An alluring brunette actress of Italian and Greek heritage, Valeria Golino made her film debut at age 16 in Lina Wertmuller's "A Joke of Destiny Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Robber" (1983). Raised in Greece and Italy, she worked regularly in Italian features including "Little Flames" (1985) and "Love Story" (1986). She made an impact in the USA co-starring in two high-profile 1988 films opposite two very different leading men. "Big Top Pee-Wee" cast her as a trapeze artist who falls for Pee-Wee Herman, with whom she shares what is reputedly the screen's longest kiss. As Tom Cruise's
Raised in Athens, Greece and in Rome and Naples, Italy
1981
Began modeling at age 14
1983
At age 16 met director Lina Wertmuller at her uncle's house in Rome; director cast her in "Scherzo del Destino in Agguato Dietro L'Angolo Come un Briganti di Strada/A Joke of Destiny Lying in Wait Around the Corner Like a Robber"
