Early life

Moriarty was born in The Bronx, the daughter of Irish Catholic immigrants Catherine (a homemaker) and John Moriarty (a warehouse worker). When she was 18 years old, her friends urged her to enter a bathing-beauty contest at a 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 La Motta.

Career

Moriarty played Vikki LaMotta, girlfriend of Jake La Motta (Robert De Niro) in Martin Scorsese's Raging Bull (1980). She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Moriarty starred as John Belushi's destructive, sultry neighbor in Neighbors, a film adaptation of Thomas Berger's novel of the same name. 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. Although the film was eventually released in 1990, Moriarty was no longer connected with the production.

Moriarty played Joan, the wife of Paul White (David Keith) in White of the Eye and she guest-starred in Wiseguy.

Moriarty began the decade with 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 TV 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.

In 1993, Moriarty played Carole, the wisecracking girlfriend of Lawrence Woolsey (John Goodman) in Joe Dante's period comedy Matinee, and had supporting roles for Another Stakeout and Me and the Kid. Later, she guest-starred as half of the husband-wife con team in Universal Television's made-for-TV film Another Midnight Run. The actress' next role was the flirty barfly in Peter Medak's adventure film, Pontiac Moon (1994).

Moriarty played Debra Winger's friend 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, which was cancelled after 16 episodes during the 1996 season. That year Moriarty also played Hedy Burress's mother in Foxfire, the film adaptation of Joyce Carol Oates' novel. The next year, she played the alcoholic 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; 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 Hugo Pool. Moriarty voiced characters in the animated TV series Stories from My Childhood episodes "The Golden Rooster" and "The Wild Swans" and the animated series Recess episode "Kids in the Mist". Other appearances included Hilary Duff's witch aunt in the direct-to-video film, Casper Meets Wendy; Randy Quaid's wife in the direct-to-video film, P.U.N.K.S., and Sharon Stone's friend in Gloria (a 1998 remake of the 1980 film written and directed by John Cassavetes). Roles followed in 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 the short film Next Stop, Eternity. Other roles included a widow suspected of killing her husband in an episode of Law & Order, crime boss Patti LoPresti in the Mafia comedy film Analyze That and a controlling mother in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Moriarty played Irene who sends two thugs to hunt Nicole Hurley (Jennifer Aniston) and Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler) in The Bounty Hunter. On July 18, 2010, the Long Island International Film Expo honored the actress with its Long Island Creative Achievement Award. Shortly afterwards, she guest-starred as Annalisa Gentili on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The next year, Moriarty appeared as a nurse in the film 1320. In 2013 she played Armand Assante's wife in Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn and a sarcastic waitress in a black comedy, The Double. She returned to Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Lieutenant Toni Howard for two episodes: season 14's "Poisoned Motive" and season 15's "Amaro's One-Eighty".

Moriarty made a cameo appearance as Michael Pitt's bitter, estranged mother in the crime drama Rob the Mob. Recent roles included the co-owner of a house who shares a dark secret in Deborah Twiss's psychological thriller A Cry from Within (Sebastien) and the title character in Ante Novakovic's short film, Tammy, about a mother-son relationship which evolves over the course of a Sunday visit. Moriarty's performance earned a nomination for Best Actress in a Short (medium short) at the Jersey Shore Shorts Film Festival.

Personal life

In 1981, Moriarty wed theatrical manager Carmine D'Anna and lived in Malibu, California. On April 2, 1992, it was reported that they were divorced and D'Anna paid $1 million under California's community property law.

On August 28, 1999, Moriarty married financier Joseph Gentile in Long Island, New York. They have three children, including twins Catherine Patricia and Joseph John on September 11, 2000, and Annabella Rose on November 15, 2001.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Raging Bull	Vickie La Motta
1981	Neighbors	Ramona
1987	White of the Eye	Joan White
1990	Kindergarten Cop	Jillian
	Burndown	Patti Smart
1991	Soapdish	Montana Moorehead / Nurse Nan
1992	The Mambo Kings	Lanna Lake
	The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag	Reba Bush
1993	Matinee	Ruth Corday / Carole
	Another Stakeout	Lu Delano
	Me and the Kid	Rose
1994	Pontiac Moon	Lorraine
1995	Forget Paris	Lois
	Casper	Carrigan Crittenden
1996	Foxfire	Martha Wirtz
1997	Women Without Implants		Short film
	Opposite Corners	Kathy Donatello
	A Brother's Kiss	Doreen
	Dream with the Fishes	Aunt Elise
	Digging to China	Mrs. Frankovitz
	Cop Land	Rose Donlan
	Hugo Pool	Minerva
1998	Casper Meets Wendy	Geri	Direct-to-video
1999	P.U.N.K.S.	Mrs. Utley	Direct-to-video
	Crazy in Alabama	Earlene Bullis
	But I'm a Cheerleader	Mary Brown
2000	Red Team	Stephanie Dobson
	Prince of Central Park	Mrs. Ardis
2001	Lady and the Tramp II: Scamp's Adventure	Ruby (voice)	Direct-to-video
2002	Analyze That	Patti LoPresti
2010	TheBounty Hunter	Irene
2013	Once Upon a Time in Brooklyn	Sarah Baldano
	The Double	Kiki
2014	A Cry from Within	Alice
	Tammy	Tammy	Short film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989	Wiseguy	Denise	Episode: "Reunion"
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Alison Peters	Episode: "Séance"
1994	Another Midnight Run	Helen Bishop	Television film
1995	Bless This House	Alice Clayton	Main role (16 episodes)
1996	'Twas the Night Before Bumpy	Destructette (uncredited)	Television special
1997-99	Hey Arnold!	Tish Wittenberg (voice)	Episodes: "Coach Wittenberg", "Best Man" and "Synchronized Swimming"
2000	The Hunger	Maris	Episode: "Bottle of Smoke"
2001	Law & Order	Lorraine Corbin	Episode: "For Love or Money"
2005; 2013-14	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Denise Eldridge / Lt. Toni Howard	3 episodes
2010	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Annalisa Gentillo	Episodes: "Love on Ice" and "The Mobster Will See You Now"

Awards and nominations

Year	Work	Award	Category	Result
1981	Raging Bull	NSFC Award	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Golden Globe Award	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
		Golden Globe Award	New Star of the Year - Actress	Nominated
		Academy Award	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
1982		BAFTA film award	Best Supporting Actress	Nominated
1993	Tales from the Crypt	CableACE Award	Best Actress in a Dramatic Series	Won
2001	Red Team	DVD Exclusive Awards	Best Actress	Nominated
2010	Honoree	Long Island Creative Achievement Award	Long Island International Film Expo	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]