Jamie-Lynn Sigler (born May 15, 1981), previously known as Jamie-Lynn DiScala, is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her role as Meadow Soprano on the acclaimed HBO television series The Sopranos.
Jamie-Lynn Sigler was born in Queens, New York City to a Jewish American father, Steve, and a Cuban mother, Connie, who converted to Judaism after meeting her husband. Sigler grew up on Long Island in Jericho, New York, and began acting and singing at age 7. She attended Jericho High School. Jamie-Lynn Sigler also attended the Cultural Arts Playhouse where she played many leads.
In 1997, she was cast as the smart but troubled Meadow Soprano, daughter of New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. The show premiered in 1999 and became a success, with Sigler rising to some fame as a TV actress. During the early production of The Sopranos, Sigler struggled with an eating disorder and is now a spokesperson for the National Eating Disorders Association. Sigler appeared in a CNN special with Paula Zahn in which she, jockey Shane Sellers, actress Jane Fonda, and two others revealed their struggles with eating disorders.
In 2000, while filming Campfire Stories in Hamburg, New Jersey, Sigler was paralyzed from the waist down for several days having contracted Lyme disease.
Sigler then spent five months on Broadway from October 2002 through February 2003 playing Belle in Beauty and the Beast where she replaced long-running Belle Sarah Litzsinger. She has continued to appear in theatrical roles, such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella.
In 2004, she starred as "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss in the USA television movie Call Me: The Rise and Fall of Heidi Fleiss. In that same year, she had her first starring feature film role, Extreme Dating, an independent film.
In 2005 Sigler starred in Lovewrecked, and in Mariah Carey's "Through the Rain" music video.
In 2001, she released a pop album called Here to Heaven, which featured the single "Cry Baby". The album was a commercial failure and had low sales. In 2007 Sigler said she was "embarrassed" by the album and regrets releasing it.
In 2002, she co-authored an autobiography, Wise Girl: What I've Learned About Life, Love, and Loss.
On July 11, 2003, Sigler married her agent and longtime boyfriend, A.J. DiScala. She subsequently changed her name to Jamie-Lynn DiScala, stating she is a very "traditional girl", and never had any doubt that she would take her husband's name after marrying, even professionally. However, in September 2005, Sigler and DiScala announced that they were separating, and she subsequently changed her name back.
She is close friends with pop singer Lance Bass; a review by Bass was featured on the back cover of Sigler's 2002 memoir, Wise Girl: What I've Learned About Life, Love, and Loss.
During January 2008, Sigler visited Israel through the Birthright Israel program and subsequently was moved by the trip, calling Israel "one of the most beautiful, inspiring places I've ever been to." She further noted that the trip gave her a greater understanding to preserve her Jewish identity and, after talks with Israeli soldiers who were also participants on the trip, she expressed solidarity towards the efforts of the young soldiers.
