Edie Falco is a film, TV, and stage actress best known as Mrs. Carmela Soprano.

Brooklyn native Falco developed her acting career with small parts in films like Abel Ferrera's The Addiction and Woody Allen's Bullets Over Broadway. Throughout the '90s she popped up on the small screen in the company of various hardened criminals: She had recurring roles on Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, and Oz, but she landed her career-making gig in 1999, when she received a call from David Chase for The Sopranos. The runaway success of The Sopranos made her a household name, and her nuanced portrayal of conflicted mob wife Carmela earned her critical acclaim: Falco is the only actress to ever to win a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and a SAG award in the same year, a feat she pulled off in 2003. While The Sopranos was on the air, Falco spent much of her downtime on Broadway. Post-Sopranos, Falco has earned acclaim on Showtime's Nurse Jackie, making her the first actress to win an Emmy for work in comedy and drama.

Edie is almost as hardened as her famous TV alter ego. After several years during which she was "drunk all the time," Falco quit the bottle in the '90s. Another personal battle Falco had to overcome was breast cancer: In 2004 it was revealed that the actress had recently recovered from the disease. Falco previously dated fellow actor Stanley Tucci, whom she'd known since college. Unfortunately, Falco broke up Tucci's marriage in the process. Since Tucci and Falco parted ways in 2004, Falco has adopted two children. [Image via Getty]