Jamie-Lynn Sigler

Jamie-Lynn Sigler (formerly DiScala; born May 15, 1981) is an award-winning American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the HBO television series The Sopranos. Sigler was born in Queens, New York City to Steve and Connie Sigler. Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from Greece and Romania and her mother is from Cuba. Her father was born to a Jewish family and her mother who was born Catholic converted to Judaism. Sigler grew up on Long Island in Jericho, New York, and began acting and singing at age 7. She attended Jericho High School. Sigler also attended the Cultural Arts Playhouse where she played many leads. In 1997, she was cast as the smart but troubled Meadow Soprano, daughter of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. The show premiered in 1999 and became a huge success, with Sigler rising to fame as a TV actress. In 2000, while filming Campfire Stories in Hamburg, New Jersey, Sigler was paralyzed from the waist down for several days having contracted Lyme disease. Sigler then spent five months on Broadway from October 2002 through February 2003 playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast where she replaced long-running Belle Sarah Litzsinger.