• Annie Parisse, better known as Alexandra Borgia, is a famous American actress
• She is of Polish, Italian, Slovak, Syrian and Italian descent
• She made her screen debut in 1999 on “On the Q.T.”
• Her most iconic contribution is her appearance on the legal drama series “Law & Order”
• Her net worth is estimated to be between $5-10 million
Annie Parisse, better known as Alexandra Borgia, is a famous American actress who came into the limelight for her appearance in the two seasons of the legal drama series, “Law & Order.”
Contents
Age, Early Childhood, Education Background
Annie was born under the Leo zodiac sign on 31 July 1975, in Alaska, as Annie Marie Cancelmi to Louis G. and Annette Cancelmi. Her father worked for Alaska Air as the Public Relations V.P. and her mother was stationed in Butler County, Pennsylvania at Saint Kilian Parish School as a Teacher. Annie’s cultural heritage line is very interesting and equally diverse; she is of the Polish, Italian, and Slovak descent from her paternal side and Syrian and Italian origin from her maternal side.
She was brought up together with her siblings, two brothers, Michael who is currently an Italian teacher and Louis who is an accomplished actor as of now.
Annie’s family relocated to Seattle when she was 11. She changed her hobby from ice hockey to playing soccer upon the relocation. Parisse grew up as a very shy child. Upon observing this, her mother got her enrolled into Youth Theatre Northwest, which was situated in Mercer Island, Washington and was a children’s playhouse. She began acting here and was assigned the western plays’ non-speaking parts, in which she remained silent.
Parisse went to Mercer Island High School before relocating to NY for her college when she attained the age of 18.
Although Parisse intended to pursue comparative religion or literature in college, she got enrolled at Fordham University, New York City, to pursue acting. She was assigned leading roles in several iconic theatrical productions such as “Antigone” and “Madea.” She adopted her great-grandmother’s surname, Anna Maria, for her stage name while at Fordham University.
Career Debut and Rise to Stardom
Annie made her screen debut in 1999, when she played a small role on “On the Q.T.” Ever since she made her first appearance, Annie has guest starred on various TV shows including “Friends,” “Third Watch,” and “Big Apple.” Her appearance on 2002’s “Law and Order” remains to be her most iconic contribution to the making of the award winning TV show.
Before appearing on “Law & Order,” Annie was part of CBS’s “As the World Turns” soap opera cast as Julia Snyder from 1998-2002.
Her performance saw her being nominated for the Outstanding Younger Actress in Drama Series Daytime Emmy Award in 2002. In 2002, she appeared in “How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days” as Jeannie Ashcroft before playing a minor role in action film “National Treasure” (2004). Parisse was assigned a supporting role in 2005’s “Monster-in-Law” film.
May 2006 saw Parisse quit her protagonist role in “Law & Order” after making her last appearance in the series’ finale following the killing of her character. In the year that followed, she starred in Craig Lucas’ “Prelude to a Kiss” alongside John Mahoney and Alan Tudyk. Annie took the role of Sergeant Lena Riggi, wife of J.Basilone, in 2010’s drama series “The Pacific.” She made other iconic appearances in Summer 2011 in “All’s Well That Ends Well” and “Measure for Measure,” pack productions in NY Public Theatre’s Shakespeare.
Since her career debut, Parisse has made appearances in several other films and TV series such as “Person of Interest,”The Following,” HBO’s “Vinyl,” “Friends from College, ” “House of Cards,” among others.
Personal Life
Annie married Paul Sparks, an accomplished American actor, in 2005; they have a son and a daughter together. Their son, Emmett, was born in 2009 while their daughter, Lydia, was born in 2014. The family is reputedly living a happy life together at their home in Manhattan, NYC without any rumours of separation or divorce. Parisse prefers keeping her family and personal life away from the limelight as many celebrities do; very little is known about their private lives.
Annie Parisse Husband, Paul Sparks
Paul Sparks is a celebrated actor who is known well for his gangster role as Mickey Doyle in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”
Early Life
Paul was born to Jane and Michael Sparks on 16 October 1971, in Oklahoma, which makes him 49 years old as of 2021. His mother earned her living as a primary school teacher while his father worked at Marlow High School as a soccer coach.
Sparks did well in high school, earning himself a scholarship to Oklahoma State University where he was to study Chemistry. The accomplished actor was active while in high school and was a member of the Outlaw Speech Team. He had the privilege of interacting with famous personalities such as Gary McConnell and Paula who coached him while in the club. He would, however, shift to New York University later on where he got admitted in Tisch School of Arts. He graduated in 1995 with a Fine Arts in Drama Bachelor’s.
Career, Appearance, and Net Worth
Paul had a knack for acting and decided to pursue his dream after his college education. He started making appearances in many theatres and was part of various stage performances like “Take Me Out Out,” “Blackbird,” “Orange Flower Water,” among others. In 2010, Spark was assigned an antagonist role in “Boardwalk Empire,” a role that earned him massive popularity and fortune.
Since the discontinuation of “Boardwalk Empire” in 2014, Paul has made many appearances on films and TV series like “The Girlfriend Experience,” “House of Cards,” “Get Shortly,” “The Crown,” and many others. The talented TV personality has bagged several awards in the course of his career as an actor, most notable being the Screen Actors Guild Awards for his immense contribution to “Boardwalk Empire.”
The famous actors stands tall at the height of 6ft 1ins (1.86m). He weighs around 68kgs. Paul has diabetes and works with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation besides from acting. He is worth close to $5 million.
Body Measurements
Annie is an American actress of the white descent and stands at an average height of 5ft 7ins (1.7m). She has a hourglass body figure and weighs around 141lbs (64kgs) . Parisse has long brown hair and brown eyes. She wears shoe size 9(US) and her vital statistics are 34-26-35.
Annie Parisse Quick facts
Annie’s paternal grandfather is Harry J. Cancelmi while Harry A. Panzera is her maternal grandfather.
Her godfather is an attorney, who is also her uncle and is called Harry J. Cancelmi.
The popular actress’ late grandfather and grandmother are Gaetano Cancelmi and Anna Maria Cancelmi respectively.
Annie enjoys spending her free time cooking and reading. She enjoys photography and likes visiting art theatres. She also loves Opera.
Net Worth
Parisse has worked in close to fifty successful movies and series since her career debut as an actor. She has, undoubtedly, amassed a fortune from her acting career. In addition to having a massive following on social media, she is worth around $5-$10 million according to various authoritative sources.