singer. Milano was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Staten Island and was raised Roman Catholic. She began her career at the age of 8 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 the age of eleven, she earned her first major role in the TV show Who's the Boss?, alongside fellow Brooklyn native 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 's daughter. A few years later this film was shown in Japan prompting a producer to offer Alyssa a five album record deal.

At the beginning of her career, Milano was known mainly for her role on Who's the Boss? . 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 , Embrace of the Vampire , Deadly Sins , and Poison Ivy II: Lily , where she starred opposite Johnathon Schaech and Xander Berkeley.

She gained more mainstream success in TV as Jennifer Mancini on Melrose Place , Meg Winston in Spin City, and most notably as Phoebe Halliwell on the eight year run of the popular series Charmed . Both 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". She was set to reappear in the fourth season of the show, reprising her role as Billie Cunningham, but did not reappear.

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. Milano also appeared in the Josie music video by Blink-182 and in 2007, Milano began appearing on television again in commercials for Veet and SheerCover.

Milano was part of TBS' 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.

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 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 â€” All Grown Up".

Milano was briefly married to singer-songwriter Cinjun Tate in 1999; they were divorced later that same 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. She is currently married to CAA agent David Bugliari; the couple became engaged on December 18, 2008, after more than a year of dating. Milano and Bugliari married on August 15, 2009 in New Jersey, at the home of Bugliari's family.