# Cathy Moriarty
**Cathy Moriarty** (born 1960) is an American actress from the Bronx, New York, best known for her film debut as Vickie LaMotta, the wife of boxer [Jake LaMotta](https://www.edgepedia.org/jake-lamotta), in Martin Scorsese's *Raging Bull* (1980), a performance that earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) • [2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981) Her career since has been stop-start: a car accident removed her from screens for nearly six years, after which she rebuilt it largely in supporting and character parts, often as comic villains.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1960, the Bronx, New York; raised in Yonkers, New York, the daughter of Irish immigrant parents[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) • [4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/cathy-moriarty-raging-bull-de-niro-interview) |
| Breakthrough | Vickie LaMotta in *Raging Bull* (1980), her first film role[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) |
| Academy Award | Nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 53rd Academy Awards (1981); Mary Steenburgen won for *Melvin and Howard*[2](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981) |
| Other honors | Golden Globe nominations (1981) and a BAFTA nomination for most outstanding newcomer (1982), both for *Raging Bull*; CableACE Award for best actress in a dramatic series, 1992, for "Seance," *Tales from the Crypt*[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) |
| Career interruption | A near-fatal car accident after *Neighbors* (1981) kept her off screen for nearly six years[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty) |
| Signature later roles | Carrigan Crittenden in *Casper* (1995), Rose Donlan in *Cop Land* (1997), Mary J. Brown in *But I'm a Cheerleader* (1999), Nana in *Patti Cake$* (2017)[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) • [3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty) |
| Recent work | Recurring role in Netflix's live-action *Scooby-Doo: Origins*, filming in Atlanta for a 2027 global release[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001550/news/) |
## Discovery and Raging Bull
Moriarty's entry into film is one of the better-documented casting stories in American cinema. By 17 she was a regular at a Bronx nightclub called Hoops, and in 1978 she entered a bathing beauty contest there on the condition that winning would earn her a pair of black high heels with an ankle strap.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/cathy-moriarty-raging-bull-de-niro-interview) Her photograph was pinned up at the bar, and a few weeks later the actor [Joe Pesci](https://www.edgepedia.org/joe-pesci), then a singer and comic with a single low-budget film to his credit, told her she looked like [Vikki LaMotta](https://www.edgepedia.org/vikki-lamotta) and urged her to send the picture to the casting director of a film he was involved with.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/cathy-moriarty-raging-bull-de-niro-interview)
She was cast as Vickie, the second wife of middleweight champion Jake LaMotta, opposite [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro) after three months of daily read-throughs with Scorsese and De Niro. At the time she was waitressing at a burger bar and working as a receptionist in Manhattan's garment district.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/cathy-moriarty-raging-bull-de-niro-interview) Scorsese later explained the choice to cast unknowns: "I thought it was important that [the characters] were real and believable, and certainly Joe and Cathy had these qualities... Joe told us about Cathy, a girl who grew up in the Bronx."[6](https://time.com/3801604/magnificent-obsession-robert-de-niro-on-the-set-of-raging-bull/) The film, shot in black and white except for one home-movie sequence, spans 1941 to 1964 and depicts LaMotta's jealous violence toward his wife; contemporary criticism noted that Jake is less in love with Vickie than obsessed by her.[7](https://time.com/3833629/raging-bull-martin-scorsese-robert-de-niro-review/)
The performance brought Moriarty the Academy Award nomination, along with Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress and New Female Star of the Year, and a BAFTA nomination for most outstanding newcomer to a leading film role.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) She has said she has never seen the film in its entirety, because hearing her recorded voice for the first time unsettled her: "That is not what I sound like. That sounds like a truck driver."[4](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/cathy-moriarty-raging-bull-de-niro-interview)
## The hiatus and comeback
Her second film, the black comedy *[Neighbors](https://www.edgepedia.org/neighbors-1981-film)* (1981), was followed by a near-fatal automobile accident and a hiatus from acting of nearly six years.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty) She returned with the thriller *White of the Eye* (1987), and her career revived with the soap-opera satire *Soapdish* (1991), in which she played Montana Moorehead, an actress playing Nurse Nan on the fictional soap *The Sun Also Sets*.[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty) • [1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960) In 1992 she won a CableACE Award for best actress in a dramatic series for the "Seance" episode of *Tales from the Crypt*.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960)
## Character work from the 1990s onward
Through the 1990s and 2000s Moriarty specialized in over-the-top villainesses and comic supporting parts. She played the nasty heiress Carrigan Crittenden in *Casper* (1995), a homophobic camp counselor in *But I'm a Cheerleader* (1999), and, against type, [Harvey Keitel](https://www.edgepedia.org/harvey-keitel)'s wife Rose Donlan in [James Mangold](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-mangold)'s *Cop Land* (1997). She was reunited with De Niro in the comedy *Analyze That* (2002).[3](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty) The American Film Institute Catalog lists 21 titles in her feature filmography through 2000, from *Raging Bull* to *Prince of Central Park*.[8](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/persondetails/227850)
Later work included the indie comedy *Patti Cake$* (2017), in which she played the title character's grandmother, a performance she discussed with the Los Angeles Times as part of her continuing aim of authenticity in character roles.[9](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-cathy-moriarty-patti-cakes-20170818-htmlstory.html) In 2026 Netflix announced she had joined the live-action series *Scooby-Doo: Origins*, from Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros Television, in a recurring role; the series, the second live-action take on the [Hanna-Barbera](https://www.edgepedia.org/hanna-barbera) cartoon after the 2002 film, is filming in Atlanta for a 2027 global release.[5](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001550/news/)
## Personal life
Moriarty married Carmine D'Anna around 1984 (the marriage ended in divorce) and married the financier Joseph Gentile on August 28, 1999; the second marriage produced twins Catherine Patricia and Joseph John and a daughter, Annabella Rose. She attended Lincoln High School in Yonkers and has worked outside acting as a waitress, sales clerk, fabric buyer, telephone solicitor, and receptionist; she also co-owned the Mulberry Street Cafe pizzerias beginning in 1990 and founded the production company Hey Pizza Lady Productions.[1](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960)
## References
1. [Moriarty, Cathy 1960–, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/moriarty-cathy-1960)
2. [The 53rd Academy Awards (1981), Oscars.org](https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1981)
3. [Cathy Moriarty, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/cathy_moriarty)
4. [Raging Bull's Cathy Moriarty: 'I was 17 and had no fear', The Guardian (2015)](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/01/cathy-moriarty-raging-bull-de-niro-interview)
5. [Cathy Moriarty News, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001550/news/)
6. [Magnificent Obsession: Robert De Niro on the Set of Raging Bull, TIME (2013)](https://time.com/3801604/magnificent-obsession-robert-de-niro-on-the-set-of-raging-bull/)
7. [Cinema: Review of Raging Bull, TIME (1980)](https://time.com/3833629/raging-bull-martin-scorsese-robert-de-niro-review/)
8. [Cathy Moriarty, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/persondetails/227850)
9. [With 'Patti Cakes,' Cathy Moriarty is still aiming for authenticity, Los Angeles Times (2017)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-ca-mn-cathy-moriarty-patti-cakes-20170818-htmlstory.html)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1970s to 1990s › Surnames Mo to N*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license