Deborah "Debi" Mazar is an American actress and television personality,
known for her Jersey Girl-type roles; as sharp-tongued women in independent
films; and for her starring role in the Cooking Channel series, Extra Virgin,
along with her husband Gabriele Corcos. She is also known for her recurring role
as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage.
Early life Mazar was born in Jamaica, Queens, New
York, the daughter of Nancy and Harry Mazar. Her father was born in the
Latvian SSR, Soviet Union, to a Jewish family, but raised in the Roman Catholic
Church. She had no knowledge of her ancestry until her twenties. Her mother
was raised a Roman Catholic, briefly converted to Judaism, then became a
Buddhist, and later joined Jehovah's Witnesses until she was disfellowshipped
for taking a blood transfusion. As a teenager, Mazar worked selling
jewelry at Fiorucci with Linda Ramone and Joey Arias, as a dental assistant,
and at a club. Career
While working at Danceteria, Mazar met Madonna. She hired Mazar to do her
makeup for the music video for "Everybody". She also originated the
hair and makeup for the play Speed-the-Plow.
Mazar began her career as a hip hop b-girl in New York City. Her first
television appearance was on the pilot for a hip hop television dance show,
Graffiti Rock in 1984. She appeared in five of Madonna's music videos -– "Papa
Don't Preach," "True Blue", "Justify My Love", "Deeper and Deeper" and "Music".
Mazar has played a number of minor supporting roles in a variety of films,
including Sandy, a friend of Henry Hill's mistress in Goodfellas; The
Doors; a small role in Spike Lee's Malcolm X; Bullets Over Broadway; and as
Spice in Batman Forever. She gained her first real following from playing a
character on Civil Wars in the early 1990s. When that series was cancelled
her character was brought over as a recurring role between 1993 and 1994
season of the TV drama L.A. Law. She played the villain Regina in the
family film Beethoven's 2nd. She has appeared in independent films Inside
Monkey Zetterland and Nowhere and her short-lived sitcom, Temporarily Yours.
She also appeared as the genie in the Space Monkeys' music video, "Sugarcane".
Mazar appeared on a Friends episode in its eighth season. Mazar played "Doreen,
the Evil Bitch," a crazed pregnant woman who shares a hospital room with Rachel.
From 2000 to 2002 she played Jackie on the television drama That's Life. She
also provided the voice of Maria Latore in the video games Grand Theft Auto III
and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. From 2004 to 2011, she had a supporting
role on Entourage as press agent Shauna Roberts. She also had a recurring role
on the sitcom Living with Fran, playing Fran Drescher's character's cousin,
Merrill. She did a two-episode stint on the television series Ugly Betty, where
she played Leah Stillman, a scam artist who claims to be a lawyer.
Mazar was a contestant on the ninth season of Dancing With the Stars. She
was partnered with Maksim Chmerkovskiy and finished in twelfth place. She was
eliminated in the third week. Mazar began doing the hit Cooking
Channel cooking/reality show television series in January of 2011, she, her
husband Gabriele Corcos, as well as their two daughters star in the series,
which depicts their lives, and showcases their own recipes. The show is scripted.
The show has had four seasons as of June 2014.
Personal life Prior to her marriage, she dated actor
Paul Reubens for several years beginning in 1993. Reubens has since credited
Mazar with ending his depression resulting from his infamous 1991 arrest.
She married Gabriele Corcos on March 16, 2002, in a ceremony officiated by Ellen
Burstyn. They have two daughters: Evelina Maria and Giulia Isabel. The
family formerly lived in a home in Los Angeles. They sold the home in 2009, and
moved to Brooklyn, New York. The family currently divides their time between
their home in Brooklyn and a 14th-century house outside of Florence,
Italy, that was given to them as a wedding present by Mazar’s in-laws.
Mazar has had several dogs, including a dog named Delores which was prominently
featured in the first season of her show Extra Virgin, until the dog's death in
2011. Mazar and Corcos formerly hosted an
internet show focused on Tuscan cuisine, Under The Tuscan Gun. On January 19,
2011, Debi, and her husband Gabriele began hosting the cooking show Extra
Virgin on the Cooking Channel, and released a cookbook in 2014, Recipes &
Love From Our Tuscan Kitchen. Debi Mazar and her husband both appeared
on an episode of the ABC talk show The Chew in 2014 to promote their show,
Extra Virgin. Filmography
= Film= = Television=
= Videogames= References
External links Debi Mazar at the Internet Movie
Database