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“My life is very much in the present today. And that's what theater is all about.”
 
Birthday:
4/4/1979
Nickname:
Birthname:
Natasha Lyonne
Hometown:
New York, New York
Assets:
Vices:
Sign:
Aries
Height:
5'3
Job:
Actress
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Hobbies:
Ethnicity:
White
Country of Origin:
United States
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Lyonne was born Natasha Braunstein in New York City, the daughter of Yvette Lyonne, a product licensing consultant, and Aaron Braunstein, a native of Brooklyn who worked as a boxing promoter. Lyonne grew up in an Orthodox Jewish household and lived in Israel with her family during her childhood; her maternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors. When her parents divorced, Lyonne moved back to New York and lived with her mother and older brother Adam in a one-bedroom apartment. In New York, Lyonne attended Ramaz, a private Jewish school. Her mother then moved to Miami, where Lyonne attended and graduated from Miami Country Day School.

Career

Lyonne began acting at an early age with her first role as "Opal" on Pee-wee's Playhouse. She appeared in the 1990 film A Man Called Sarge during the time her family lived in Israel.

Lyonne is perhaps best known for her roles in the first two American Pie films as the wise-cracking Jessica. She has also appeared in more than 30 other movies, including starring roles in the independent films Slums of Beverly Hills and But I'm a Cheerleader. Lyonne also appeared in Party Monster in 2003, a dramatization of the Michael Alig story. As the character Brooke, Lyonne donned a fat suit and dreadlocks.

After an extended hiatus, Lyonne filmed Goyband in New York City with Adam Pascal, Amy Davidson, Cris Judd, Dean Edwards, Tibor Feldman, and Tovah Feldshuh.

Personal life

Lyonne dated actor Edward Furlong, whom she met on the set of Detroit Rock City, from 1998 to 2000. She 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 that May's issue of Jane. 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.

Singer and former neighbor Rufus Wainwright wrote a song about her called "Natasha" included on his 2003 album Want One.