Marisa Petroro
- Actress
Marisa Petroro is an American film and television actress from Elizabeth, New Jersey, who is of Italian and Argentine descent. She
is recognized for developing a diverse range of on-screen personalities. It's no wonder this Jersey girl has made a spot for herself in Hollywood.
At the tender age of four, Marisa started participating in East Coast
beauty pageants. By eight, this young starlet was taking trips to New
York City to study acting at the highly acclaimed HB Studio. After
making the pageant circuit as a teenager, Marisa won the title of Miss
Italia USA and then retired her pageant days after she went on to place
top five in Miss Italia World in 1996.
Marisa then crafted a five-year road-map, packed her bags and convinced
a good friend to join her on a 3,000 mile cross-country drive that
ended in Los Angeles. Within the first few years, Marisa was landing
principal roles in hit films such as MGM's 'Pumpkin' and Columbia
Pictures' 'Tomcats'. Also during this breakout period, she built
notable television credits on NBC's 'The Pretender', CBS's 'The Young
and the Restless', a national commercial directed by David Lynch and
starred opposite Rick Schroder in the award-winning country music
video, Whiskey Lullaby, sung by Allison Krause and Brad Paisley.
2007-2008 were banner years for this seasoned actor as she starred in
Roadside Attraction's feature film, 'Everybody Wants to Be
Italian', the story of the struggle of two Italians and their quest to
win each other's hearts in Boston's famed North End. She had also
returned for her fourth season as one of the most recognized briefcase models
(#18) on NBC's top game show 'Deal or No Deal', as well as landed roles
on CBS's popular sitcom 'Rules of Engagement', acting alongside David
Spade and ABC's award winning comedy drama series
'Desperate Housewives', acting alongside Eva Longoria Parker.
2011-2012 were also banner years with guest star roles on TNT's 'Franklin & Bash', Fox's 'Touch', Lifetime's 'Drop Dead Diva' and a co-star on Disney's 'Kickin' It'.
Over the past decade, Marisa has had a wonderful path working on films opposite Dominic Monaghan in 'The Millionaire Tour,' Richard Tyson in 'Booneville Redemption', French Stewart in 'Hopeless, Romantic' and most recently in 'Ford v. Ferrari' as Mrs. Henry Ford opposite Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas and Jon Bernthal, which won 2 Academy Awards in 2020.
Outside of acting, Marisa holds philanthropy close to her heart. She
was the national spokesperson for the Sarcoma
Foundation of America (SFA), an organization dedicated to increasing
sarcoma related research from 2007-2010. In fact, Marisa, a cancer survivor of
Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer, that affects the muscles,
has said that taking on this responsibility allowed her to achieve
one of her lifetime goals. She continues
to volunteer her time to helping individuals who have been diagnosed
with cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy.
Marisa is always involved with charity
organizations including the Tomorrow's Children Fund, The Young Storytellers Foundation and Project Angel Food.
In 2007, Marisa was asked to be Commencement Speaker at her
alma mater, Kean University in New Jersey and was honored as "Woman of
the Year" by The Center for Italian and Italian-American Culture in her
home state of New Jersey. She also contributed to the book The Vision
Board: The Secret to An Extraordinary Life by Joyce Schwarz.
is recognized for developing a diverse range of on-screen personalities. It's no wonder this Jersey girl has made a spot for herself in Hollywood.
At the tender age of four, Marisa started participating in East Coast
beauty pageants. By eight, this young starlet was taking trips to New
York City to study acting at the highly acclaimed HB Studio. After
making the pageant circuit as a teenager, Marisa won the title of Miss
Italia USA and then retired her pageant days after she went on to place
top five in Miss Italia World in 1996.
Marisa then crafted a five-year road-map, packed her bags and convinced
a good friend to join her on a 3,000 mile cross-country drive that
ended in Los Angeles. Within the first few years, Marisa was landing
principal roles in hit films such as MGM's 'Pumpkin' and Columbia
Pictures' 'Tomcats'. Also during this breakout period, she built
notable television credits on NBC's 'The Pretender', CBS's 'The Young
and the Restless', a national commercial directed by David Lynch and
starred opposite Rick Schroder in the award-winning country music
video, Whiskey Lullaby, sung by Allison Krause and Brad Paisley.
2007-2008 were banner years for this seasoned actor as she starred in
Roadside Attraction's feature film, 'Everybody Wants to Be
Italian', the story of the struggle of two Italians and their quest to
win each other's hearts in Boston's famed North End. She had also
returned for her fourth season as one of the most recognized briefcase models
(#18) on NBC's top game show 'Deal or No Deal', as well as landed roles
on CBS's popular sitcom 'Rules of Engagement', acting alongside David
Spade and ABC's award winning comedy drama series
'Desperate Housewives', acting alongside Eva Longoria Parker.
2011-2012 were also banner years with guest star roles on TNT's 'Franklin & Bash', Fox's 'Touch', Lifetime's 'Drop Dead Diva' and a co-star on Disney's 'Kickin' It'.
Over the past decade, Marisa has had a wonderful path working on films opposite Dominic Monaghan in 'The Millionaire Tour,' Richard Tyson in 'Booneville Redemption', French Stewart in 'Hopeless, Romantic' and most recently in 'Ford v. Ferrari' as Mrs. Henry Ford opposite Tracy Letts, Josh Lucas and Jon Bernthal, which won 2 Academy Awards in 2020.
Outside of acting, Marisa holds philanthropy close to her heart. She
was the national spokesperson for the Sarcoma
Foundation of America (SFA), an organization dedicated to increasing
sarcoma related research from 2007-2010. In fact, Marisa, a cancer survivor of
Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare childhood cancer, that affects the muscles,
has said that taking on this responsibility allowed her to achieve
one of her lifetime goals. She continues
to volunteer her time to helping individuals who have been diagnosed
with cancer and are undergoing chemotherapy.
Marisa is always involved with charity
organizations including the Tomorrow's Children Fund, The Young Storytellers Foundation and Project Angel Food.
In 2007, Marisa was asked to be Commencement Speaker at her
alma mater, Kean University in New Jersey and was honored as "Woman of
the Year" by The Center for Italian and Italian-American Culture in her
home state of New Jersey. She also contributed to the book The Vision
Board: The Secret to An Extraordinary Life by Joyce Schwarz.