Q&A: With 'Patti Cakes,' Cathy Moriarty is still aiming for authenticity
Cathy Moriarty owes her acting career to a bathing beauty contest.
A photo posted at a Bronx nightclub where she had won the competition _ all in pursuit of a pair of black heels with an ankle strap _ caught the eye of Joe Pesci, who in 1978 was working on a movie about a boxer named Jake LaMotta. That photo led to months of auditions for the role of the fighter's wife, Vickie.
The movie would become Martin Scorsese's "Raging Bull" starring Robert DeNiro, for which Moriarty nabbed a supporting actress Oscar nomination in her first acting gig ever. (The film won two Academy Awards, for DeNiro's lead performance and Thelma Schoonmaker's film editing, and had eight nominations total.)
