Marianne Leone is an actress and author known in particular for her role on the hit HBO television series The Sopranos. As an author, Leone has recounted the love and difficulties in her own Italian family in two memoirs, Jesse and Ma Speaks Up. The first is about her son, Jesse, who had severe cerebral palsy, was a quadriplegic who was unable to speak, and passed away suddenly at the age of seventeen. Ma Speaks Up is a memoir of Leone’s relationship with her immigrant mother. Leone is also a screenwriter and has been published in the Boston Globe.
Interview with the Boston Globe