Most Underrated Character Actresses
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Equally at home on stage and on screen, award-winning actress Loretta Devine has created some of the most memorable roles in theatre, film and television.
Devine first captured national attention in the role of Lorrell, one of the three original "Dreamgirls" in Michael Bennett's classic award-winning Broadway musical of the same name. She followed that performance with a fiery portrayal of Lillian in Bob Fosse's critically acclaimed stage production "Big Deal." Subsequent work in George C. Wolfe's "Colored Museum" and "Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill," cemented Devine's status as one of the most talented and versatile stage actresses.
Film roles soon followed including a poignant turn as a single mother opposite Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Gregory Hines in Waiting to Exhale (1995) which earned Devine her first NAACP Image Award for 'Best Supporting Actress.' Devine also won an NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Penny Marshall's The Preacher's Wife (1996). Devine received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Actress for her work in "Women Thou Art Loosed." Devine was featured in the Academy Award-winning film "Crash" and the hit movie of "Dreamgirls." Some of her additional film credits include appearances in the successful "Urban Legend" franchise, "I Am Sam" opposite Michelle Pfeiffer and Sean Penn, "Kingdom Come," "What Women Want," "Punks," "Hoodlums," "Down in the Delta" and "Stanley and Iris."
Devine's more recent film credits include co-starring roles in "This Christmas" and "First Sunday" both of which opened Number 1 at the box office. Devine voiced the character of "Delta" in Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." She appeared with Chris Rock in Sony Screen Gems remake of "Death at a Funeral" and "Lottery Ticket" for Alcon/Warner Brothers. Devine portrayed "The Woman in Green" in Tyler Perry's adaptation of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls." In 2011, Devine starred in two leading roles in the film "Jumping the Broom" with Paula Patton, Laz Alonso and Angela Bassett and in the Tyler Perry directed film "Madea's Big Happy Family," both films earned top spots at the box office, respectively. Devine followed up her box office hits with a strong lineup of independent films including Robert Townsend's "In The Hive" which earned Devine a NAACP Image Award nomination for "Best Actress in a Motion Picture", "You're Not You" alongside Hilary Swank, James Franco's "The Sound and the Fury" and the Kristen Wiig dramedy, "Welcome to Me."
On television, Devine became a critical darling in her Emmy award-winning role as "Adele" on ABC's hit medical drama "Grey's Anatomy." Devine's credits include numerous series roles on shows such as "The Cosby Show" spin-off "A Different World," Eddie Murphy's stop-motion animated series "The PJs," David E Kelly's "Boston Public," ABC's "Eli Stone" and alongside Jennifer Love-Hewitt on Lifetime's "The Client List." She most recently starred on NBC's critically acclaimed sitcom "The Carmichael Show" and co-starred in the 3rd season of BET's "Being Mary Jane" as the titular character's main antagonist, "Cece." Devine continues to voice "Hallie the Hippo" on Disney Channel's Peabody Award-Winning animated series, "Doc McStuffins," and will next star in the Netflix family series, "FAMILY REUNION" which will feature an all-black cast and crew.
With a career spanning three decades, Devine has earned much praise and accolades for her work on both the big and small screen. For her work as "Adele" on "Grey's Anatomy," Devine earned both a Primetime Emmy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, a Gracie Allen Award for "Outstanding Female Actor in a Featured Role," a nomination for "Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series" from the Critics' Choice Television Awards and a NAACP Image Award and a NAACP Image Award nomination. In total, Devine has won nine NAACP Image Awards and has received a record twenty-four nominations. Devine has received Lifetime Achievement Awards from both the Pan African Film Festival and the NAACP Theatre Awards and the Thespian Award from the LA Femme International Film Festival.
Devine graduated from the University of Houston and later received a Master of Fine Arts from Brandeis University. She also received a Doctorate of Humane Letters as well as a Distinguished Alumni Award from The University of Houston.
She currently resides in Los Angeles.- Actress
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Mary 'Mare' Megan Winningham is an actress and songwriter who has appeared in nearly 100 TV shows and feature films. She began her career in 1976 as a singer, and starred in numerous and diverse film roles before hitting it big as one of the original Brat Pack in Joel Schumacher's St. Elmo's Fire (1985) with Emilio Estevez, Andrew McCarthy, Demi Moore, Judd Nelson, and Ally Sheedy.
Mare attended Chatsworth High School with Val Kilmer, James Rekart and Kevin Spacey, but she was bitten by the acting bug much earlier on. She had enjoyed drama and music since primary school, taking a particular interest in the guitar and drums.
Since St. Elmo's Fire (1985), Mare has played some outstanding roles in a number of big films. She starred in the Tom Hanks comedy Turner & Hooch (1989). She has also starred in two feature films with Kevin Costner, The War (1994) and the western Wyatt Earp (1994), the latter directed by Lawrence Kasdan and co-starring Gene Hackman. Mare won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her role opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh in Georgia (1995).
Bad Day on the Block (1997) saw her starring opposite Charlie Sheen and she put in a superb performance in Brothers (2009), a war drama co-starring Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.
Her myriad TV roles include ER (1994), Grey's Anatomy (2005), and 24 (2001) with Kiefer Sutherland.- Tess Harper attended Southwest Missouri State University, now known as Missouri State University, in Springfield, MO. During the late 1960s, she did "street" acting in the theme parks, Dogpatch, USA, in Jasper, AR, and Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. She was discovered while doing theater work in Dallas, TX. After being turned down at an audition for a Chuck Norris movie, Harper was recruited to come do a reading for "Tender Mercies" with Robert Duvall, for which she was selected to play the supporting role, earning her a Golden Globe nomination for best supporting actress.
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Juliette Lewis has been recognized as one of Hollywood's most talented and versatile actors of her generation since she first stunned audiences and critics alike with her Oscar-nominated performance as "Danielle Bowden" in Cape Fear (1991). To date, she has worked with some of the most revered directors in the industry, including Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Lasse Hallström, Oliver Stone, and Garry Marshall. Whether lending dramatic authenticity or a natural comedic flair to her roles, Lewis graces the screen with remarkable range and an original and captivating style.
Lewis was born in Los Angeles, Californa, to Glenis (Duggan) Batley, a graphic designer, and Geoffrey Lewis, an actor. By the age of six, she knew she wanted to be a performer. At twelve, Lewis landed her first leading role in the Showtime miniseries Home Fires (1987). After appearing in several TV sitcoms including The Wonder Years (1988), she made her move to film, starring with Chevy Chase in National Lampoon's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) and with Jennifer Jason Leigh in the drama Crooked Hearts (1991). At 16, Lewis starred opposite Brad Pitt in the critically acclaimed television movie Too Young to Die? (1990), catching the attention of Martin Scorsese, who cast her in his thriller Cape Fear (1991). Her powerful scenes with Robert De Niro captured the quiet complexities of adolescence and earned her an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe nomination for "Best Supporting Actress". Her auditorium scene with De Niro went down in movie history as one of cinema's classic scenes.
Lewis next worked with Woody Allen in Husbands and Wives (1992), playing a self-assured college coed with a penchant for older men and, particularly, her married professor. She quickly followed suit with a succession of starring roles in a variety of blockbusters and critically acclaimed projects including Kalifornia (1993), Romeo Is Bleeding (1993), What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and Natural Born Killers (1994), Oliver Stone's controversial media satire about two mass murderers who become legendary folk heroes. Lewis's other credits include the Nora Ephron comedy Mixed Nuts (1994), with Steve Martin and Adam Sandler; the sci-fi action film Strange Days (1995) with Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett; Quentin Tarantino's vampire tale From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) with George Clooney; The Evening Star (1996) with Shirley MacLaine; the Garry Marshall-directed The Other Sister (1999), and Todd Phillips' Old School (2003), co-starring opposite Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Will Ferrell as well as Starsky & Hutch (2004). In addition to her film career, Lewis has continued to add roles to her growing list of television credits with a performance in Showtime's My Louisiana Sky (2001), for which she secured an EMMY nomination, and a starring role in the Mira Nair-directed HBO's film Hysterical Blindness (2002), alongside Uma Thurman and Gena Rowlands.
After a six-year hiatus from film to pursue her burgeoning music career exclusively, Lewis announced her return to acting with a handful of upcoming movies. Juliette starred alongside Elliot Page, Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig and Jimmy Fallon in the comedy Whip It (2009). The film was released by Fox Searchlight on October 2nd, 2009. Directed by Drew Barrymore, the film tells the story of an ex-beauty pageant contestant that leaves her crowns behind after joining a roller derby team. Lewis plays "Iron Maven", the star of a top derby team. Next, she joined the cast of the acclaimed European animated thriller Metropia (2009), as the voice of "Nina". She also appeared in the romantic comedy The Switch (2010), opposite Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, and Patrick Wilson. The film tells the story of a single mother (Aniston) who decides to have a child using a sperm donor. Juliette plays "Debbie Epstein", the best friend of Aniston's character. Lewis also appears in Sympathy for Delicious (2010), Mark Ruffalo's directorial debut. The film follows a paralyzed DJ, struggling to survive on the streets of LA who turns to faith healing and mysteriously develops the ability to cure the sick. Juliette plays "Ariel", costarring alongside Orlando Bloom, Mark Ruffalo, and Laura Linney. The film took home the US Dramatic Special Jury Prize at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Most recently, Juliette Lewis appears in the indie-drama Conviction (2010), which stars Hilary Swank, Melissa Leo, Minnie Driver, and Sam Rockwell. She plays "Roseanna Perry" in the true story of an unemployed single mother (Swank) who saw her brother begin serving a life sentence in 1983 for murder and robbery. The role has won Lewis praise from audiences and critics, alike, for her performance, with USA Today saying, "Juliette Lewis has an indelible role" and the San Francisco Chronicle saying "Her character work should be studied in schools. Just remarkable". In addition to Conviction (2010), Lewis also makes a cameo in Todd Phillips's comedy, Due Date (2010), starring Robert Downey Jr., Michelle Monaghan, and Zach Galifianakis.
Beginning in 2004, Juliette took a hiatus from acting to embark on a musical journey. After six years, two full length albums and countless high profile tours and festival gigs with her band, 'Juliette & the Licks', Juliette set out on a solo career. Releasing "Terra Incognita" last fall, the album has taken her all across the world from Europe to Japan to Turkey, Australia, North America and Canada. For more information on Juliette Lewis' music, please visit her MySpace page. Juliette Lewis resides in Los Angeles.- Actress
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Allison Janney is an award-winning actress who has earned a solid reputation in stage productions and in many supporting roles on screen, and who more recently has become prominent by portraying one of the major characters in the popular TV series The West Wing (1999).
Entertainment Weekly magazine describes Janney's screen presence as "uncommonly beautiful and infinitely expressive." As an actor, the magazine deems her to be "one to watch."
Janney was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Macy Brooks (Putnam), a former actress, and Jervis Spencer Janney, Jr., a real estate developer and jazz musician. While studying at Kenyon College, Janney answered a casting call for an on-campus play that was to be directed by Kenyon's most famous alumnus, the legendary actor Paul Newman. During her audition/interview, Janney played upon Newman's known passion for race car driving - she explained how she cut thirty minutes off of the 130 mile journey from her home town to the college. She got chosen for the play's cast.
After earning her degree in drama, Janney took Joanne Woodward's suggestion to do further study at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse. She also studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.
Early in her career Janney got comedic roles in the soap operas As the World Turns (1956) and Guiding Light (1952). Later, she gave memorable movie performances in supporting roles in Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), American Beauty (1999) and Nurse Betty (2000), and in the made-for-TV movie ...First Do No Harm (1997), among others.
Among her stage work, Janney has played in a revival of Arthur Miller's "A View From the Bridge" on Broadway opposite Anthony LaPaglia, which earned her a Tony Award nomination, and a Drama League Award for outstanding artist for the 1997-98 season. She played in Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" opposite Frank Langella, which earned her the Outer Critics Circle Award and an Actors' Equity award. Janney also appeared in the New York Shakespeare Festival's production of "The Taming of the Shrew."
In 1999 Janney became part of the original cast of the acclaimed TV series The West Wing (1999) where she played the President's press secretary who eventually gets promoted to the White House Chief of Staff. Her impressive work during the seven seasons of that renowned series earned her four Emmys and two SAG Awards.
With her reputation becoming more broadly established during her work on "The West Wing" Janney won more substantive roles in feature films, in the acclaimed The Hours (2002) where she was Meryl Streep's lesbian lover, and in How to Deal (2003) where she played Mandy Moore's mother.- Actress
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Jennifer Coolidge is a versatile character actress and experimental comedienne, best known for playing Stifler's mom in American Pie (1999).
She was born on August 28, 1961, in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, to Gretchen (Knauff) and Paul Constant Coolidge, a plastics manufacturer. Young Coolidge was dreaming of becoming a singer. She attended Norwell High School and Emerson College in Boston, Massachusetts, and earned her bachelor's degree in theatre in 1985. She moved to New York and joined the Gotham City improv group. Then, she headed to Los Angeles where she became a long-running member of "The Groundlings" comedy troupe. Coolidge made her television debut in a guest role on NBC's Seinfeld (1989), playing a voluptuous masseuse who won't offer her professional services to boyfriend Jerry in a 1993 episode. The following year, she had a regular gig on ABC's short-lived sketch series She TV (1994), then briefly became a cast member and writer on another short-lived sketch comedy series, Fox's Saturday Night Special (1996) produced by Roseanne Barr.
Coolidge made her big screen debut as a nurse in Not of This Earth (1995), then in the courtroom comedy Trial and Error (1996). Then, she appeared in small roles in several more feature films, and also continued her television work. Coolidge had her breakthrough role in American Pie (1999), as a boozed-up and sultry mom who seduces her son's classmate with the comment that she liked her scotch and men the same way: aged 18 years. She recreated the character in the sequel American Pie 2 (2001). Then, she reprized her role as "Paulette" opposite Reese Witherspoon in the "Legally Blonde" franchise. Although, she lost the part of "Lynette Scavo" on Desperate Housewives (2004) to Felicity Huffman, Coolidge graced several TV comedies as well, with major guest appearances on Frasier (1993) and Sex and the City (1998). Then, she landed a recurring role in the ABC sitcom Joey (2004), as "Bobbie Morgenstern", Joey's agent, appearing in 37 episodes over two seasons.
Eventually, Coolidge emerged as a versatile character actress with her no-holds-barred approach to comedy and her vanity-free comfort with playing uninhibited, unappealing characters, and delivering lines with sexual innuendo. Her talent shines in a range of characters, from a gold-digging dog owner in Best in Show (2000), to a scheming wife of an elderly mogul in Down to Earth (2001), to an opportunistic mother in American Dreamz (2006). Coolidge's gift for altering her appearance and manner, as well as her mastery of timing, shines in her perfectly hideous performance as "Fiona", a wicked stepmother in A Cinderella Story (2004) opposite Hilary Duff, for which Coolidge won a 2005 Teen Choice Award. Her lasting collaboration with director Christopher Guest continues in For Your Consideration (2006).
She has been sharing her time between her two homes, one is in Hollywood, California, and one in New Orleans, where she bought a historic mansion before the Hurricane Katrina hit the city, and then became involved in its restoration.- Actress
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Born in Bristol, England, Veronica is the older sister of the popular child actress Angela Cartwright. In her early career, Veronica was cast in a number of popular movies such as William Wyler's The Children's Hour (1961), Spencer's Mountain (1963) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). As such, she was cast as "Jemima Boone" in the popular television series Daniel Boone (1964), which ran from 1964 to 66. Her career after "Daniel Boone" may have been influenced by Hitchcock, since she appeared in both the remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and the horror classic Alien (1979). On television, she appeared twice as Lumpy's younger sister, "Violet Rutherford" and once as "Peggy MacIntosh" on Leave It to Beaver (1957) and had a small role in the television movie Still the Beaver (1983).
Cartwright also appeared in Robert Kennedy and His Times (1985), Tanner '88 (1988) and had a recurring role on L.A. Law (1986). Her big screen features included The Right Stuff (1983), Flight of the Navigator (1986) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987). Veronica worked on the stage in "Electra", "Talley's Folly", "Homesteaders", "Butterflies are Free" and "The Triplet Connection". Alternating between television and big screen movies in the 90s, Cartwright has appeared in such films as Hitler's Daughter (1990) and Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995).- Actress
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One of the hottest stars of the mid-1980s, Virginia Madsen has since played a variety of roles that have cemented her reputation as a fantastic actress who can adapt to any part.
Virginia was born in Chicago, Illinois, and belongs to an acting family -- with her brother, Michael Madsen, also an actor, and her mother, Elaine Madsen (née Melson), an Emmy-winning writer, poet, and producer. Her paternal grandparents were Danish, and her father, Calvin Madsen, was a firefighter. Audiences first caught a glimpse of her as "Princess Irulan" in the 1984 science fiction epic Dune (1984). She followed that up with Electric Dreams (1984); however, it was in 1986 that Virginia captured the hearts of the audience with an intense portrayal of a Catholic school girl who fell in love with a boy from a prison camp in Duncan Gibbins' Fire with Fire (1986). Virginia played the role of "Lisa" and her co-star was Craig Sheffer, who played Lisa's love interest, "Joe Fisk". Kari Wuhrer also made an appearance as Virginia's best friend, "Gloria". Fire with Fire (1986) was a low-budget production, starring a bunch of fresh faces who were till then-unknown to Hollywood. However, the movie was a success and elevated its three young stars overnight. Virginia has never looked back since.
Not only did she receive amazing reviews for her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominated performance in Alexander Payne's hit film, Sideways (2004), but this Independent Spirit Award-winning actress has an illustrious resume of roles alongside the most notable and respected actors in the business.
Also on Virginia's slate is her production company, with partner Karly Meola, called "Title IX Productions". Their first project was the documentary I Know a Woman Like That (2009), which previewed at the Phoenix Film Festival in April 2009 and premiered at the Chicago Film Festival in October 2009. The doc was directed by Virginia's mother, Elaine Madsen, about the lives of extraordinary women ages 64-94. Next in the company's lineup is the documentary Fighting Gravity (2010), about women ski jumpers' ongoing battle for the right to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Title IX will team up with "Empire 8 Productions" and Vancouver-based "Screen Siren" on the project. The duo also has several projects in development that they're shopping around for financing including screenwriters Sebastian Gutierrez's screen adaptation of Martha O'Connor's novel "The Bitch Posse" and a remake of the 1984 film Electric Dreams (1984), in which Virginia appeared.- Actress
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Regina King was born in Los Angeles, California, to Gloria, a special education teacher, and Thomas King, an electrician. She began her career in the television show 227 (1985), followed by a role in Boyz n the Hood (1991). She began to be recognized by a mainstream audience after her role as Cuba Gooding Jr.'s character's wife in Jerry Maguire (1996). She co-starred in Enemy of the State (1998) as Will Smith's character's wife.- Actress
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The CCH stands for Carol Christine Hilaria, her birth name. Most of her characters are enriched with positive attributes -- strength, confidence, integrity, strong-mindedness -- and it is a testament to the abilities of this four-time Emmy nominated actress that she continues on such a high plane in a five-decade career.
Born on Christmas Day 1952 in Guyana, she was raised on a sugar cane plantation. Her parents, Betsy Enid Arnella (James) and Ronald Urlington Pounder, moved the family to the States while she was still a young girl, but she and her sister were subsequently sent to a convent boarding school in Britain where they were introduced to art and the classics. Following high school graduation, she arrived in New York and studied at Ithaca College, where her acting talents were strongly tapped into. Regional and classical repertory theater followed, earning roles in such productions as "The Mighty Gents" (1979) with Morgan Freeman at the New York Shakespeare Festival and "Open Admissions" (1984), her Broadway debut. Other stage work includes "Coriolanus," "Antony and Cleopatra," "The Frog," "The Lodger" and "Mumbo Jumbo."
After bit/featured roles in All That Jazz (1979), I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982) and Prizzi's Honor (1985), CCH earned cult status in the art-house film Bagdad Cafe (1987) (aka "Bagdad Café" in the US) as the offbeat owner of a roadside café. She continued to impress with support roles in Postcards from the Edge (1990), The Importance of Being Earnest (1992), an all-black version: as Miss Prism), Benny & Joon (1993), RoboCop 3 (1993), Sliver (1993), Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight (1995),Face/Off (1997), Funny Valentines (1999), The Devil in Miss Jones 6 (1999), Baby of the Family (2002), Rain (2008), Orphan (2009), Avatar (2009) (as the voice of Mo'at, and its sequels), My Girlfriend's Back (2010). Home Again (2012) (as a Jamaican) and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013).
Pounder's prominence came, however, with television. Often cast as succinct, professional types (doctors, policewoman, judges) or characters with a variety of accents, she is known for her understated intensity and earned an Emmy nomination for her stint on the hospital drama ER (1994). She has also performed in a number of highly acclaimed topical mini-movie dramas, including Go Tell It on the Mountain (1985), Common Ground (1990), Murder in Mississippi (1990), Little Girl Fly Away (1998), A Touch of Hope (1999), Boycott (2001), Redemption: The Stan Tookie Williams Story (2004) (as Winnie Mandela) for which a number of kudos have come her way.
Millennium TV output includes regular/recurring roles on the series The Shield (2002) in which she earned an NAACP Award and Emmy nomination as Detective Claudette Wym; the social drama Ciencias del espacio (2008) as matriarch Mrs. Trainor, and NCIS: New Orleans (2014) as medical examiner Loretta Wade. She later found voice work in animated projects and video games.- Margo Martindale was born July 18, 1951 in Jacksonville, Texas, to Margaret (Pruitt) and William Everett Martindale, a lumber company owner and dog handler. She is the youngest of three children, and the only daughter. Margo attended Lon Marris College, and later transferred to University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, and did a summer study at Harvard University. She made her film debut appearance in Days of Thunder (1990), she played the minor role of Donna. Notable roles include: Sister Colleen, Susan Sarandon's fellow nun in Dead Man Walking (1995). She played a brief but memorable role as the selfish mother to Hilary Swank's character in Million Dollar Baby (2004).
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Davis, second of three children, was born in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Joan, a librarian (at one time, for the elementary section of Elisabeth Morrow School), and William Davis, an engineer. Davis has described her mother as a "great storyteller" who would take Davis and her siblings to museums or to "something cultural" every Sunday after church. Davis was raised in Tenafly, New Jersey and graduated in 1982 from Tenafly High School. She was a childhood friend of Mira Sorvino, with whom she wrote and acted in backyard plays. She is married to actor Jon Patrick Walker. They have two daughters, Georgia (born August 31, 2002) and Mae (born December 30, 2004).- Embeth Davidtz was born on August 11, 1965 in Lafayette, Indiana. She is known for her role as Miss Honey in the film Matilda (1996).
Her parents, Jean and John Davidtz, were South Africans, with Dutch, English, and French ancestry. The family moved to Trenton, New Jersey, before returning to her parents' native country, where her father was a university professor. Davidtz studied at Rhodes University. Her acting started with the National Theatre Company's "Romeo & Juliet" for which she received good reviews.
She got a small role in South African-filmed American horror, Mutator (1989). She moved to Los Angeles in 1992, and landed a role in her first American film, Sam Raimi's Army of Darkness (1992). Also, she appeared Television film Till Death Us Do Part (1992). After Director Steven Spielberg cast her in Schindler's List (1993) as Helen Hirsch.
In Matilda (1996), based on Roald Dahl's children's book, she played the role of Miss Honey. She is most often recognized for her role in this film. She also starred in the Bicentennial Man (1999), which was released in 1999. She got a supporting role in the film Bridget Jones's Diary (2001), as Natasha. Also in 2001, her role included horror thrillers Thir13en Ghosts (2001).
In 2009, she played Felicia Koons on Californication season 3. Davidtz played in Marc Webb's Spider-Man reboots, as Peter Parker's mother, Mary Parker. She married Jason Sloane on June, 2002. - Actress
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Becky Ann Baker was born on 17 February 1953 in Fort Knox, Kentucky, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for A Simple Plan (1998), Men in Black (1997) and Spider-Man 3 (2007). She has been married to Dylan Baker since 6 September 1987. They have one child.- Actress
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Chloë Sevigny is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-winning actress and director who is known for her groundbreaking work across film, television and theatre. Sevigny has spent her career working with innovative and revolutionary filmmakers and artists including Lars von Trier, Jim Jarmusch, Mary Harron, David Fincher and Whit Stillman and Luca Guadagnino. She continues that work with several upcoming projects: Sevigny can be currently seen in We Are Who We Are, for HBO/Sky, which was created, written and directed by Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name). The eight-episode drama is a coming of age story about a group of American soldiers on an Army base in Italy. We Are Who We Are is being produced by Wildside and Apartment Pictures and distributed by Freemantle. Alice Braga, Jack Dylan Grazer, and Kid Cudi also star. In 2021 Sevigny will begin production on the second season of the Natasha Lyonne hit Russian Doll for Netflix. In the first season, Chloë made an appearance as Leonora, mother to Natasha's character Nadia. The second season will be an origin story in which Chloë's character is heavily featured. Russian Doll was created by Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland. Sevigny was last seen on the big screen in Queen and Slim, directed by Melina Matsoukas and written by Lena Waithe, with the original idea by James Frey. The film stars Daniel Kaluuya and Jodie Turner-Smith. The film is about a black man and black woman on a first date that goes awry after the two are pulled over by a police officer at a traffic stop. They kill the police officer in self-defense and go on the run, rather than turn themselves in. Chloë's character plays a pivotal role in deciding their fate. The film was released in the US by Universal in November 2019. Opening the 2019 Cannes Film Festival was Jim Jarmusch's third film for Focus Features and Universal Pictures International, The Dead Don't Die. The zombie-comedy boasts a cast including Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, Adam Driver, Steve Buscemi and Selena Gomez. Sevigny plays a small-town police officer, with Murray and Driver, in a town under zombie attack. Carter Logan and Animal Kingdom produced. Sevigny previously worked with Jarmusch on Broken Flowers and Ten Minutes Older Sevigny has now made the move into directing with three critically acclaimed short films: Her most recent, White Echo, premiered in competition at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, at which Sevigny was the only American female director in Competition. Chloë's directorial debut, Kitty, also debuted at Cannes in 2016 and her second short entitled Carmen, proved equally successful at the 2017 Venice Film Festival. Recent past projects include: The Act, on Hulu, a true-crime anthology series written by Michelle Dean and Nick Antosca and directed by Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (Mustang). The Act tells the true story of Gypsy Blanchard, a girl (Joey King) trying to escape the toxic relationship she has with her overprotective mother, played by Patricia Arquette. Chloë played Mel, who serves as the moral compass of the story. Lizzie, which premiered at Sundance 2018 after being developed and produced by Sevigny. The film, in which she starred with Kristen Stewart, was released by Roadside Attractions in September 2018. Lean On Pete, directed by Andrew Haigh, which was released domestically in May 2018 by A24. Sevigny co-starred with Steve Buscemi in a coming of age story starring Charlie Plummer, based on the acclaimed novel by Willy Vlautin. Golden Exits, directed by Alex Ross Perry, Oren Moverman's The Dinner, and Miguel Arteta's Beatriz at Dinner. The critically acclaimed television series Bloodline is recently aired its third and final season on Netflix. On stage, Sevigny was most recently seen in the New Group's Downtown Race Riot written by Seth Zvi Rosenfeld and directed by Scott Elliot. Sevigny was previously seen in The New Group's productions of What the Butler Saw and Hazelwood Junior High. Sevigny has also appeared in many celebrated indie and cult-favorite films like, The Last Days of Disco, American Psycho, Gummo, Dogville, Party Monster, Broken Flowers and Love & Friendship, and has appeared in television hits such as American Horror Story, Portlandia and Big Love, for which she won a Golden Globe. Sevigny made her film debut in the controversial Kids, directed by Larry Clark and written by Harmony Korine. For her performance in Kimberly Peirce's Boys Don't Cry, Chloë received nominations for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe among many others. She makes her home in New York. 10/2020- Actress
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The actress Wendie Malick was born in Buffalo, New York, in 1950 and attended Ohio Wesleyan University, from which she graduated in 1972. The 5-foot, 10-inch beauty was a Wilhelmina model in the 1970s, giving it up to go to work for Buffalo-area Congressman Jack Kemp. She quickly left Washington, DC, behind to act in the theater.
She appeared as Judith Tupper Stone in the early 1990s on the HBO comedy Dream On (1990) for which she won four CableACE Awards as Best Actress in a Comedy Series. Malick has proved a gifted comedienne with great comic timing and reached the height of her career as one of the stars of the sitcom Just Shoot Me! (1997). Malick was hilarious as the beautiful fashion editor Nina Van Horn, a neurotic and pretentious ex-model struggling with middle age. For her work on the series, Malick won a Golden Globe and two Emmy Award nominations as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
On television, she has also had regular roles in the series Trauma Center (1983) and Good Company (1996) and recurring roles on NYPD Blue (1993), Anything But Love (1989), Baywatch (1989), Kate & Allie (1984), and Frasier (1993). She also starred in several made-for-TV movies, including Paper Dolls (1982), Dynasty: The Reunion (1991) and Perfect Body (1997). She also starred in North Shore Fish (1997) on cable TV, based on a role which she originated on stage. Malick's work has included roles in the movies The American President (1995), Scrooged (1988), and Bugsy (1991). With her distinctive voice, she is in high demand for voice-over work.- Actress
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She has show biz in her blood. Martha Plimpton was born November 16, 1970, in New York City to two actors: Keith Carradine and Shelley Plimpton. Martha began her career at age 8, when her mom had a friend of hers, composer Elizabeth Swados, enroll her in an actors' workshop. At age 10, she got a small part in Rollover (1981), and also made a series of Calvin Klein commercials.
Her first substantial film role was as a tomboy in The River Rat (1984); the following year, Steven Spielberg cast her in The Goonies (1985). Martha met River Phoenix while they were both filming The Mosquito Coast (1986), but since she was only 15 at the time, she did not go out with him. Even though she had a small part in the movie, it established her as a serious actress. Martha appeared in movies such as the screwball comedy Stars and Bars (1988) and, that same year, she was paired again with Phoenix in Running on Empty (1988). They dated for a while and then broke up. For a while, she was engaged to actor Jon Patrick Walker.
As if making movies didn't keep her busy enough, Martha frequently worked at theaters and made her Chicago debut with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company Ensemble in "The Libertine" in 1996. As a member of that ensemble, she received a National Medal of Arts award in the autumn of 1998. As for movies, Colin Fitz Lives! (1997) and Eye of God (1997) in which she plays the starring role, have been run at the Sundance Film Festival. Although some recent movies have had low box office (Pecker (1998) $2.1 million, and 200 Cigarettes (1999) $6.8 million), Martha's performances shine and she often rises above her material.
Perhaps recalling how important acting lessons were to her as a child, she donates her time and efforts to the "52nd Street Project" which is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to matching the inner-city children with professional theater artists to create original theater, by writing, directing and performing their own plays. Perhaps one of the inner-city kids she is coaching will be the next famous actress in Hollywood.- Actress
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Kristen Schaal is an American actress, voice artist, writer, and comedian. She is best known for her roles as Mel on the HBO series Flight of the Conchords, Louise Belcher on FOX animated comedy Bob's Burgers, and Mabel Pines on Gravity Falls. Other notable roles include her appearances as a commentator on The Daily Show, Amanda Simmons on The Hotwives of Orlando, Hazel Wassername on 30 Rock, Victoria Best on WordGirl, Trixie from the Toy Story franchise, and Anne on Wilfred. Since 2015, she has co-starred alongside Will Forte in the Fox comedy The Last Man on Earth, playing the role of Carol.- Actress
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Cheryl Ruth Hines was born on September 21, 1965 in Miami Beach, Florida, to Rosemary (Graham) and James Hines, and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida. She went to West Virginia University, Florida State University and graduated from the University of Central Florida. She studied theater and television production, but it was not until she moved to Los Angeles and studied at the Groundlings Theater that she felt she had really learned anything about comedy. Her first teacher there was Lisa Kudrow. She learned to improvise and write comedy sketches. This experience helped her prepare for the role of Larry David's wife on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000). The dialogue on the situation comedy is improvised, so she feels right at home. She still performs at the Groundlings Theater when she has a chance.- Actress
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Actress Joan Cusack was born on October 11, 1962 in New York City and is the daughter of Nancy (née Carolan) and Dick Cusack. Her father was an advertising executive, writer and actor, and her mother was a mathematics teacher. Her siblings - Susie Cusack, John Cusack, Ann Cusack and Bill Cusack are also actors. Her family is of Irish descent.
Raised in Evanston, Illinois, Cusack was actively encouraged to explore her creativity by her parents, and as a child, she joined the Piven Theater Workshop. She went on to learn and perform improvisation at the Story Theater and The Ark. Later, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, graduating with a bachelor's degree in English. Whilst at university, Cusack took some small film roles, but her big break came after graduation, when she joined the cast of the legendary "Saturday Night Live". However, she only stayed for one season before moving onto explore other projects.
Cusack produced a memorable turn in the acclaimed Broadcast News (1987), and she earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Working Girl (1988). Other notable films include Addams Family Values (1993), Corrina, Corrina (1994), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997) and In & Out (1997), which earned her a second Oscar nomination. One of her most well-known roles was Rosalie Mullins, the principal of Horace Green Elementary School in School of Rock (2003). She also provided, superbly, the voice of Jessie the Yodeling Cowgirl in Toy Story 2 (1999), Toy Story 3 (2010) and Toy Story 4 (2019). On television, she scored a role on Shameless (2011), with her work garnering her an Emmy nomination.
Joan Cusack is married to an attorney, Dick Burke. They have two sons - Dylan and Miles.- Actress
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Christine Ebersole was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Marian Esther (Goodley) and Robert Amos Ebersole, a steel company president. She won the 2007 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her work in "Grey Gardens". Previously, she was awarded the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Drama League awarded her both a citation and the Outstanding Performance of the Year, and she was named to its dais for 2007. She also received a special citation from the New York Drama Critics' Circle and the Obie for her off-Broadway turn in "Grey Gardens".- Actress
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A native of Michigan, S. Epatha Merkerson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Wayne State University. In 1978, she moved to New York City to apply her craft on stage. Although best known since 1993 as the smart and shrewd Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the long-running TV crime drama Law & Order (1990), she has a long list of Broadway and off-Broadway credits and honors that include Drama Desk Award and Tony Award nominations for Best Actress for her performance in the August Wilson play The Piano Lesson (1995), a 1992 Obie Award for her performance in "I'm Not Stupid," and a 1998 Helen Hayes Award for her starring role in the Studio Theater production in Washington, DC, of the John Henry Redwood play "The Old Settler." Her first appearance on television was a guest-starring role on an episode of The Cosby Show (1984). Her earliest regular role in television, however, was that of Reba the Mail Woman on Pee-wee's Playhouse (1986). Merkerson remains a theatrical force on the stage and on the screen and has the distinction of having been nominated for an Image Award in the Outstanding-Lead-Actress-in-a-Drama category for Law & Order (1990) for three consecutive years by the NAACP.- Actress
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Amanda Peet was born and raised in New York City. She is the daughter of Penny (Levy), a social worker, and Charles Peet, a lawyer, and has an older sister. Her father was of mostly English and German ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish family (from Germany, Russia, and Hungary). Peet's great-grandfathers were politician Samuel Levy and showbiz impresario S.L. Rothafel.
Peet made an unconventional stage debut at the age of three, when she jumped onto the stage during a play. Yet, despite this early start, she later studied acting more as a hobby than anything else. She studied history at Columbia University, where a drama professor convinced her to audition for acting teacher Uta Hagen, with whom she later went on to study for a four-year period. During this time, she participated in the off-Broadway revival of Clifford Odets's "Awake and Sing." She supported herself during the audition phase of her career by working as a waitress and with the residual checks she received from a Skittles candy commercial. Perseverance and hard work paid off, and, in 1995, she was cast in a guest-starring role on the hit series Law & Order (1990).
Her feature film debut came in 1995 with the movie Animal Room (1995). For a while afterward, Amanda continued to find steady work but also found herself appearing in a depressingly large number of indie films that were never picked up for distribution. She did, however, meet her boyfriend Brian Van Holt on the set of indie movie Whipped (2000). Her turn as the ditzy hit-woman with the heart of gold in the hit comedy The Whole Nine Yards (2000), opposite Bruce Willis, took her from supporting role status to leading lady. That same year she was voted one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World by "People" Magazine.- Actress
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Sarah Paulson was born on December 17, 1974 in Tampa, Florida, to Catharine Gordon (Dolcater) and Douglas Lyle Paulson II. She spent most of her early years in New York and Maine, before settling in Manhattan to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the High School for Performing Arts. Although she made her Broadway debut in "The Sisters Rosensweig" and performed in the off-Broadway "Talking Pictures", she debuted on the small screen in late 1994 in a guest shot on NBC's Law & Order (1990), then, in the following spring, landed her first TV-movie role in CBS' Friends at Last (1995) and finally became a TV series regular by fall 1995.
Best known for her amazing performance in CBS' supernatural drama American Gothic (1995) as the benevolent spiritual guide to her young brother, she was also a regular on the WB series Jack & Jill (1999) as "Elisa Cronkite", the former girlfriend of David "Jill" Jillefsky (Ivan Sergei) as well as the main character in the TV series Leap of Faith (2002), "Faith Wardwell", and as "Audrey" in the TV movie Metropolis (2000). She was also part of the cast of Shaughnessy (1996), The Long Way Home (1998) (as "Leanne Bossert") and Path to War (2002) as Luci Baines Johnson, as well as making notable appearances in Touched by an Angel (1994) playing "Zoe" in Manhunt (2001), 20 October 2001, and Cracker: Mind Over Murder (1997) playing "Nina" in True Romance: Part 1 (1997), 18 September 1997.
Sarah has now played in movies with such stars as Mel Gibson in the romantic comedy What Women Want (2000) (as "Annie", Gibson's secretary), Diane Keaton in the romantic drama The Other Sister (1999) (as "Heather Tate", Keaton's lesbian eldest daughter), Jamie Foxx in Held Up (1999) (as "Mary", a developmentally disabled young woman with an unfaithful boyfriend) and David Hyde Pierce in the romantic comedy Down with Love (2003) (as "Vicky Hiller", Pierce's crush). She also had two major roles in the comedy Bug (2002) and the drama, Levitation (1997), where she starred as a pregnant teenager who searches for her biological mother, with the help of a guardian angel.- Actress
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Award-winning stage actress Frances Conroy was introduced and encouraged by her parents to explore the elements of theater. Born Frances Hardman Conroy in Monroe, Georgia, she attended high school in Long Island and experienced classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse as a teenager. The pale, blue-eyed redhead also studied drama at Dickinson College and the Juilliard School (BFA) where she was taught, at the latter college, by theater greats John Houseman and Marian Seldes.
Following potent dramatic roles in such classical productions as "Mother Courage...and Her Children," "King Lear," "All's Well That Ends Well," "Measure for Measure" and "Othello" (as Desdemona) in the late 70s, Frances made her Broadway debut with "The Lady from Dubuque" in 1980. She went on to earn a well-respected name for herself under the Broadway and off-Broadway lights throughout the 1980s in such esteemed plays as "Our Town" (as Mrs. Gibbs), "The Little Foxes (as Birdie) and "In the Summer House." She also appeared with Ms. Seldes in the well-received plays "Ring 'Round the Moon" and "A Bright Room Called Day."
A performer with the The Acting Company, Frances won a Drama Desk Award for "The Secret Rapture" and an Obie for "The Last Yankee." In 2000 she received the Outer Critics Circle Award and a Tony nomination for "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan." Her other Broadway credits include "Ring Round the Moon", "The Little Foxes", "The Rehearsal" (Drama Desk Nominee), "Broken Glass", "In the Summer House" (Drama Desk Nominee) and "The Secret Rapture" (Drama Desk Nominee). Conroy's numerous Off- Broadway plays include "The Dinner Party", "The Skin of Our Teeth", "The Last Yankee" and "Othello" (Drama Desk Nominee).
An actress of subtle power, great depth and astonishing versatility, she has both an aloof serenity and faintly sad/sensitive ambiance that makes her all the more mysterious and intriguing. She came out to California in 1985 at the invitation of director Houseman and appeared in more theater plays, including "Richard III," at San Diego's Globe Theater. She also earned a sprinkling of generally overlooked film and TV parts, including small parts in Woody Allen's Manhattan (1979) (debut), Another Woman (1988) and Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989). Showing a distinct flair for the offbeat and neurotic, nothing really pushed the envelope for her on screen quite like her series' turn as the dowdy, emotionally frail undertaker's widow Ruth Fisher in the cult hit TV series Six Feet Under (2001). During the five-season run she won both a Golden Globe and three Screen Actors Guild awards and was nominated four times for an Emmy.
Film roles have been growing more abundant over the years, offering a number of fascinating featured roles, often as eccentric, often disturbing mothers and matrons. Such movies include Billy Bathgate (1991), Scent of a Woman (1992), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), The Crucible (1996), Maid in Manhattan (2002), Die, Mommie, Die! (2003), Catwoman (2004), The Aviator (2004) (as Kate Hepburn's mother), Shopgirl (2005), The Wicker Man (2006), Humboldt County (2008), The Smell of Success (2009), Love Happens (2009), 6 Souls (2010), Waking Madison (2010), Chasing Ghosts (2014), Making the Rules (2014), Welcome to Happiness (2015), rare leading roles in No Pay, Nudity (2016) and Mountain Rest (2018), and as psychotic Joaquin Phoenix's needy mother in the Oscar-winning psychological drama Joker (2019).
Frances has also appeared to fine advantage in several other TV series of late, most notably American Horror Story (2011) in which she earned her fifth and sixth Emmy nomination. She also had stand-out roles in How I Met Your Mother (2005), Casual (2015), Arrested Development (2003) and Dead to Me (2019), in addition to episodic guest spots on "ER," "Desperate Housewives," "Nip/Tuck," "Grey's Anatomy," "Young Sheldon" and "Castle Rock."
In 1992, she married actor/husband Jan Munroe, an L.A. performance artist. After a few Broadway roles with "The Little Foxes" (as Birdie), "Ring Round the Moon" and "The Ride Down Mt. Morgan," Frances returned to the theatre after a six-year absence, in the 2006 production of "Pyrenees" by David Greig at the Kirk Douglas Theater in Los Angeles.