Judy Davis

Judy Davis (born 23 April, 1955) is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actress.

Career

Born in Perth, she was educated at Loreto Convent and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1977.

First coming to prominence for her role as Sybylla Melvyn in My Brilliant Career (1979), for which she won BAFTA Awards for Best Actress and Best Newcomer, she also played the lead in such Australian New Wave classics as Winter of Our Dreams (1981) (as the waif-like heroin addict) and Heatwave (1982) (as the radical tenant organizer).

Her first foray into international film came in 1981 when she played the younger version of Ingrid Bergman's Golda Meir in the television docudrama A Woman Called Golda. In 1984 she was cast as Adela Quested in David Lean's final film, an adaptation of E.M. Forster's A Passage to India. Although she and Lean reportedly butted heads during the film's production, she was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress for her performance. She returned to Australian cinema for her next two films, Kangaroo, in which she displayed a fine affinity for accents as a German-born writer's wife, and High Tide, in which she gave what some critics believe is her finest performance as an alcoholic mother who attempts to reunite with her teenage daughter who is being raised by the paternal grandmother. She earned Australian Film Institute Awards for both roles, and a National Society of Film Critics award for High Tide's brief American theatrical run. In 1990 she played a brief cameo in Woody Allen's Alice. A busy 1991 featured acclaimed supporting roles in Joel Coen's Barton Fink, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and in David Cronenberg's well received adaptation of the hallucenigenic novel Naked Lunch. She won an Independent Spirit Award for her lively work as mannish authoress George Sand in Impromptu and returned to E.M. Forster territory in Where Angels Fear to Tread. Finally, she earned additional awards and recognition for her performance as real-life World War II heroine Mary Lindell in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation One Against the Wind. In 1992 she performed a lead role in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives as one-half of a divorcing couple. For this performance she earned an array of critics' awards as well as an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later memorable Davis roles include the lifelong Australian Communist Party member reacting to the downfall of the Soviet Union in Children of the Revolution (1996), two more Allen Films, Deconstructing Harry (1997) and Celebrity (1998), a touching performance as a supportive mother in Swimming Upstream (2003) and colorful supporting roles in two 2006 films, The Break-Up and Marie-Antoinette. Much of her recent work has been on television, where she has scooped up an impressive collection of Emmy Award nominations. She won her first Emmy for playing the woman who gently coaxes Glenn Close out of the closet in Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Canmmermeyer Story and she picked up subsequent nominations for her repressed Australian outback mother in The Echo of Thunder (1998), her portrayal of Lillian Hellman in Dash and Lilly (1999), her frigid society matron in A Cooler Climate (1999) and her interpretation of Nancy Reagan in the controversial biopic The Reagans (2003). She earned a second Emmy, among many other awards, for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the 2001 television biopic Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. In July 2006, she received her ninth Emmy nomination for her performance in the TV film A Little Thing Called Murder. In early 2007 she will appear opposite Sam Waterston in an episode of ABC's anthology series Masters of Science Fiction, directed by Mark Rydell.

Davis' unwillingness to move to Hollywood has probably limited her career in some respects, but she is known in the industry as an "actor's actor". Even in her early acting years, Davis rarely appeared in conventional action films—she works best with sophisticated scripts aimed at grown-up audiences, playing against intelligent leading men such as Peter Weller, Sam Neill, Richard Dreyfuss, Geoffrey Rush, and Woody Allen.

She has been married to actor and fellow NIDA graduate Colin Friels since 1984. They have two children, Jack and Charlotte.

Films

Absolute Power (1997) (as Gloria Russell)
Alice (1990) (as Vicki)
Barton Fink (1991) (as Audrey Taylor)
Blood & Wine (1997) (as Suzanne Gates)
The Break-Up (2006) (as Marilyn Dean)
Celebrity (1998) (as Robin Simon)
Children of the Revolution (1996) (as Joan Fraser)
Dark Blood (uncompleted, 1993) (as Buffy)
Deconstructing Harry (1997) (as Lucy)
Gaudi Afternoon (2002) (as Cassandra Reilly)
Georgia (1989) (as Nina Bailley/Georgia White)
Heatwave (1983) (as Kate Dean)
High Rolling (1977) (as Lyn)
High Tide (1987) (as Lilli)
Hoodwink (1981) (as Sarah)
Husbands and Wives (1992) (as Sally)
Impromptu (1991) (as George Sand)
Kangaroo (1986) (as Harriet Somers)
The Man Who Sued God (2001) (as Anna Redmond)
Marie-Antoinette (2006) (as Comtesse de Noailles)
My Brilliant Career (1979) (as Sybylla Melvyn)
Naked Lunch (1991) (as Joan Lee/Joan Frost)
The New Age (1994) (as Katherine Witner)
On My Own (1992) (as The Mother)
A Passage to India (1984) (as Adela Quested)
The Ref (1994) (as Caroline Chausser)
Swimming Upstream (2003) (as Dora Fingleton)
Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991) (as Harriet Harriton)
Who Dares Wins ("The Final Option" in U.S.) (1982) (as Frankie Leith)
Winter of Our Dreams (1981) (as Lou)

Television

Coast to Coast (2004, Showtime) (as Maxine Pierce)
A Cooler Climate (1999, Showtime) (as Paula Tanner)
Dash and Lilly (1999, A&E) (as Lillian Hellman)
The Echo of Thunder (1998, CBS) (as Gladwyn Ritchie)
Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001, ABC) (as Judy Garland)
A Little Thing Called Murder (2006, Lifetime) (as Sante Kimes)
Masters of Science Fiction: "A Clean Escape" (2007, ABC) (as Dr. Deanna Evans)
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1983, PBS) (as Mistress Ford)
One Against the Wind (1991, ABC) (as Mary Lindell)
The Reagans (2003, Showtime) (as Nancy Reagan)
Rocket to the Moon (1986, PBS) (as Cleo Singer)
Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995, NBC) (as Dianne)
Water Under the Bridge (1980, Australian Broadcasting Corporation) (as Carrie Mazzini)
A Woman Called Golda (1982, Syndicated) (as Golda Myerson/Meir)

Awards

Won

* 2003 Film Critics Circle of Australia Award Outstanding Supporting Actor - Female (Swimming Upstream)
* 2002 American Film Institute Award AFI Actor of the Year - Female - Movie or Miniseries (Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows)
* 2002 Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television (Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows)
* 2002 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows)
* 2002 Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows)
* 2002 Screen Actors Guild Award Best Performance by an Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries (Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows)
* 2001 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows)
* 1996 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (Children of the Revolution)
* 1996 Film Critics Circle of Australia Award Outstanding Actor - Female (Children of the Revolution)
* 1995 Chlotrudis Award Best Actress (The New Age; The Ref)
* 1995 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special (Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story)
* 1993 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role (On My Own)
* 1993 Kansas City Film Critics Best Supporting Actress (Husbands and Wives)
* 1993 London Critics Circle Film Award Actress of the Year (Barton Fink; Husbands and Wives; Naked Lunch)
* 1993 National Society of Film Critics Best Supporting Actress (Husbands and Wives)
* 1993 Southeastern Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress (Husbands and Wives)
* 1992 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (One Against the Wind)
* 1992 Independent Spirit Award Best Female Lead (Impromptu)
* 1992 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Supporting Actress (Husbands and Wives)
* 1992 National Board of Review Best Supporting Actress (Husbands and Wives)
* 1991 New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actress (Barton Fink; Naked Lunch)
* 1989 National Society of Film Critics Best Actress (High Tide)
* 1987 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (High Tide)
* 1986 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (Kangaroo)
* 1985 Boston Society of Film Critics Best Actress (A Passage to India)
* 1983 Moscow International Film Festival Best Actress (Winter of Our Dreams)
* 1981 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (Winter of Our Dreams)
* 1981 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Hoodwink)
* 1981 British Academy Award Best Actress (My Brilliant Career)
* 1981 British Academy Award Best Newcomer (My Brilliant Career)

Nominated

* 2006 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (A Little Thing Called Murder)
* 2004 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (The Reagans)
* 2004 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (The Reagans)
* 2004 Helpmann Award Best Actress in a Play (Victory)
* 2003 Lexus IF Award Best Actress (Swimming Upstream)
* 2002 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (Swimming Upstream)
* 2000 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (A Cooler Climate)
* 2000 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Dash & Lilly)
* 2000 Screen Actors Guild Award Best Performance by an Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries (A Cooler Climate)
* 1999 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Dash & Lilly)
* 1998 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (The Echo of Thunder)
* 1998 Blockbuster Entertainment Award Best Supporting Actress - Suspense (Absolute Power)
* 1998 Chlotrudis Award Best Actress (Children of the Revolution)
* 1996 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television (Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story)
* 1993 Academy Award Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Husbands and Wives)
* 1993 British Academy Award Best Actress (Husbands and Wives)
* 1993 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture (Husbands and Wives)
* 1992 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Special (One Against the Wind)
* 1992 Genie Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (On My Own)
* 1989 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (Georgia)
* 1985 Academy Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (A Passage to India)
* 1982 Emmy Award Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special (A Woman Called Golda)
* 1982 Olivier Award Actress of the Year in a New Play (Insignificance)
* 1979 Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress in a Lead Role (My Brilliant Career)

Runner-Up

* 1992 New York Film Critics Circle Best Supporting Actress (Husbands and Wives)

External link

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