Alyssa Milano is the daughter of Italian-American parents Lin, a fashion designer, and Tom, a film music editor. Alyssa was born in a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn and grew up in a modest house on Staten Island. One day, her babysitter, who was an aspiring dancer, dragged Alyssa along to a an open audtion for the first national tour of Annie. But it was Alyssa, not the sitter, who beat out 1,500 other wanna be stage actresses to snag a role. So at the tender age of seven, with her mother in tow, Alyssa joined the tour as July, one of the orphans. After 18 months on the road, Alyssa, who had begun to garner a reputation as an energetic and charismatic young actress, left Annie to be featured in off-Broadway productions and television commercials. Then, in 1983 at age 10, she landed her breakthrough role on the new sitcom "Who's the Boss?" (1984) as Tony Danza's saccharine sweet daughter, Samantha Micelli, a kid whose native Brooklyn accent rivaled her TV dad's. In order for Alyssa to accept the gig, the Milano family had to uproot and move 3,000 miles to Hollywood.
Biography Update / From: Jenny
**Taken from Alyssa.com / Safesearching.com
In August of 2002, Alyssa hosted a photography exhibition and auction in Los Angeles to raise money for charitable efforts in South Africa. An avid photographer, Alyssa displayed her own work, as well as that of school children from L.A.’s Venice Arts program. The event raised close to $50,000 for Nkosi’s Haven, an organization that runs care centers in South Africa for AIDS-afflicted mothers and children. For her efforts, Alyssa was honored with a humanitarian award from Sri Chinmoy: The Peace Meditation at the United Nations. It was this work that got the attention of UNICEF executives. Most recently The John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John’s Hospital and Health Center and the Associates of Breast & Prostrate Cancer Studies presented Alyssa with the 2004 Spirit of Hollywood Award which honors individuals from the entertainment industry for their personal dedication and commitment to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
Alyssa also attended the 2004 Democratic National Convention on behalf of the Creative Coalition and is an avid supporter of MTV’s Rock the Vote campaign.
Because of all her charitable work on behalf of children, Alyssa was invited by UNICEF in 2003 to become a national ambassador. Her first trip with the 58 year-old organization was to Angola, Africa (May 2004) to see first hand the issues plaguing the newly liberated country. Alyssa launched UNICEF’s pivotal “Trick or Treat” campaign in the fall of 2004 as an official spokesperson. In June of 2005 Alyssa traveled with UNICEF to India during the 6th month anniversary of the tsunami disaster. She visited the worst affected tsunami zones in South India to witness the relief and rehabilitation efforts. Alyssa’s trip also focused on educating & spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS, as India has the second highest infection rate in the world. Alyssa plans to work with UNICEF on numerous projects in the future, with all proceeds returning to the organization.
She now set-up a clothing line called Touch by Alyssa Milano it's clothing line for female baseball fans.
