Judy Davis
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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.She has been nominated for Academy Awards twice; first, for best actress in A Passage to India (1984) and second, for best supporting actress in Husbands and Wives (1992). She has won an extraordinary range of other American and Australian awards, including an Emmy for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the 2001 television biopic . In July 2006, she received another Emmy nomination for her performance in the TV film "A Little Thing Called Murder".
Best known for her role as Sybylla Melvyn in My Brilliant Career (1979), she also played the lead in such Australian New Wave classics as Heatwave (1982) (as the radical tenant organizer) and The Winter of Our Dreams (1981) (as the waif-like heroin addict).
Some critics believe her finest performance was in High Tide (1987), the story of an alcoholic mother who attempts to reunite with her teenage daughter who is being raised by the paternal grandmother. A later memorable Davis role was the lifelong Australian Communist Party member reacting to the downfall of the Soviet Union in Children of the Revolution (1996).
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". Like Patty Duke, she has developed a second career in made-for-TV movies, where she displays an uncanny ability to turn a sow's ear into a silk purse by subverting schlocky scripts (as for instance in her portrayals of Judy Garland and Lillian Hellman).
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.
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)
- (2001, ABC) (as Judy Garland)
- A Little Thing Called Murder (2006, Lifetime) (as Sante Kimes)
- 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)
- (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 ()
- 2002 Broadcast Film Critics Association Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television ()
- 2002 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television ()
- 2002 Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television ()
- 2002 Screen Actors Guild Award Best Performance by an Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries ()
- 2001 Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie ()
- 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 ()
- 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 ()
- 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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