Deborah "Debi" Mazar (/məˈzÉ'r/ or /ˈmeɪzÉ'r/; born August 13, 1964) 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 -â€" "Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue" (both 1986), "Justify My Love" (1990), "Deeper and Deeper" (1992) and "Music" (2000). 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 (1990); The Doors (1991); 'a small role in Spike Lee's "Malcolm X" (1992); Bullets Over Broadway (1994); and as Spice (of Sugar and Spice, with Drew Barrymore as Sugar) in Batman Forever (1995). 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 (1993). 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 ("The One Where Rachel Has a Baby, Part One"). 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 (2001) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004).
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 (October 6, 2009).
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 (born in 2002) and Giulia Isabel (born in 2006). 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
References
External links
- Debi Mazar at the Internet Movie Database
