Debi Mazar

Debi Mazar
Mazar in Beverly Hills, California, December 4, 2009
Born	Deborah Mazar (1964-08-13) August 13, 1964 Jamaica, Queens, New York City, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Gabriele Corcos ​ (m. 2002)​
Children	2

Deborah "Debi" Mazar (/məˈzɑːr/ or /ˈmeɪzɑːr/; 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 role as press agent Shauna Roberts on the HBO series Entourage. and currently stars as Maggie on TV Land's Younger.

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 father's 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" (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, a modern-day Cruella de Vil, 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. In the 1999 docudrama film The Insider, Mazar was Al Pacino's character Lowell Bergman's assistant Debi. 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 appearing on a Cooking Channel cooking/reality show television series in January 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.

In 2015, Mazar and her husband started another series on the Cooking Channel entitled Extra Virgin Americana where they travel the U.S., road trip style, with their children and family friend searching for some of America's great food.

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

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Downtown 81	Peppermint Lounge Dancer	AKA, New York Beat Movie
1990	Goodfellas	Sandy
1991	The Doors	Whiskey Girl
1991	Jungle Fever	Denise
1991	Little Man Tate	Gina
1992	In the Soup	Suzie
1992	Love Is Like That	Delores
1992	Inside Monkey Zetterland	Daphne
1992	Singles	Brenda
1992	Malcolm X	Peg
1992	Toys	Nurse Debbie
1993	So I Married an Axe Murderer	Susan
1993	Money for Nothing	Monica Russo
1993	Beethoven's 2nd	Regina
1994	Bullets over Broadway	Violet
1995	Batman Forever	Spice
1995	Empire Records	Jane
1996	Cosas que nunca te dije	Diane
1996	Girl 6	Girl #39
1996	Trees Lounge	Crystal
1996	Red Ribbon Blues	Darcy
1996	Space Truckers	Cindy
1997	Meet Wally Sparks	Sandy Gallo
1997	Nowhere	Kozy
1997	She's So Lovely	Georgie
1997	The Deli	Teresa
1997	Casper: A Spirited Beginning	Angie Lyons	Video
1997	Trouble on the Corner	Ericca Rice
1998	Marry Me or Die
1998	Frogs for Snakes	Simone
1998	Hush	Lisa
1998	Life in the Fast Lane	Rosie
1999	The Insider	Debbie De Luca
2000	More Dogs Than Bones	Mary
2000	Held for Ransom	Rita
2002	Ten Tiny Love Stories	Six
2002	The Tuxedo	Steena
2003	Who Killed the Idea?	Mysterious Woman	Short film
2003	Deception	Janet Steiner
2004	Collateral	Young Professional Woman
2004	My Tiny Universe	Bonnie
2005	Be Cool	Marla
2005	Edmond	Matron
2005	Wait	Joanne	Short film
2006	Lies & Alibis	Det. Bryce	AKA, The Alibi
2006	Red Riding Hood	Red's Mom
2008	A Beautiful Life	Susan
2008	The Women	Tanya
2013	Lovelace	Dolly Sharp
2013	Return to Babylon	Gloria Swanson
2015	Entourage	Shauna

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Graffiti Rock	Dancer	TV film
1991–93	Civil Wars	Denise Iannello	Main role (36 episodes)
1993–94	L.A. Law	Denise Iannello	Main Role (22 episodes)
1994	Witch Hunt	The Manicurist	TV film
1995	Burke's Law	Rachel Davis	Episode: "Who Killed the Motor Car Maverick?"
1997	Temporarily Yours	Deb DeAngelo	Main role (6 episodes)
1998	Witness to the Mob	Deborah Gravano	TV film
1998	David and Lisa	Maggie	TV film
1999	The Wild Thornberrys	Mongoose (voice)	Episode: "Darwin Plays the Palace"
1998–99	Working	Liz Tricoli	Regular role (17 episodes)
1999	The Sissy Duckling	Mother Duck 2 (voice)	TV film
1999	Providence	Vonda Vickers	Episodes: "Thank You, Providence: Parts 1 & 2"
2000	Get Real	Kate Harris	Episode: "Saved"
2000–02	That's Life	Jackie O'Grady	Main role (34 episodes)
2002	Friends	Evil Bitch	Episode: "The One Where Rachel Has a Baby: Part 1"
2002	The Groovenians	Yalda, Swirly (voice)	TV short
2003	Wanda at Large	Jenny Hawkins	Episode: "Unaired Pilot"
2003	7th Heaven	Nurse Kelly	Episode: "The One Thing"
2003–04	All of Us	Alex / Debi	Recurring role (7 episodes)
2004	7th Heaven	Nurse Kelly	Episode: "The Anniversary"
2004	The Practice	Gigi Coley	Episodes: "Comings and Goings", "New Hoods on the Block"
2004	CSI: Miami	Rebecca Briggs	Episode: "Speed Kills"
2004–11	Entourage	Shauna	50 episodes
2005	NYPD Blue	Maxine Annunziato	Episode: "Lenny Scissorhands"
2005–06	Living With Fran	Cousin Merrill	Episodes: "A Year of Living with Fran", "Going to a Bar Mitzvah with Fran", "Coupling with Fran", "Reuniting with Fran"
2006	Ghost Whisperer	Josie	Episode: "The Woman of His Dreams"
2006	Ugly Betty	Leah Feldman	Episodes: "Trust, Lust and Must", "Four Thanksgivings and a Funeral"
2008	Privileged	Debra	Episode: "Pilot"
2008	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Peggy Bernardi	Episode: "Babes"
2009	Burn Notice	Amy	Episode: "Friends Like These"
2009	Castle	Paula Haas	Episode: "When the Bough Breaks"
2010	The Life & Times of Tim	Rochelle (voice)	Episode: "The Girl Scout Incident/Rodney Has a Wife?"
2010	Hawthorne	Donna Alberghetti	Episode: "Hidden Truths"
2010	Jonas	Mona Klein	Recurring role (7 episodes)
2011	Good Vibes	Barbara "Babs" Brando (voice)	Main role (12 episodes)
2012	Melissa & Joey	Harper Quinn	Episode: "The Knockout"
2012	Home Alone: The Holiday Heist	Jessica	TV film
2012	Happily Divorced	Jan	Episode: "The Back-Up Fran"
2014	The Chew	Herself	One episode
2015	Younger	Maggie	Series regular

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Grand Theft Auto III	Maria Latore (voice)
2004	Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas	Maria Latore (voice)

Music videos

• Madonna: "Papa Don't Preach" (1986)
• Madonna: "True Blue" (1986)
• Madonna: "Justify My Love" (1990)
• Madonna: "Deeper and Deeper" (1992)
• Madonna: "Music" (2000)

External links

• Debi Mazar at IMDb