Stella Keitel is popular as the daughter of American actors Harvey Keitel and Lorraine Bracco. The former is known for his tough character roles in movies while the latter for her husky voice and Brooklyn accent.
Born in the mid-80s, Stella developed a passion for acting and starred alongside her parents in several movies. However, when her parents parted ways, her love for acting also declined and finally vanished when she became a psychologist.
10 Fascinating Facts about Stella Keitel
1. She Was Born in the United States of America
Harvey Keitel’s Daughter was born Stella Keitel on December 10, 1985. She was raised in the United States of America by mostly her mother Lorraine Bracco after her parents parted ways.
As regards her education, we know she was a student of the Green Meadow Waldorf school before moving to Saddle River Day School in New Jersey. Thereafter, she proceeded to Lynn University in Florida. However, when she got a job with Wilhelmina Models in 2005, she transferred to a school in New York City where she can easily juggle between working and completing her degree.
2. Stella Keitel is from an Artistic Family
The 38-year-old was born into a family of actors. Her father, Harvey Keitel is an award-winning actor known for movies including Reservoir Dogs, Taxi Driver, and Pulp Fiction. Similarly her mother Lorraine Bracco is also an actress who is recognized for her role as Jennifer Melfi in the show The Sopranos and movies such as Goodfellas, Medicine Man, and The Basketball Diaries. Also, Stella’s grandparents were also part of the movie industry in the 80s.
3. Her Parents Dated for Over a Decade But Were Never Married
The question regarding if Stella’s parents, Keitel and Bracco were ever married has lingered for so many years because the duo spent over a decade together. While many sources claim that they tied the knot, we uncovered that they never did.
As the story goes, Keitel met Bracco in Paris in 1983. At that time, she was going through a divorce with her then-husband, Daniel Guerard with whom she had her first daughter, Margaux. After her divorce from Daniel, the pair started dating and within a few months, Bracco moved to New York to live with him and also got started as an actress. The pair welcomed their first daughter, Stella in 1985. Sadly a lot of issues began to rife between the both of them.
According to Bracco, he would disappear for days and only return when he pleases also, he went back to his old drug habit and was unnecessarily moody. She couldn’t place what was happening and so didn’t know how to handle their problems. Bracco also recalled in an interview how he promised to stop drugs each time she confronted him but that only lasted until the next day.
Amidst all this, she was trying to be strong for her daughters and her career as well, however she couldn’t hold up for long. Bracco revealed that she started an affair with Edward James Olmos a fellow actor while on the location of a movie and later confessed to Keitel. As expected, he immediately hated her and ended their relationship of almost 12 years.
4. Stella Keitel Suffered Severe Illness in 1995
Stella almost lost her life in 1995 as a result of systemic juvenile rheumatoid arthritis which according to doctors made her cells fight against each other. As a result of this, the then-10 years old was always weak and couldn’t stand without aid because her joints were damaged. Fortunately, she outgrew the disease and is apparently healthy.
5. Her Parent’s Breakup Resulted in a Custody Fight
When Stella’s parents separated, she was left under her mother’s custody, however, when her father got information that her mother’s then-boyfriend Edward James Olmos had allegedly abused a minor the year earlier, he reportedly started a custody fight which cost $2 million. Even so, the court placed Bracco in the sole custody of Stella in the year 1996.
Nonetheless, the custody fight between the two didn’t end there. Keitel went on to present to the court that Stella’s life was threatened as a result of Olmos’s dealings with the Mexican Mafia criminal gang. Howbeit, the trial still ended in Bracco’s favor as the court declared that they were now in safety.
Later, Bracco and Olmos got married and accused Keitel of using Stella as a shield to get his revenge rather than her safety as he presumed. Following this, the actor gave up on the fight and moved on with his life. Sadly after the custody fight, the relationship between Bracco and Olmos fizzled out, and in 2002, the pair got divorced.
6. Is Stella Keitel in a Relationship
Though a celebrity, this aspect of Stella’s life has remained elusive from the spotlight which makes it difficult to identify the man in her life. While Stella is said to be single by many sources, what is also possible is that she has a man in her life and is not ready to place him in the spotlight.
Read Also:Is Josephine Buettner Married? A Look At Her Love Life
7. Her Father’s Marriage in 2001 Conincized With the Birth of His Second Son
After things went south between Stella’s parents, her father, Keitel decided to give love a chance again. He started dating Lisa Karmazin for a few years until issues began to set in which resulted in their break up even though she was expecting his child. Following his spilt from Lisa, he got into a relationship with Dephna Kastner, a Canadian actress who was 22 years his junior.
As the story goes, the connection between Dephna and Keitel was so immediate that they headed to the alter after dating for only a few months. The pair tied the knot in 2001 at a private ceremony with only family and friends in attendance. Be that as it may, his ex-girlfriend Lisa had just put to birth that year and needed support from the father of her child.
It was a rough period for Keitel who was starting a new journey with his new wife and had his son at heart. However, he had to focus on what was more immediate to him. According to Lisa, she called him up while in labor and he agreed to meet her up after a few days but he never did until after six months which put a strain on their relationship.
8. Stella Has Acted Next to Both Her Parents
When Stella was still a child, she appeared in the movie The Bad Lieutenant (1992) as the daughter of her real-life father Keitel, and in 1990, she made appearances in GoodFellas as the daughter of her real-life mother Lorraine Bracco.
The 38-year-old also made an appearance in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and subsequently Holy Rollers and Landing.
9. What is Stella Up To
Harvey Keitel’s daughter made appearances in several movies during her teenage years. According to IMDB, she has appeared in at least 8 productions. Nonetheless, she is not active anymore as an actress and was last seen in the short film Landing as Becca in 2010.
At present. Stella is focused on her career as a psychologist. In a now-deleted Instagram post, she made known her intentions to begin mental health awareness and management. Even though there are no updates to that effect, we can only patiently hope for great output.
10. How Rich Is She?
Just like her relationship, there is limited information as regards this aspect of her life. What is known is that she had a brief career as an actress and currently sustains her livelihood as a psychologist.
Notwithstanding, her father has an enviable net worth of $50 million following his long-spanned career as an actor and producer. Similarly, her mother, Lorraine Bracco also does well for herself as an actress who by estimation is worth $14 million. From this point it’s certain that Stella lives comfortably.
