Mira Sorvino was born on 28 September 1967 in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of the actor Paul Sorvino and Lorraine Ruth Davis, a former actress and drama therapist. She graduated magna cum laude in East Asian Studies from Harvard University before beginning her acting career.
Sorvino won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Woody Allen's Mighty Aphrodite (1995), and went on to star in the horror film Mimic (1997), directed by Guillermo del Toro, as well as Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997) and a range of film and television roles since.
This record has for many years listed a Welsh connection through Sorvino's mother, Lorraine Davis. General celebrity-genealogy sources describe Lorraine's ancestry as a mix of Welsh, German and English, but no specific Welsh ancestor, town of origin, or generation has ever been documented; Lorraine's own parents were born in Michigan and Ohio. Absent better sourcing, this should be read as an unverified family claim rather than an established Welsh connection.
Sorvino has continued to work across film and television and has been an outspoken advocate against human trafficking and workplace sexual harassment.