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A sexy blonde, Maria Pitillo has made steady progress in show business since cashing her first professional paycheck for a Pepto-Bismol commercial. She attracted attention as a Southern troublemaker on ABC`s daytime drama "Ryan`s Hope" in the mid-1980s and made her feature debut as a masseuse in Brian De Palma`s "Wise Guys" (1986). Pitillo landed her first significant screen role in "What If I`m Gay?" (1987), a "CBS Schoolbreak Special", then played prominent roles in "Spike of Bensonhurst" (1988, as Spike`s girlfriend) and "She-Devil" (1989). She delivered an incisive cameo as Mary Pickford in "Chaplin" (1992) and garnered good notices as Matthew Modine`s girlfriend in "Bye Bye, Love" (1995). Some of Pitillo`s best work in the 90s was on the small screen in the TNT productions "The Last Capone" (1990, as the gangster`s mistress) and "Cooperstown" (1993, as Alan Arkin`s daughter) and in the title role as a victim of spousal abuse in the 1995 NBC movie "Escape From Terror: The Teresa Stamper Story". Displaying her comedic abilities, Pitillo co-starred as the fiancee of an architect (Tate Donovan) whose presence threatened his best friend (Jon Cryer) in the short-lived Fox sitcom "Partners" (1995-96). Adopting a brunette look, the actress acquitted herself as Gloria McKinney, the coffee-shop proprietor who falls for Greg Kinnear, in "Dear God" (1996). Pitillo then landed the coveted female lead as an aspiring reporter in Roland Emmerich`s anticipated remake of "Godzilla" (1998).

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