Theresa Caputo

Theresa Caputo's alleged abilities as a spiritual medium led to a long-running and popular reality television series, "Long Island Medium" (TLC, 2011-), which focused on her tumultuous home life and work with clients hoping for another chance to communication with deceased loved ones. Born in Hicksville, a a hamlet in Oyster Bay on Long Island, New York on June 10, Caputo was the daughter of a former firefighter turned county water commissioner. She claimed that from an early age, she was sensitive to a host of sensory phenomena, including the voices and physical manifestations of people that others could not see. These experiences were initially written off as anxiety or panic attacks, but according to Caputo, a spiritual healer and family friend named Pat Longo later informed her that these instances were actually forms of communication from deceased individuals. The healer reportedly trained her to interpret these "signs" and channel what she called "spirit," or messages from the beyond for their loved ones. Her Long Island home soon became an in-demand location for the bereaved to communicate with those they had lost; among these visitors was producer Jonathan Partridge, who convinced Caputo to star in her own reality series in 2011. "Long Island Medium," which divided its airtime between Caputo's readings for clients, including several celebrities, and her family, which included husband Larry Caputo, from whom Caputo was divorced in 2018, and their children, Larry, Jr., and Victoria, was a popular ratings magnet for the TLC network, and led to lucrative live appearances and readings around the country by Caputo. Not everyone was wowed by her brassy screen presence and empathetic readings: Caputo and "Long Island Medium" was frequently targeted by skeptics like James Randi, better known as "the Amazing Randi," who claimed that Caputo's alleged abilities were at best chicanery, and at worst, predatory actions taken against vulnerable individuals. The charges did not appear to weaken TLC's support for Caputo, who starred in the show's 14th season in 2019.