Oh... That Gal
Here's the lady list. Character actresses... the one's you've seen all over the place and never fully recognized. (Couldn't fit any men on this list. Not even Peter Dinklage.)
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- 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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It took 30 years since it was first predicted, but Conchata Ferrell finally achieved television stardom, albeit of the supporting variety, as the housekeeper "Berta" in the situation-comedy Two and a Half Men (2003). Ferrell originally had been tipped for stardom with her turn as the prostitute "April" in the Norman Lear-produced series Hot l Baltimore (1975), in which she recreated her role in Lanford Wilson's off-Broadway hit. However, what was a hit play in New York turned out to be a flop on national TV and, though she worked steadily ever since, it took her role in support of stars Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer in "Men" to get her the attention her talent richly deserved. For her role as "Berta", Conchata was nominated for an Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in both 2005 and 2007. She had three Emmy nominations in total, having previously gotten a nod in 1992 for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for L.A. Law (1986).
Conchata Galen Ferrell was born on March 28, 1943 in Charleston, West Virginia, to Mescal Loraine (George) and Luther Martin Ferrell. She attended West Virginia University and Marshall University. Conchata graduated from Marshall with a degree in social studies in education. Eventually, she sought a life in the theater, and achieved success off-Broadway as a member of the Circle in the Square theatrical company in Wilson's "Hot L Baltimore". For her next off-Broadway appearance, as "Gertrude Blum" in Edward J. Moore's "The Sea Horse", Ferrell won Drama Desk, Theatre World and Obie Awards as best actress in 1974. She worked steadily in television and films ever since.
Ferrell was married to Arnie Anderson, and had one daughter.- A marvelously quirky and distinctive 4' 3" character actress, with a larger-than-life presence on film and TV, Zelda Rubinstein gave up a long and stable career in the medical field as a lab technician in order to strive for something more self-fulfilling as middle age settled in. At the age of 45, the feisty lady gave up the comfort of a stable paycheck and attempt an acting career, a daunting task for anyone but especially someone of her stature and type. Within a few years, she had beaten the odds and became a major movie celebrity thanks to one terrific showcase in a Steven Spielberg horror classic. In the process, she served as an inspiration to all the "little people" working in Hollywood who are forced to toil in cruel and demeaning stereotypes.
Zelda May Rubinstein was born on May 28, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Dolores and George Rubinstein, who were Polish Jewish immigrants. Zelda was the youngest of three children, and the only "little person" in the family. Her childhood and teenage years were decidedly difficult in terms of coping with her "interesting variation," which was caused by a pituitary gland deficiency. With no designs on acting at the time, she went the normal route of college and received a scholarship to study at the University of Pittsburgh. She earned her degree in bacteriology and worked for a number of years as a lab technician in blood banks. In 1978, Zelda, in a pursuit of something more creative in her life, abandoned her cushy but mundane job and threw herself completely into acting. She made her movie debut as one of the little people in the Chevy Chase slapstick comedy Under the Rainbow (1981). It all came together so quickly with her second film Poltergeist (1982) in the scene-stealing role of Tangina, the saucy, self-confident, prune-faced "house cleaner" with the whispery, doll-like voice who is brought in to rid a suburban home of demonic possession. Co-writer/producer Spielberg claims he designed the psychic role specifically for a "little person". The film became an instant summertime hit and Zelda created absolute magic and wonderment with the testy role, receiving some of the movie's best reviews. The character actress went on to appear in the two "Poltergeist" sequels. The "Poltergeist" movie projects were eventually dubbed "cursed" due to the untimely deaths of some of its performers, particularly two of the three children of film parents Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams. 22-year-old Dominique Dunne was slain in 1982 by a jealous ex-boyfriend only a few months after the first film's release, and angelic little Heather O'Rourke, age 12, died of an intestinal obstruction just months before Poltergeist III (1988) made it to the screen.
Although Zelda would not find a role quite up to the standards and popularity of Tangina, her subsequent career remained surprisingly active with a number of weird parts woven into both comedies and chillers -- often variations of her eccentric Tangina role. She played a mental patient in the Frances Farmer biopic Frances (1982), which showcased Jessica Lange in the Oscar-nominated title role; a squeaky-shoed organist in John Hughes sweet-sixteen comedy classic Sixteen Candles (1984) co-starring Brat Packers Molly Ringwald and Anthony Michael Hall; the demented mom in the gruesome, Spanish-made horror-thriller Anguish (1987) [aka Anguish], which has since reached cult status; a mentor witch in the comic fantasy Teen Witch (1989); a hermit in a National Lampoon-based slapstick Last Resort (1994); a betting clerk in the Sci-Fi adventure Timemaster (1995); an ill-fated nun in the thriller Little Witches (1996), and; a theatre director in the flick Critics and Other Freaks (1997).
Into the millennium, she made some odd, slapdash appearances in such minor fare as Maria & Jose (2000), Wishcraft (2002), Cages (2005), Angels with Angles (2005), Unbeatable Harold (2006) and Southland Tales (2006). In her last film, she furthered her horror icon status with a small cameo in the slim-budgeted indie Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon (2006) that also featured Robert Englund of "Freddy Krueger" fame. Zelda also found an "in" doing voiceovers, her doll-like tones ideal for cartoons and such, and in commercials promoting such items as Skittles candy. She enjoyed extended popularity on TV with a regular series role on the first couple of seasons of Picket Fences (1992). Her character later was killed off in a freakish accident (fell into a freezer!). In her last years she narrated, and "Exorcist" child star Linda Blair hosted, TV's Scariest Places on Earth (2000). The actress also appeared on stage in such productions as "Deathtrap" (as a psychic, of course), "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Suddenly, Last Summer," "The Slab Boys" and "Black Comedy". She also appeared as Yente in a production of "Fiddler on the Roof".
An outspoken social activist, Zelda was a staunch advocate for the rights of little people who formed the nonprofit Michael Dunn Memorial Repertory Theater Company in Los Angeles in 1985. The actress gained additional attention and respect, if not popularity (her career suffered for a time as a result), as an early and outspoken HIV/AIDS activist. As the poster mom for AIDS awareness, she valiantly appeared in a series of maternal newspaper/billboard advertisements imploring her gay son to practice safe sex. The series of ads ran from the mid-to-late 1980s. Zelda also participated in the first AIDS Project Los Angeles AIDS Walk and attended the 25th Anniversary Walk on October 12, 2009.
A couple of months before her death on January 27, 2010, Zelda suffered a heart attack. Complications set in (kidney and lung failure) and she passed away at age 76 on January 27, 2010, at Barlow Respiratory Hospital in Los Angeles, California. - Actress
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Linda Hunt is a veteran character actress who had only just begun acting in motion pictures when director Peter Weir required her peculiarities to animate one of cinema's most esoteric characters, Billy Kwan, the intellectual and virtuous Chinese-Australian dwarf and photographer, in the Australian romantic drama, The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). Hunt's work in the film earned an Oscar, among many critic awards, all for Best Supporting Actress.- 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.- Actress
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Born in Kansas City, Missouri, McClurg began her performing career at age five with the Kansas City Rhythm Kids. She retired when the dance teacher was arrested on a morals charge for "dating" the tall and lissome, yet underage, star dancer in the troupe. That girl's big number culminated with a back-bend where Edie drank a soda upside down (of course).
She earned a Bachelor's degree in Speech Education and a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University and taught radio at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for eight years. There she re-entered the entertainment field as a DJ, newswoman and producer for the NPR affiliate KCUR-FM. Her proudest moment was portraying John Ehrlichman in Conversation 26 of the NPR national broadcast of the Nixon Tape Transcripts. Her career-long devotion to satirical improvisation included an impressive tenure with The Groundlings.
She went on to create original characters, performed on the short-lived talk show The David Letterman Show (1980): Mrs. Marv Mendenhall, Dot Duncan, Whirly June Pickens, Officer Jeanelle Archer, 105-year-old Edie, etc. Television has been a home to many of McClurg's characters -- on The Richard Pryor Show (1977); as Lucille Tarlek, wife of brash advertising salesman Herb Tarlek on WKRP in Cincinnati (1978); and Mrs. Poole, the ever-cheery and almost omnipresent next-door neighbor on Valerie (1986). Her movie career growth paralleled her ten years with The Groundlings. Her first film was Brian De Palma's teen horror classic Carrie (1976). She did several John Hughes films, including Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987), She's Having a Baby (1988) and Curly Sue (1991). Offbeat cult favorites are Eating Raoul (1982), Elvira: Mistress of the Dark (1988), HBO's The Pee-Wee Herman Show (1981), and Martin Mull's The History of White People in America (1985).
In more mainstream films, she received a National Media Award for her portrayal of a mentally disabled woman in Bill: On His Own (1983) (which starred Mickey Rooney). She worked with Robert Redford (in A River Runs Through It (1992)), for Oliver Stone (in Natural Born Killers (1994)), for Diane Keaton (in Hanging Up (2000)), and was named Best Actress of the Chicago Alternative Film Festival for her portrayal of the mother of Ted Kaczynski ("The Unabomber").
More recent roles include the nosy lady on Fat Actress (2005), David Spade's nasty neighbor in Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star (2003), Dana Carvey's mother in Sony Pictures' The Master of Disguise (2002), Jane Kaczmarek's friend on Malcolm in the Middle (2000), and guest-starring on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000), Providence (1999), 7th Heaven (1996), and Caroline in the City (1995). She had voice roles in such television series and feature films as The Little Mermaid (1989), The Rugrats Movie (1998), A Bug's Life (1998), and Cars (2006).- Actress
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Karen entered Northwestern University at 18 and left two years later. She studied under Lee Strasberg in New York and worked in a number of off-Broadway roles. She made a critically acclaimed debut on Broadway in 1965 in "The Playroom". Her first big film role was in You're a Big Boy Now (1966), directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Shortly after wards, she appeared as Marcia in the TV series The Second Hundred Years (1967).
The film that made her a star was Easy Rider (1969), where she worked with Dennis Hopper, Peter Fonda, and a supporting actor named Jack Nicholson. She appeared with Nicholson again the next year when they starred in Five Easy Pieces (1970), which garnered an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe for Karen. Her roles mainly consisted of waitresses, hookers and women on the edge. Some of her later films were disappointments at the box office, but she did receive another Golden Globe for The Great Gatsby (1974). One role for which she is well remembered is that of the jewel thief in Alfred Hitchcock's last film, Family Plot (1976). Another is as the woman terrorized in her apartment by a murderous Zuni doll come to life in the well received TV movie Trilogy of Terror (1975). After a number of forgettable movies, she again won rave reviews for her role in Come Back to the 5 & Dime Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982). Since then, her film career has been busy, but the quality of the films has been uneven.- Actress
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Judy Greer was born and raised outside of Detroit, Michigan, as Judith Therese Evans. She is the daughter of Mollie Ann (née Greer), a hospital administrator and former nun, and Richard Evans, a mechanical engineer. She has German, Irish, English, Welsh, and Scottish ancestry. After training for nearly ten years in classical Russian ballet, Greer shifted her interest to acting and was accepted into Chicago's prestigious Theatre School at DePaul University.
After a variety of odd jobs during college, from telemarketer to oyster shucker, Greer landed her first on-screen role just three days after graduation -- a small part in the Jason Lee-David Schwimmer comedy Kissing a Fool (1998). She flew to Los Angeles for the film's premiere and never left. Greer quickly landed a role in the dark comedy Jawbreaker (1999), with Rose McGowan and Rebecca Gayheart. Greer starred as a school wallflower-turned-babe in a story about high school girls who accidentally kill their best friend and try to cover up the murder.
She went on to play a news correspondent in David O. Russell's Three Kings (1999), landing a memorable opening love scene with George Clooney. Her performance caught the eye of Hollywood, and she appeared next in Mike Nichols's What Planet Are You From? (2000) as a flight attendant opposite Garry Shandling. Her television credits include a recurring role as Jason Bateman's assistant Kitty on Fox's Arrested Development (2003), as well as guest-starring roles on Love & Money (1999), Maggie Winters (1998), and Early Edition (1996).
Greer starred opposite Jennifer Garner in Columbia Pictures' romantic comedy 13 Going on 30 (2004), directed by Gary Winick. Greer played an office colleague alongside Garner's character, with whom she shares a checkered past.
She co-starred in writer-director M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004), opposite Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, Bryce Dallas Howard, Sigourney Weaver, and William Hurt. Set in 1897, the film revolves around a close-knit community that lives with the knowledge that a mythical race of creatures resides in the woods surrounding them. The Village (2004) was released July 30, 2004, by Touchtone Pictures. Greer also co-starred in director Wes Craven's Cursed (2005), a modern twist on the classic werewolf tale written by Kevin Williamson. The busy actress also landed a co-starring role opposite Orlando Bloom and Susan Sarandon in writer-director Cameron Crowe's Elizabethtown (2005), playing the sister of Bloom's character and daughter of Sarandon's character.
She also joined Jeff Bridges and Jeanne Tripplehorn in the independent film The Amateurs (2005) by writer-director Michael Traeger. The film revolves around a motley group of friends who band together to make an amateur porn film. Greer plays a young temptress at the local mattress store who secures a role in the movie by allowing the store to be used as a film location.
Greer wrapped production in New York on a co-starring role opposite Tom McCarthy ("The Station Agent") in Danny Leiner's The Great New Wonderful (2005) for Serenade Films/Sly Dog Films. The dark comedy tells five different stories against the backdrop of an uncertain post-September 11 New York. The cast also includes Maggie Gyllenhaal, Edie Falco and Tony Shalhoub.
She also appeared in writer-director Adam Goldberg's psychological drama I Love Your Work (2003), opposite Giovanni Ribisi. The film is about a fictional movie star (Ribisi) and his gradual meltdown and increasing obsession with a young film student and his girlfriend. The stellar cast also included Franka Potente, Christina Ricci, and Jason Lee and debuted at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. In the film, Greer plays Samantha, the personal assistant of Ribisi's character.
Greer had a starring role as the female lead role in the comedy The Hebrew Hammer (2003) as the feisty, fearless Esther, who joins forces with an Orthodox Jewish Blaxploitation hero (Adam Goldberg) to save Hanukkah from an evil son of Santa Claus (Andy Dick). The Hebrew Hammer (2003) debuted at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and premiered on Comedy Central followed by a theatrical release.
She also appeared in Adaptation. (2002), from director Spike Jonze. In the film, Nicolas Cage stars as self-loathing writer Charlie Kaufman (and twin brother Donald) as he attempts to adapt the novel "The Orchid Thief" for the big screen. Greer played Alice, the waitress with whom he becomes obsessed -- the object of his fantasies.
Greer turned in a scene-stealing comedic performance in The Wedding Planner (2001), with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, in which she played Penny, Lopez's sweet but ditsy assistant who tries hard, but often falls a little short. Equally adept at more dramatic roles, Greer gave a standout performance opposite Mel Gibson in What Women Want (2000), playing a suicidal file clerk rescued by the one man who can hear women's thoughts. Greer's pivotal scene with Gibson is the heart of the film.
With a genuine gift for comedy and an engaging on-screen presence, Judy Greer has quickly become one of Hollywood's most captivating talents. Having appeared in such diverse films as Jawbreaker (1999), What Women Want (2000), The Wedding Planner (2001), Adaptation. (2002), and Wilson (2017) as well as a number of upcoming feature film projects, Greer turns in scene-stealing performances opposite some of the industry's biggest stars.- American character actress Anne Ramsey was born Anne Mobley in Omaha, Nebraska to Eleanor (Smith), a national treasurer of the Girl Scouts, and Nathan Mobley, an insurance executive. Her uncle was U.S. Ambassador David S. Smith. An ancestor was Mayflower Pilgrim William Brewster. She attended Rosemary Hall (then an elite girls' school in Greenwich, Connecticut) and Bennington College, and was active in numerous on- and off-Broadway productions. After she married actor Logan Ramsey, the couple founded Philadelphia's Theatre of the Living Arts. In the early 1970s she began her lengthy film career. In 1971 she starred opposite her husband in The Sporting Club (1971), then settled into bit parts.
Eventually, she was noticed for her trademark brusque, gruff, usually comedic roles, after which she received more film offers, notably Goin' South (1978), Any Which Way You Can (1980), The Goonies (1985), and Deadly Friend (1986). Unfortunately, in the mid-1980s she discovered she was suffering from throat cancer and was forced to have parts of both her tongue and jawbone removed, which obviously affected how she spoke and the effects of which are evident in Throw Momma from the Train (1987). She received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Danny DeVito's inimitably nightmarish mother in Throw Momma from the Train (1987) which she managed to finish by bravely soldiering on even as her cancer remorselessly worsened. She died in 1988, aged 59, just weeks after Throw Momma from the Train (1987) was released. - Cute, tiny, and prolific little old lady character actress Frances Bay worked constantly in both films and TV shows alike after making her debut at the age of 59 in life with a small part in the comedy Foul Play (1978) in 1978.
She frequently portrayed eccentric elderly women and good-hearted grandmothers in all kinds of pictures and television programs. Frances acted several times for David Lynch: she's Kyle MacLachlan's sweet doddery aunt in Blue Velvet (1986), a gruff, profane whorehouse madam in Wild at Heart (1990), and the spooky Mrs. Tremond in the cult TV series Twin Peaks (1990) and its spin-off feature Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992). Frances popped up in two movies for director Stuart Gordon: she's a kind witch in The Pit and the Pendulum (1991) and a fortune teller in Edmond (2005).
Other notable film roles include a snippy librarian in The Attic (1980), a mysterious blind nun in the offbeat Nomads (1986), another librarian in In the Mouth of Madness (1994), and Adam Sandler's loving grandmother in the hit comedy Happy Gilmore (1996). Frances had the unique distinction of guesting on the final episodes of the TV shows Happy Days (1974), Who's the Boss? (1984), and Seinfeld (1989).
Among the many TV series Bay had guest spots on are Charmed (1998), ER (1994), Matlock (1986), The X-Files (1993), Murder, She Wrote (1984), The Commish (1991), L.A. Law (1986), Hill Street Blues (1981), Touched by an Angel (1994), The Golden Girls (1985), and Amazing Stories (1985).
She won a Gemini Award for her performance in the Disney TV program Avonlea (1990). Frances was also in the music video for Jimmy Fallon's "Idiot Boyfriend." In addition to her substantial movie and TV credits, Bay also acted in both Off-Broadway stage productions and regional theater; these plays include "Finnegan's Wake," "Grease," "Genuis," "The Caucasion Chalk Circle," "Number Our Days," "Uncommon Women," "Sarcophagus," and "The Pleasure of His Company." Frances won two DramaLogue Awards and was nominated for a Los Angeles Dramatic Critics' Award.
In 2002 Bay was the unfortunate victim of an automobile accident which resulted in having part of her right leg amputated. Her husband Charles sadly died in 2002 as well.
In real life Frances Bay was a very practical and unassuming woman with an avid love for jazz music. - Actress
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Lin attended the University of Michigan, where she was an Art History major, although acting in as many University productions as possible, including "Bye Bye Birdie" and "On The Town". After U of M, she attended Columbia University School of the Arts, and acquired a Master of Fine Arts degree in Acting. She stayed in New York upon graduation and worked in numerous off- and off-off- Broadway productions, as well as Lincoln Center and Broadway. She has studied with some of the finest: Uta Hagen, Stella Adler and Lee Strasberg. Lin is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.- Actress
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Ann Dowd was born on 30 January 1956 in Holyoke, Massachusetts, USA. She is an actress, known for Compliance (2012), Hereditary (2018) and Garden State (2004). She has been married to Lawrence Arancio since 7 November 1984. They have three children.- Actress
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Frances Fisher began by apprenticing at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. She spent 14 years based in New York City, playing leads in over 30 productions of plays by such noted writers as John Arden, Noël Coward, Emily Mann, Joe Orton, Sam Shepard, William Shakespeare, Jean-Claude van Itallie, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams. She won a Drama Logue Award - Best Ensemble for the American Premier of Caryl Churchill's "Three More Sleepless Nights", played in the American premier of Judith Thompson's "The Crackwalker" and originated roles in Elia Kazan's "The Chain" and Arthur Miller's last play "Finishing the Picture". Besides working with Kazan and Miller, some of Ms. Fisher's more interesting theater experiences were creating roles from two great works of literature: George Orwell's "1984" and Victor Hugo's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". Ms. Fisher worked at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles alongside Annette Bening and Alfred Molina in Anton Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". Fisher starred in "Sexy Laundry" with Paul Ben-Victor at the Hayworth Theatre in Los Angeles. She studied with Stella Adler and became a lifetime member of the Actors Studio by actually "walking up the stairs" and auditioning for legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg. Ms. Fisher recently completed The Host (2013), Love on the Run (2016), Red Wing (2013) and will work with Catherine Hardwicke in her new film Plush (2013) in August 2012. Ms. Fisher was honored for a Lifetime Achievement Award 2011 in her old hometown of the Pacific Palisades, California.- For fourteen years, she said that family was the most important thing to her and she set most of her time aside to be a "present" mother to her son. Movies, plays and television were chosen, for the most part, when they occurred in town or on a school break. She took one year to homeschool her son for his seventh grade. But it wasn't always this way. She was raised in New York City and wanted to be an actress from the time she was a child, graduating with acting honors from the High School of Performing Arts. She chose to opt out of studying acting in college and attended a small college in Europe, majoring in art history and literature, knowing that acting would take up a great deal of her life and that her college years would be her only real time to learn about something else. Upon graduation, she returned to New York City but a chance trip to Chicago inspired her to move there and become a part of its budding theatre community. It was in a production of "Curse of The Starving Class", directed by Robert Falls and co-starring John Malkovich, that she was first seen by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and, subsequently, asked to join their troupe. She did and learned what it really was to be an actress on her feet, performing in all kinds of roles in both comedy and drama. During this time, she won four Joseph Jefferson awards for best supporting actress.
With a return move to New York, she received a Theatre World Award for "best newcomer" for her role in "the Philanthropist" at the Manhattan Theatre Club and appeared in "Extremities" with Susan Sarandon. This was followed by her appearance in the very successful Steppenwolf production in New York of "Balm in Gilead". She then starred on Broadway opposite Kevin Kline and Raul Julia in "Arms & the Man", directed by John Malkovich, her husband at the time. She was cast in several smaller films including Nadine (1987), Making Mr. Right (1987) and Paperhouse (1988) as well as Lonesome Dove (1989) for television for which she received her first of two Emmy nominations for best supporting actress. But her breakout film performance was in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), in which she played the cunning "victim", who gets the best of con artists Michael Caine and Steve Martin. This led to her being cast in the blockbuster comic strip parody, Dick Tracy (1990), in which she portrayed the girlfriend, "Tess Trueheart", to Warren Beatty's lead.
She went on to appear in the films Mr. Holland's Opus (1995) opposite Richard Dreyfuss, Mortal Thoughts (1991) opposite Demi Moore, 2 Days in the Valley (1996), What's the Worst That Could Happen? (2001), Breakfast of Champions (1999), Around the Bend (2004) and Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004).
On television, she had a recurring part on ER (1994) and Monk (2002) and was in the short-lived sit-com Encore! Encore! (1998) with Nathan Lane and Joan Plowright. She was in the live theatrical presentation of "On Golden Pond" as the troubled daughter of Christopher Plummer and Julie Andrews and also appeared in the telefilms Women vs. Men (2002), My Own Country (1998) and Pronto (1997), among others. She received her second Emmy nomination for best supporting actress for Bastard Out of Carolina (1996), directed by Anjelica Huston.
Some of her later appearances were in the films The Amateurs (2005) (aka "The Amateurs"), The Namesake (2006), Comeback Season (2006), Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008) and The Joneses (2009). - 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.- Actress
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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
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Tall (5'10"), lovely, statuesque Seattle native Jean Elizabeth Smart was born on September 13, 1951. The second of four children born to a teacher and his wife, she developed an early interest in acting and attended the University of Washington following her graduation from Seattle's Ballard High School. She attained a BA degree in fine arts there.
Jean's first professional season was with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she went on to perform in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing" and "A Moon for the Misbegotten," among others. During the late 1970's she built up a strong resume in regional theater with such companies as the Seattle Repertory Theatre ("Equus," "Fallen Angels"), ACT ("A Christmas Carol"), Pittsburgh Public Theatre (as Lady Macbeth), Alaska Repertory Theatre ("Terra Nova"), and Alliance Theatre ("A History of the American Film"). Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which earned her an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She capped this honor with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 when she repeated her triumph on the West Coast.
Jean made a highly auspicious Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf" starring Jane Lapotaire, and it was the subsequent TV taping of that show, Piaf (1984), that brought about major Hollywood interest. A regular on the short-lived sitcoms Teachers Only (1982), Reggie (1983) and Maximum Security (1984), Jean hit pure gold in her fourth attempt as the delightfully ditzy Charlene Frazier on Designing Women (1986). The show was an instant hit and it was here that she would meet future husband Richard Gilliland, who played the recurring role of co-player Annie Potts' boyfriend J.D. for several seasons.
Feeling confined and fearing typecasting, Jean left the show in 1991 to find more challenging work. She drew major acclaim, giving a chilling portrayal of a true-to-life serial killer in the TV movie Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992), long before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her equally chilling cinematic version. In other TV movies, Jean earned strong applause for her roles as a mentally challenged woman in The Yarn Princess (1994); as a concerned rural mother in Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings' classic The Yearling (1994); as an attorney involved in a high-profile murder case in Undue Influence (1996); as a wife who discovers her longtime husband is gay in A Change of Heart (1998); co-starring with real-life husband Richard Gilliland in Audrey's Rain (2003) as new parents after her sister commits suicide; and as an FBI profiler in Killer Instinct: From the Files of Agent Candice DeLong (2003).
On stage, Jean she earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Moss Hart/George S. Kaufman classic comedy farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane. The Broadway show was later made as a TV movie, The Man Who Came to Dinner (2000), with both Lane and Smart.
Having made her debut with a small role in the crimer Hoodlums (1980), films would never be as strong a venue for Jean as the stage or TV. She did, however, show off her versatility in both comedy and drama with secondary roles with such films as Flashpoint (1984), the Goldie Hawn vehicle Protocol (1984), Fire with Fire (1986), Project X (1987), Mistress (1992), Edie & Pen (1996) and The Odd Couple II (1998). Jean topped the decade off well with two independent films -- earning an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role as Sarah Polley's ill-natured mother in Guinevere (1999), and first-billed in the mother/daughter road trip dramedy Forever Fabulous (1999) co-starring Jennifer Elise Cox.
Remaining extremely busy into the millennium, Jean went on to win bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom Frasier (1993) and earned two more Emmy nominations for her potent perms in the crime drama 24 (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland. She also graced a host of other series with regular/recurring roles on the romantic comedy In-Laws (2002); the crimer The District (2000); the family comedy Center of the Universe (2004) (co-starring John Goodman); the animated program Kim Possible (2002) (as the voice of Dr. Ann Possible); the mystery comedy Samantha Who? (2007) starring Christina Applegate; the revamped crimer Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (as the governor); the crime dramedy Harry's Law (2011); the dark thriller Fargo (2014); the action sci-fi drama Legion (2017); and the detective series Mare of Easttown (2021).
More recent films include Youth in Revolt (2009), Barry Munday (2010), Hope Springs (2012), Waking (2013), Warren (2014), Miss Meadows (2014), The Accountant (2016), Life Itself (2018) and Brampton's Own (2018).
Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness. She has two children with her late husband Richard, son Connor and adopted son (from China) Forrest.- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Shirley Knight was an American actress who appeared in more than 180 feature films, television movies, television series, and Broadway productions in her career playing leading and character roles.
She was a member of the Actors Studio. Knight was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: for The Dark at the Top of the Stairs (1960) and Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).
In 1976, Knight won a Tony Award for her performance in Kennedy's Children, a play by Robert Patrick. In later years, she played supporting roles in many films, including Endless Love (1981), As Good as It Gets (1997), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), and Grandma's Boy (2006). For her performances on television, Knight was nominated eight times for a Primetime Emmy Award (winning three), and she received a Golden Globe Award.- Actress
- Producer
- Executive
Camryn grew up in Peoria, Illinois before moving to Long Beach California for middle school. She went on to receive a B.F.A. from U.C. Santa Cruz and then went on to earn a M.F.A from New York University in 1987. Her mother, Sylvia (Nuchow), was a schoolteacher, and her father, Jerry, was a math professor.
She developed an interest in acting at an early age. While studying at New York University, Camryn learned sign language and worked as an interpreter and job coach while pursuing her acting career. In her early years in New York City she met and worked with Tony Kushner, Michael Mayer, and long list of theater luminaries. Her first play in New York was Hydriotaphia, written and directed by Tony Kushner. She went on to work at such renowned theaters as The New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center, Yale Repertory, New York Theater Workshop, The Atlantic Theater, Classic Stage Company, & Second Stage.
In 1994 she won an OBIE Award for her portrayal of Gemma in Craig Lucas' Missing Persons, directed by Michael Mayer. In 1995 she wrote and starred in her one-woman show, Wake Up, I'm Fat!, which played to sold out audiences at The Public Theater. She played the "Nurse" in Romeo and Juliet, directed by Michael Greif at the New York Shakespeare Festival and just completed a spectacular run of the Tony nominated rock musical, Spring Awakening on Broadway.
Manheim spent eight years playing defense attorney "Ellenor Frutt" on the Emmy Award winning drama, The Practice. Her portrayal of the feisty attorney garnered her an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Manheim was nominated once again for an Emmy and Golden Globe for her portrayal of "Gladys Presley" in the CBS miniseries Elvis.
In 1999 Manheim fulfilled a lifelong dream and became a New York Times best-selling author when her book Wake Up, I'm Fat! was published by Broadway Books. Camryn teaches and lectures all over the United States and abroad.- Actress
- Writer
- Additional Crew
Amy Hill's television and film credits number over 180. As a voice actor, she's been heard as recurring characters on numerous shows including "American Dad", "Lilo and Stitch" (film and series), "King of the Hill", and HBO's "Happily Ever After." She had recurring roles on "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend", "UnReal", "Preacher", and the CBS sitcom "Mom". She's was also a regular on Amazon Prime's "Just Add Magic."
She started her career in theater working with the famed Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco and continued as a teacher, director, and artistic committee member there in addition to being a part of San Francisco's improvisation and sketch-comedy scene. Hill is also known in the theatre world as a respected performance artist, having written and performed a number of one-woman shows, including the trilogy of "Tokyo Bound", "Reunion", and "Beside Myself."
She has worked with regional theaters such as The Mark Taper Forum, Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, Actors Theater of Louisville, and The Public Theater in New York City, and has appeared on Broadway in Lincoln Center's "Twelfth Night," which also aired on PBS' "Live from Lincoln Center." She is proud to consider East West Players as her Los Angeles Theater "home," where she has also performed, directed, and taught.- Actress
- Soundtrack
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).- Actress
- Producer
- Composer
Maria Conchita Alonso was born Maria Concepcion Alonso Bustillo on June 29, 1957 in Cienfuegos, Cuba, but raised in Caracas, Venezuela. She was crowned Miss Teenager World in 1971 and later as Miss Distrito Federal became the first runner up in the Miss Venezuela 1975 competition placing later that year in the top seven of the Miss World 1975. She became a popular actress in Latin America, working in ten telenovelas (soap operas) and starred in a quartet of Venezuelan films. She was also a popular singer, and has three Grammy Award nominations.
In 1982, she emigrated to the United States, and made her Hollywood film debut in Paul Mazursky's Moscow on the Hudson (1984), opposite Robin Williams. She also starred in movies such as Touch and Go (1986), Extreme Prejudice (1987), The Running Man (1987), Colors (1988), Vampire's Kiss (1988), Predator 2 (1990) and The House of the Spirits (1993). In 1995, she was playing Aurora/Spider Woman in a Broadway production of "Kiss of the Spider Woman", making her the first South American woman to star on the Great White Way.- Actress
- Soundtrack
Pat Crawford Brown was born on 29 June 1929 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for The Rocketeer (1991), Reality Bites (1994) and Norbit (2007). She was married to Calvin Burdell Brown. She died on 2 July 2019 in the USA.- Actress
- Writer
Mary Pat Gleason was born on 23 February 1950 in Lake City, Minnesota, USA. She was an actress and writer, known for Intolerable Cruelty (2003), The Crucible (1996) and A Cinderella Story (2004). She died on 2 June 2020 in Burbank, California, USA.