Actors - Natasha Lyonne

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	Actors - Natasha Lyonne

Natasha Lyonne (born Natasha Braunstein on April 4, 1979 in New York City) is an American film actress.

Acting career

Lyonne is perhaps best known for her roles in the first two American Pie films as the wise-cracking feminist "Jessica." She's also appeared in more than thirty other movies, including starring roles in the independent films Slums of Beverly Hills
and But I'm a Cheerleader
.

She began acting at an early age with her first role as "Opal" on Pee-wee's Playhouse. Her family lived in Israel for six years, and during this time she appeared in the 1990 film A Man Called Sarge. As a teenager, she worked with Woody Allen in Everyone Says I Love You
, an experience so intimidating she remembers being afraid to smoke in front of the renowned director.

Lyonne also starred opposite Macaulay Culkin in Party Monster
in 2003, a dramatization of the Michael Alig story. As the character of "Brooke," Natasha donned a fat suit and dreadlocks.

Biography

She grew up in a conservative Jewish household. Her father, Aaron Braunstein, is a former boxing promoter and racecar driver, while her mother, Yvette Lyonne, is a product licensing consultant and former ballerina. When her parents divorced, and she moved back to New York and lived with her mom and older brother Adam in a one-bedroom apartment.

Angry and confused over the divorce of her parents, Natasha hated her high school years and spent time in several different schools. She first attended private Jewish school at Manhattan's Yeshiva High School. Natasha's frustration during these years caused her to get into fistfights and skip school in order to be alone and away from peers, who made fun of her economic status. Her mother moved them to Miami, where she switched to a public high school. At 16, she left her mother in Miami and moved back to New York on her own. She later dropped out of school to start making movies.

She dated actor Edward Furlong, who she met on the set of Detroit Rock City
, from 1998 to 2000.

Lyonne became friends with actor Michael Rapaport in 1997 and later rented an apartment in a building he owned on East 18th Street. In 2005, Rapaport evicted her and wrote an account of the matter in May 2005's issue of Jane Magazine. He said problems began in 2003 when Lyonne's heavy partying and harassment of tenants triggered complaints. After her eviction, he went to inspect her apartment and found it trashed.

Legal troubles

On August 28, 2001, Lyonne was arrested by Miami Beach police after hitting a road sign with her rented Dodge and trying to flee the scene. An officer who witnessed the incident said Lyonne refused to take a breathalyzer test and told him "I'm a movie star. Can I talk to my entertainment lawyer?" Actor Adam Goldberg
was riding in the car at the time. Lyonne later pled guilty to driving under the influence and received six months of probation and 50 hours of community service.

In December 2004, Lyonne was arrested after verbally threatening her neighbor, breaking a mirror in their apartment, and threatening to sexually molest her neighbor's dog. She spent a night in jail before being arraigned on charges of criminal mischief, harassment and trespassing. In April 2005, an arrest warrant was issued for Lyonne for failure to appear in court on the charges. Prosecutors say she showed up, but arrived an hour late and only stayed 30 minutes. Police were unable to locate Lyonne until reports of her hospitalization in August. In January 2006, another arrest warrant was issued for her for missing another hearing. Lyonne's laywer said an emergency came up, but he didn't specify.

Hospitalization

In August 2005, the New York Post reported that Lyonne was in Beth Israel Hospital in Manhattan under a pseudonym, and had been there for over a month after being transferred from Bellevue Hospital. She reportedly suffered from hepatitis C, a heart infection, and a collapsed lung. She was also allegedly undergoing methadone treatment for a heroin addiction and had track marks on her body. The Post also reported that Lyonne had been homeless and on the streets after her eviction by Rapaport. In an interview with Access Hollywood, Lyonne's father denied she was homeless and said he might take legal action against the hospital for breaking the confidentiality of Lyonne's status. After her release from the hospital, Lyonne was allegedly spotted in New York. Unconfirmed reports claim that she appeared to be 90 lbs, had scabs on her face, and was losing her hair.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Natasha Lyonne ]

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