Toni Kalem
- Actress
- Writer
- Director
Director, writer and character actress Toni Kalem was born in the
suburbs of New Jersey. She began her acting career in the late
70s, and her first prominent part was in The Wanderers (1979), as Despie. She's also
done soap opera and TV work, and is best known for her excellent
performance as Angie Bonpensiero, the long-suffering wife on The Sopranos (1999).
Kalem was much taken by Anne Tyler's third novel, "A Slipping-Down
Life," originally published in 1970. At the time she read it, Kalem
herself was questioning her acting career, which at the time meant
waiting for that next Italian-girl role, and she felt an affinity with
the novel's bipolar protagonist, who is on a quest for healing and her
place in the world. (Kalem had originally discovered the book while
working as a secretary at Random House.) Despite lacking the industry
leverage of a big star, Kalem was determined to make the book into a
movie, optioned it in 1984 and then spent fifteen years struggling to
get it made, saving much of her actress income to help finance the
project. A testament to her perseverance, A Slipping-Down Life (1999) was finally adapted
for the big screen, with Kalem at the helm as director.
Kalem also wrote the screenplay adaptation, and has written for The
Sopranos as well.
The tiny, attractive Kalem is almost always cast as a hard-edged
Italian-American, but is actually of Jewish ancestry.
suburbs of New Jersey. She began her acting career in the late
70s, and her first prominent part was in The Wanderers (1979), as Despie. She's also
done soap opera and TV work, and is best known for her excellent
performance as Angie Bonpensiero, the long-suffering wife on The Sopranos (1999).
Kalem was much taken by Anne Tyler's third novel, "A Slipping-Down
Life," originally published in 1970. At the time she read it, Kalem
herself was questioning her acting career, which at the time meant
waiting for that next Italian-girl role, and she felt an affinity with
the novel's bipolar protagonist, who is on a quest for healing and her
place in the world. (Kalem had originally discovered the book while
working as a secretary at Random House.) Despite lacking the industry
leverage of a big star, Kalem was determined to make the book into a
movie, optioned it in 1984 and then spent fifteen years struggling to
get it made, saving much of her actress income to help finance the
project. A testament to her perseverance, A Slipping-Down Life (1999) was finally adapted
for the big screen, with Kalem at the helm as director.
Kalem also wrote the screenplay adaptation, and has written for The
Sopranos as well.
The tiny, attractive Kalem is almost always cast as a hard-edged
Italian-American, but is actually of Jewish ancestry.