Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress best known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club and A History of Violence.
Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Kathy, a teacher and school nurse, and Joe Bello, a contractor. Her father is Italian American and her mother Polish American. She grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family and graduated from Archbishop Carrol...
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Maria Elena Bello (born April 18, 1967) is an American actress best known for her appearances in the movies Coyote Ugly, The Jane Austen Book Club and A History of Violence.
Bello was born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Kathy, a teacher and school nurse, and Joe Bello, a contractor. Her father is Italian American and her mother Polish American. She grew up in a working-class Roman Catholic family and graduated from Archbishop Carroll High School (Radnor, Pennsylvania). Later she attended Villanova University, majoring in political science. She intended to become a lawyer, but took an acting class during her senior year, just for fun. She was soon cast in small off-Broadway plays, such as The Killer Inside Me, Small Town Gals With Big Problems and Urban Planning. She later guest-starred on episodes of The Commish (1991), Nowhere Man (1995), Misery Loves Company (1995) Due South (1994), and ER (1997-98).
Bello's breakthrough came when the producers Kerry Lenhart and John J...
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