Joan Allen

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Joan Allen
Image:JoanAllenpic.jpg
Allen (left) at the Senet Entertainment display at the Gibson Gift Lounge during the Sundance Film Festival, January 23, 2005
Born August 20 1956 (1956-08-20) (age 52)
Rochelle, Illinois, U.S.
Spouse(s) Peter Friedman (1990-2002)

Joan Allen (born August 20, 1956) is a multiple Academy Award-nominated American actress, perhaps best known for her roles in the films Nixon, The Contender, The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum and The Upside of Anger.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Allen, the youngest of four children, was born in Rochelle, Illinois, the daughter of Dorothea Marie (née Wirth), a homemaker, and James Jefferson Allen, a gas station owner.[1][2] She has an older brother, David, and two older sisters, Mary and Lynn.[3] Allen attended Rochelle Township High School, and was voted most likely to succeed. She transferred to Northern Illinois University in 1976, where she graduated. Allen began her performing career as a stage actress and on television before making her film debut in the movie, Compromising Positions (1985).

[edit] Career

In 1989, Allen returned to the stage and won a Tony Award in her Broadway debut performance in Burn This. She also starred in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play The Heidi Chronicles. She received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress for her roles as Pat Nixon in Nixon (1995) and as a woman whose husband is accused of witchcraft in The Crucible (1996). She was also nominated for Best Actress for her role in The Contender (a film produced by co-star Gary Oldman and producer Douglas Urbanski), in which she played a politician who becomes the object of scandal. Allen is respected by her peers both for her professionalism and the intense preparation she brings to each of her roles. For example, to play a blind woman in the cult classic Manhunter (1986), she went to a school for the blind and wore a blindfold for several days. Brian Cox, her co-star in Manhunter and The Bourne Supremacy, called Allen the finest actress he had ever worked with and one of the best in the business.

In 2001, Allen starred in the miniseries The Mists of Avalon, which aired on TNT. In 2005, she received many positive notices for her lead role in the comedy/drama The Upside of Anger, in which she played an alcoholic housewife.

Allen has signed on to appear in a remake of the film Death Race, playing a prison warden; filming is scheduled to begin in 2007 for a fall 2008 release date.[4]

[edit] Personal life

In 1990, Allen married actor Peter Friedman. The couple separated in 2002, but live close to each other to share time with their daughter, Sadie, born in 1994.[5] She has a Boston Terrier named Pippy.

[edit] Filmography

Awards
Tony Award
Preceded by
Linda Lavin
for Broadway Bound
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
for Burn This
1988
Succeeded by
Pauline Collins
for Shirley Valentine
San Diego Film Critics Society Award
Preceded by
Imelda Staunton
for Vera Drake
Best Actress
for The Upside of Anger
2005
Succeeded by
Helen Mirren
for The Queen
Saturn Award
Preceded by
Gloria Stuart
for Titanic
Best Supporting Actress
for Pleasantville
1999
Succeeded by
Patricia Clarkson
for The Green Mile

[edit] Awards and nominations

Academy awards

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kolson, Ann. "TWO BRIGHT LIGHTS ON BROADWAY PAULINE COLLINS AND JOAN ALLEN TOOK ROUNDABOUT ROUTES TO THE N.Y. STAGE. THEIR REVIEWS HAVE MADE THE JOURNEYS WORTHWHILE", Philadelphia Inquirer, 1989-03-19. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  2. ^ Weinraub, Bernard. "Finding Warmth In a Shy First Lady", The New York Times, 1995-12-27. Retrieved on 2007-12-10. 
  3. ^ "Joan Allen", Yahoo! Movies, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-08-10. 
  4. ^ Rickey, Joe. "Joan Allen in 'Death Race'", World of KJ, 2007-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-10. 
  5. ^ Hegberg, Carol. "With three new movies Rochelle native Joan Allen is making her mark", Daily Chronicle, 2005-04-11. Retrieved on 2007-08-10. 

[edit] External links

es:Joan Allen fr:Joan Allen it:Joan Allen nl:Joan Allen ja:ジョアン・アレン no:Joan Allen pl:Joan Allen pt:Joan Allen zh:瓊·愛倫

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