Cathy Moriarty

Cathy Moriarty (born November 29, 1960) is an American actress whose career spans five decades.

Moriarty was born November 29, 1960, in The Bronx borough of New York City, the daughter of Irish Catholic immigrants Catherine, a homemaker, and John Moriarty, a warehouse worker.

She was raised in Yonkers, New York, where she attended Lincoln High School.

When she was 18 years old, her friends urged her to enter a bathing-beauty contest at a local bar:

"So, I go in there, and my knees are shaking, and I'm breaking out in goose bumps 'cause I'm embarrassed and cold. All these guys are whistling and stuff. Then all of a sudden the emcee announces I won first prize, and I say, 'Hey, this is really funny'. So this Italian guy comes up and asks if he can take my picture and I say, 'Sure, go ahead', 'cause he's gonna take it anyway. And whad'd'ya know, this same guy calls me three weeks later, says his name is Joe Pesci and asks if I'd like to test for a part in this movie about a boxer named Jake LaMotta."

Born and raised in New York City, she made her acting debut opposite Robert De Niro in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), for which she received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, and the British Academy Film Award.

It is widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made.

Throughout her career, she has worked with a number of prolific directors including Martin Scorsese, Sidney Lumet, Ivan Reitman, Harold Ramis, James Mangold, and Richard Ayoade.

She has starred in numerous leading and supporting roles in a variety of films ranging from independent film features to major film studio productions across many genres.

Moriarty made her film debut in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980), as Vikki LaMotta, wife of boxer Jake LaMotta, played by Robert De Niro.

She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Later that year, Moriarty played John Belushi's destructive, sultry neighbor in Neighbors, a film adaptation of Thomas Berger's novel of the same name.

Her film appearances include Neighbors (1981), White of the Eye (1987), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Soapdish (1991), Matinee (1993), Casper (1995), Cop Land (1997), But I’m a Cheerleader (1999), Analyze That (2002), The Bounty Hunter (2010), The Double (2013), and Patti Cake$ (2017).

The films in which she has appeared have collectively grossed over $1 billion worldwide.

In 1982, she was severely injured in an automobile accident and required back surgery.

"I can only say that nobody likes an overnight success in this town. I went for a lot of interviews, auditions and even cattle calls. I tried for parts and attended meetings, but it seemed I wasn't right for any of the roles I wanted. And the parts I was offered didn't appeal to me. So I paid my dues, studying acting and losing my Yonkers accent. And oh yes, I cried an awful lot."

In 1985, Moriarty agreed to co-star with Jack Nicholson in The Two Jakes.

However, after one day of shooting its production halted.

Moriarty returned to acting in 1987.

Her first role since Neighbors was in the British thriller film White of the Eye, in which Moriarty played the wife of David Keith's character.

Two years later, she appeared in the CBS series Wiseguy.

Moriarty began the decade with major roles in the thriller film Burndown, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Kindergarten Cop and the soap opera parody Soapdish.

She also appeared in the musical drama The Mambo Kings and the horror anthology HBO series Tales from the Crypt, where Moriarty's performance earned her a Best Actress in a Dramatic Series CableACE Award.

Her last performance of the year was a hard-as-nails prostitute in the screwball comedy film, The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag.

Although the film was eventually released in 1990, Moriarty was no longer connected with the production.

Moriarty has also starred in numerous television series including Tales from the Crypt (1992), Hey Arnold! (1997-1999), Law & Order (2001), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2005-2014), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2010), I'm Dying Up Here (2017), This Is Us (2018), The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (2018), City on a Hill (2019), and HouseBroken (2021).

Moriarty works as an activist for the Autistic community and is the national spokesperson for Autism United.

She is also an advocate of both Autism Speaks and the Autism rights movement.

In 1993, Moriarty starred as John Goodman's wisecracking girlfriend and a film goddess in Joe Dante's period comedy Matinee, and had supporting roles in the comedies Another Stakeout (the sequel of 1987's Stakeout) and Me and the Kid.

The following year, she guest-starred as half of the husband-wife con team in Universal's film Another Midnight Run.

Roles followed in Antonio Banderas’s Crazy in Alabama, a film adaptation of Mark Childress's 1993 novel of the same name; New Waterford Girl, a Canadian comedy-drama, and the satirical film But I'm a Cheerleader.

Moriarty played an FBI agent in Red Team, an abusive adoptive mother in the family film Prince of Central Park and a woman who fears death in Next Stop, Eternity.

Other roles included a widow suspected of killing her husband on Law & Order and a controlling mother on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

The actress' next role was the flirty barfly in Peter Medak's adventure film, Pontiac Moon (1994).

Moriarty played Lois opposite Debra Winger and Billy Crystal in the romantic comedy Forget Paris (1995), followed by the vindictive Carrigan Crittenden in the live action film Casper.

Shortly afterwards she starred with Andrew Dice Clay in the CBS series Bless This House.

That year Moriarty also played opposite Angelina Jolie as Hedy Burress's mother in Foxfire, the film adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novel.

The next year, she played the mother of a successful boxer in Opposite Corners; the mother of two sons (one a police officer and the other a crack addict) in A Brother's Kiss; a former exotic dancer and Brad Hunt's aunt in Dream with the Fishes; Mary Stuart Masterson and Evan Rachel Wood's seriously-ill, alcoholic mother in Digging to China; Michael Rapaport's aunt in Cop Land and Alyssa Milano's mother in the Robert Downey Sr.. film Hugo Pool.

Moriarty voiced characters in the animated TV series Stories from My Childhood and the popular children’s series Recess.

Other appearances included Hilary Duff's aunt, who is also a witch, in the film Casper Meets Wendy, Randy Quaid's wife in the film P.U.N.K.S., and Sharon Stone's best friend in the Sidney Lumet film Gloria (a 1999 remake of the 1980 film written and directed by John Cassavetes).