Mira Sorvino was born on September 28, 1967 in Tenafly, New Jersey to
Lorraine Davis and actor Paul Sorvino. She has two siblings, Michael and Amanda.
After graduating from Dwight Englewood High School in Englewood, New Jersey,
Mira attended Harvard University where she majored in East Asian Studies and
graduated magna cum laude in 1990. She spent her last year in college abroad in
Beijing, where she became fluent in Mandarin. She is also fluent in French.
While at Harvard, Mira sang with the Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones, the
University's premier co-ed a cappella group.
After graduation, Mira moved to New York City to attempt an acting career.
She spent her time between waitressing, auditioning and working at Robert DeNiro's
Tribeca production company. Finally, in 1993, she starred in her first
film, Amongst Friends. Her first major film came in 1995, Mighty
Aphrodite, for which she earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Since
winning her Oscar, Mira has starred in a long list of films.
From 1996 to February 1998, Mira dated Quentin Tarantino. After that, she
dated Olivier Martinez from 1999-2002. Then, Mira met actor Christopher Backus
when he was her waiter at Sur Restaurant and Grill in West Hollywood. The two
were married on June 11th, 2004 in a civil service in Santa Monica
and then had their formal ceremony on the island of Capri in Italy because Mira
is Italian. On October 3, 2004, Mira gave birth to their daughter, Mattea Angel,
in Los Angeles.
