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Profile image of Cara Buono

Cara Buono

Person
8
Popularity
70
Credits
1971
Born
(54 years old)
USA
Origin

Biography

Born in The Bronx, New York, Buono was raised in a blue-collar family and decided at an early age to make acting her life's ambition. At 11, she showed her connection to her family's work ethic by answering a casting call ad for Harvey Fierstein's "Spookhouse" and landing the role, without any assistance from her family or other adults. Buono began landing roles on television and the New York stage while in her teens and early twenties, and earned a Daytime Emmy nomination as a young victim of sexual abuse in Abby, My Love (1991) (CBS, 1991), which aired as part of the CBS Schoolbreak Special (1984). She soon graduated to minor roles in Stephen Gyllenhaal's Waterland (1992), with Jeremy Irons and Ethan Hawke; as an illegal immigrant in The Cowboy Way (1994), with Woody Harrelson and Kiefer Sutherland; and in Noah Baumbach's much-loved indie comedy, Kicking and Screaming (1995), which reunited her with her "Abby, My Love" co-star, Josh Hamilton. While cultivating her acting career, Buono also graduated from Columbia University with a double major in English and political science in 1995, which she earned in just three years. After graduation, Buono concentrated largely on character roles in independent films and on television. She was the wife and confidante of prison guard Robert Sean Leonard, who served as an earpiece for monstrous 1930s criminal Carl Panzram (James Woods) in Killer: A Journal of Murder (1995), before playing an accident-prone opera singer in love with a young man (Gibson Frazier) with Jazz-Era affectations in the offbeat Man of the Century (1999). She soon added behind-the-camera credits to her expanding resume, including writer/director on the short, Baggage (1997), with Liev Schreiber and Minnie Driver, and served as co-producer and star of the comedy, Two Ninas (1999), about a pair of similarly monikered women (Buono and Amanda Peet) who fell for a very unlucky man. She continues to write and co-wrote "When the Cat's Away" (1999), with Brad Anderson, and wrote an adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's first novel, "This Side of Paradise". Buono's screen credits grew more obscure at the launch of the new millennium - art house and film festival circles saw the lesbian drama, Chutney Popcorn (1999), Attention Shoppers (2000), Happy Accidents (2000) with Marisa Tomei and Vincent D'Onofrio. She soon turned to television for wider exposure, and earned it through supporting roles on high profile series like Third Watch (1999) and The Sopranos (1999). In 2007, she joined the cast of the cult favorite, The Dead Zone (2002) (USA, 2002-2007) as Sheriff Anna Turner, who investigated the death of her predecessor (Chris Bruno). During this period, Buono maintained her screen career in features as varied as Ang Lee's Hulk (2003), playing David Banner's mother, who was killed by his genetically-induced rage, and Beer League (2006), and Artie Lange's hapless lay-about love interest. In 2010, she appeared as the divorced mother of Kodi Smit-McPhee in Let Me In (2010), the critically-praised American remake of the Swedish vampire movie, Let the Right One In (2008). That same year, she landed her most widely seen role-to-date on Mad Men (2007), playing Dr. Faye Miller. For her efforts, Buono received an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011.

Known For

Acting

Birthday

1971-03-01

Place of Birth

The Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Also Known As

کارا بونو

Movies (42)

Poster image of Stranger Things 5: The Finale

Stranger Things 5: The Finale

2025
0
Movie
Poster image of Hulk

TV Shows (28)

Poster image of Stranger Things

Stranger Things

2016
8.6
TV Show
Poster image of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
IMDbTMDB

Hulk

2003
5.6
Movie
Poster image of The Bad Seed

The Bad Seed

2018
7.1
Movie
Poster image of Kicking and Screaming

Kicking and Screaming

1995
6.2
Movie
Poster image of The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story

The Girl Who Escaped: The Kara Robinson Story

2023
7.1
Movie
Poster image of From Other Worlds

From Other Worlds

2004
3.7
Movie
Poster image of Killer: A Journal of Murder

Killer: A Journal of Murder

1996
5.8
Movie
Poster image of Let Me In

Let Me In

2010
6.8
Movie
Poster image of A Good Marriage

A Good Marriage

2014
5.4
Movie
Poster image of In a Class of His Own

In a Class of His Own

1999
7.5
Movie
Poster image of Queen of the Ring

Queen of the Ring

2025
6.6
Movie
Poster image of Paper Towns

Paper Towns

2015
6.2
Movie
Poster image of Gladiator

Gladiator

1992
7.6
Movie
Poster image of River Red

River Red

1998
7
Movie
Poster image of The Cowboy Way

The Cowboy Way

1994
5.7
Movie
Poster image of Next Stop Wonderland

Next Stop Wonderland

1998
5.9
Movie
Poster image of Man of the Century

Man of the Century

1999
5.8
Movie
Poster image of Things Like This

Things Like This

2025
7.2
Movie
Poster image of The Unquiet

The Unquiet

2008
3
Movie
Poster image of Takedown

Takedown

2000
6.1
Movie
Poster image of Chutney Popcorn

Chutney Popcorn

2001
5
Movie
Poster image of She Came from the Woods

She Came from the Woods

2023
5.6
Movie
Poster image of All Saints

All Saints

2017
6.2
Movie
🎬
No Poster

Half the Perfect World

2016
0
Movie
Poster image of Emily & Tim

Emily & Tim

2015
5.7
Movie
Poster image of Monsters and Men

Monsters and Men

2018
5.9
Movie
Poster image of Drew Peterson: Untouchable

Drew Peterson: Untouchable

2014
5.3
Movie
Poster image of Beer League

Beer League

2006
5.1
Movie
Poster image of V13

V13

2025
0
Movie
Poster image of Happy Accidents

Happy Accidents

2000
6.8
Movie
Poster image of Waterland

Waterland

1992
6.3
Movie
Poster image of Cthulhu

Cthulhu

2008
5.1
Movie
Poster image of In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco

In the Line of Duty: Ambush in Waco

1993
5.2
Movie
Poster image of Deep in My Heart

Deep in My Heart

1999
6
Movie
🎬
No Poster

Always, Already

2024
0
Movie
🎬
No Poster

Modern Love

2012
0
Movie
Poster image of In Fidelity

In Fidelity

2024
6.5
Movie
Poster image of Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story

Victim of Love: The Shannon Mohr Story

1993
7.2
Movie
Poster image of The Discoverers

The Discoverers

2014
5
Movie
Poster image of Two Ninas

Two Ninas

2000
4.3
Movie
🎬
No Poster

Betrayed

2010
0
Movie
Poster image of Attention Shoppers

Attention Shoppers

2000
2.5
Movie

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

1999
8
TV Show
Poster image of NCIS

NCIS

2003
7.7
TV Show
Poster image of Law & Order

Law & Order

1990
7.4
TV Show
Poster image of The Sopranos

The Sopranos

1999
8.6
TV Show
Poster image of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation

2000
7.7
TV Show
Poster image of Castle

Castle

2009
8
TV Show
Poster image of Hawaii Five-0

Hawaii Five-0

2010
7.8
TV Show
Poster image of Mad Men

Mad Men

2007
8.2
TV Show
Poster image of Elementary

Elementary

2012
7.7
TV Show
Poster image of The Good Wife

The Good Wife

2009
7.6
TV Show
Poster image of Person of Interest

Person of Interest

2011
8.1
TV Show
Poster image of Supergirl

Supergirl

2015
7.3
TV Show
Poster image of Law & Order: Criminal Intent

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

2001
7.6
TV Show
Poster image of Bull

Bull

2016
7.1
TV Show
Poster image of Third Watch

Third Watch

1999
8
TV Show
Poster image of The Dead Zone

The Dead Zone

2002
7.3
TV Show
Poster image of Brothers and Sisters

Brothers and Sisters

2006
7.2
TV Show
Poster image of Family Law

Family Law

1999
8.2
TV Show
Poster image of God Friended Me

God Friended Me

2018
7.8
TV Show
Poster image of The Mysteries of Laura

The Mysteries of Laura

2014
7.2
TV Show
Poster image of The Single Guy

The Single Guy

1995
5
TV Show
Poster image of The Blacklist: Redemption

The Blacklist: Redemption

2017
6.7
TV Show
Poster image of The Romanoffs

The Romanoffs

2018
6.4
TV Show
Poster image of Miss Match

Miss Match

2003
6.7
TV Show
Poster image of Talking Sopranos

Talking Sopranos

2020
0
TV Show
Poster image of The Girl from Plainville

The Girl from Plainville

2022
6.5
TV Show
📺
No Poster

Six Months to Live

2004
0
TV Show