Delilah Cotto is a Puerto Rican-American actress, dancer, and model.

Early life

Cotto was born and raised in the

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

section of

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

to Puerto Rican parents. She studied drama at the

High School of Performing Arts The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a public alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, from 1948 to 1984. In 1961, the school was ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

under Anthony Abeson, She trained at the

William Esper Studio The William Esper Studio was founded in 1965 as a school for the performing arts in Manhattan, New York. The school is dedicated to the acting technique of Sanford Meisner. Its founder, William "Bill" Esper, is occasionally referred to as the bes ...

(with Suzanne Esper) and at Carnegie Hall in a Master class with Wynn Handman. She also studied dance at STEPS and BROADWAY DANCE CENTER and Phil Black Dance Studios IN NYC

Career

After studying dance, she was given a small role in '' Lean on Me''. After being away from acting she made an appearance in ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment and Universal Television, launching the ''Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire ...

''. She was later featured in films ''

Girl 6 ''Girl 6'' is a 1996 American black comedy film produced and directed by Spike Lee. The film stars Theresa Randle, Isaiah Washington, and Lee. Suzan-Lori Parks wrote the screenplay, making it the first film directed by Lee that he did not a ...

'' and ''

Personals A personal advertisement, sometimes called a contact ad, is a form of classified advertising in which a person seeks to find another person for friendship, romance, marriage, or sexual activity. In British English, it is commonly known as an adve ...

''. In 2002, Cotto had her first starring role in the feature film ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

'' playing

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

's girlfriend Carmen. She starred in the television series '' Kingpin'' until its cancellation in 2004. She was featured in

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

's short film entitled ''

Stories of Lost Souls ''Stories of Lost Souls'' is an anthology film starring Josh Hartnett, Hugh Jackman, Keira Knightley, Cate Blanchett, James Gandolfini, Paul Bettany, and Illeana Douglas and directed by eight different directors including Deborra-Lee Furness and ...

'' alongside

James Gandolfini James John Gandolfini (; September 18, 1961June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007 ...

. Her other film credits include ''

Splinter A splinter (also known as a sliver) is a fragment of a larger object, or a foreign body that penetrates or is purposely injected into a body. The foreign body must be lodged inside tissue to be considered a splinter. Splinters may cause initia ...

'', '' Broken Circle'', '' Rockaway'' and '' Illegal Tender'' and currently JERSEY BRED She has also made guest appearances on many television shows (such as ''

Trinity The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, thr ...

'', '' Oz'', '' CSI: Miami'' and '' Cuts''), has performed in an off-Broadway entitled "''Cloud Tectonics''" in the role of Celestina Del Sol, and has appeared on the cover of popular magazines (such as Open Your Eyes (OYE) twice, Tinta Latina and

Profile Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Pat Donohue album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Duke Pearson album), 1959 * '' ''Profi ...

). In 1995 she featured in the music video

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 3, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, ''Thriller (album), Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson, produ ...

of the German punk band

The Bates __NOTOC__ The Bates were a German Punk rock, punk band, founded in Eschwege, federal state of Hessen, in 1987. The name referred to the character Norman Bates from Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film, ''Psycho (1960 film), Psycho''. The Bates were ma ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Official Website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotto, Delilah Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Brooklyn American film actresses American television actresses American people of Puerto Rican descent Year of birth missing (living people) Puerto Rican culture in New York City People from Coney Island American female dancers Female models from New York (state)