Judy Davis Biography

Judy Davis (born 23 April 1955) is an Australian actress best known for her roles in Husbands and Wives, Barton Fink, A Passage to India and in the TV miniseries Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.

Davis first came to attention for her role as the fiery Sybylla Melvyn in the 1979 film My Brilliant Career. She has won many acting awards, including two Golden Globe awards, three Emmy awards, two BAFTA awards and seven AFI Awards. She has also been nominated twice for an Academy Award.

Personal life

Davis was born in Perth, and had a strict Catholic upbringing. She was educated at Loreto Convent and the Western Australian Institute of Technology, and graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1977. She has been married to actor and fellow NIDA graduate Colin Friels since 1984. They have two children, son Jack and daughter Charlotte.

Career

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

Her international film career began in 1981 when she played the younger version of Ingrid Bergman's Golda Meir in the television docudrama A Woman Called Golda, followed by the role of a terrorist in the British film Who Dares Wins (1982).

In 1984, she was cast as Adela Quested in David Lean's final film A Passage to India, an adaptation of E. M. Forster's novel, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She returned to Australian cinema for her next two films, Kangaroo, as a German-born writer's wife, and Hightide, as a foot-loose 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 Hightide's brief American theatrical run. In 1990, she played a cameo in Woody Allen's Alice.

In 1991, she was featured in Joel Coen's Barton Fink, which won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and in David Cronenberg's adaptation of the hallucinogenic novel Naked Lunch. She won an Independent Spirit Award for her work as mannish woman author George Sand in Impromptu and returned to E. M. Forster territory in Where Angels Fear to Tread. She portrayed real-life World War II heroine Mary Lindell in the CBS Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation One Against the Wind. In 1992, she played a major role in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives as one half of a divorcing couple. For this performance she earned both Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress.

Other roles have included the mysterious, schizophrenic mother of a teenager in boarding school in On My Own (1993), 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 highly-strung White House chief of staff in Absolute Power (1997), a supportive mother in Swimming Upstream (2003) and supporting roles in two 2006 films, The Break-Up and Marie-Antoinette.

She co-starred with actor Kevin Spacey in the 1994 comedy film The Ref, portraying a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks, with actor-comedian Denis Leary as their marriage counsellor.

Much of her recent work has been on television, where she has a collection of Emmy Award nominations. She won her first Emmy for portraying the woman who gently coaxes rigid militarywoman Glenn Close out of the closet in Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, with 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 for her portrayal of Judy Garland in the 2001 television biographical film Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows. In July 2006, she received her ninth Emmy nomination for her performance in the television film A Little Thing Called Murder. Her tenth nomination came in 2007 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in the U.S. miniseries The Starter Wife for which she was awarded the Emmy. In August 2007, she appeared opposite Sam Waterston in an episode of ABC's anthology series Masters of Science Fiction. She appeared on the TV mini-series, Diamonds from 2008"2009.

In 2011, Davis appeared in a television drama film, Page Eight, and played Dorothy de Lascabanes in The Eye of the Storm, an adaptation of Patrick White's novel of the same title, for which, in 2012, she won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. She has a major role as Woody Allen's psychiatrist wife in his To Rome with Love and she also stars in The Surrealist about Salvador Dalí.

Stage

Davis's stage work has been limited, and mostly confined to Australia. Early in her career, she played Juliet opposite Mel Gibson's Romeo. In 1978, she appeared in Visions by Louis Nowra at the Paris Theatre Company in Sydney. In 1980, she portrayed French chanteuse Edith Piaf in Stephen Barry's production of the Pam Gems play Piaf at the Perth Playhouse. She played both Cordelia and the Fool in a 1984 staging of King Lear by the Nimrod Theatre Company, and also starred in its productions of Strindberg's Miss Julie, Chekhov's The Bear, Louis Nowra's Inside The Island and, in 1986, the title role of Ibsen's Hedda Gabler for the Sydney Theatre Company

In 2004, she starred in and co-directed Howard Barker's play Victory, as a Puritan woman determined to locate her husband's dismembered corpse. Other stage directorial efforts include Sheridan's The School For Scandal and Barrymore by William Luce (all three for the Sydney Theatre Company). She created the role of The Actress in Terry Johnson's Insignificance at the Royal Court in London and appeared in a brief 1989 Los Angeles production of Tom Stoppard's Hapgood.

In 2011, she portrayed the role of fading actress Irina Arkadina in Anton Chekhov's The Seagull at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	High Rolling	Lynn
1979	My Brilliant Career	Sybylla Melvyn	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer Nominated "? Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1981	Hoodwink	Sarah	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1981	Winter of Our Dreams	Lou	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role 13th Moscow International Film Festival - Award for Best Actress
1982	Who Dares Wins	Frankie Leith	Also entitled The Final Option
1983	Heatwave	Kate Dean
1984	A Passage to India	Adela Quested	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Nominated "? Academy Award for Best Actress
1986	Kangaroo	Harriet Somers	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1987	High Tide	Lilli	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
1988	Georgia	Nina Bailley/Georgia White	Nominated "? Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1990	Alice	Vicki
1991	Barton Fink	Audrey Taylor	London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress
1991	Impromptu	George Sand	Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female
1991	Where Angels Fear to Tread	Harriet Harriton	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1991	Naked Lunch	Joan Lee/Joan Frost	London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated "? National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress
1992	On My Own	The Mother	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated "? Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
1992	Husbands and Wives	Sally	Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress (2nd place) Nominated "? Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated "? BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Motion Picture
1993	Dark Blood	Buffy	(completed in 2012)
1994	'	Caroline Chasseur	Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
1994	'	Katherine Witner	Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
1996	Children of the Revolution	Joan Fraser	Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actor - Female Nominated "? Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress
1997	Deconstructing Harry	Lucy
1997	Absolute Power	Gloria Russell	Nominated "? Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Suspense
1997	Blood and Wine	Suzanne Gates
1998	Celebrity	Robin Simon
2001	'	Anna Redmond
2001	Gaudi Afternoon	Cassandra Reilly
2003	Swimming Upstream	Dora Fingleton	Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Supporting Actor - Female Nominated "? Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated "? IF Award for Best Actress
2006	'	Marilyn Dean
2006	Marie Antoinette	Comtesse de Noailles
2011	'	Dorothy de Lascabanes	AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated "? Asia Pacific Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actress Nominated "? Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Actress - Leading Role Nominated "? IF Award for Best Actress
2012	To Rome with Love	Phyllis

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1980	Water Under the Bridge	Carrie Mazzini
1982	'	Golda Myerson/Meir	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress " Miniseries or a Movie
1983	'	Mistress Ford	BBC Television Shakespeare
1986	Rocket to the Moon	Cleo Singer
1991	One Against the Wind	Mary Lindell	Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie
1995	Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story	Dianne	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress " Miniseries or a Movie Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film
1998	The Echo of Thunder	Gladwyn Ritchie	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie
1999	Dash and Lilly	Lillian Hellman	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film
1999	'	Paula Tanner	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie Nominated "? Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2001	Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows	Judy Garland	American Film Institute Award for Actor of the Year " Female " Movie or Mini-Series Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film Satellite Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2003	'	Nancy Reagan	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress " Miniseries or a Movie Nominated "? Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film
2004	Coast to Coast	Maxine Pierce
2006	'	Sante Kimes	Satellite Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie
2007	'	Joan McAllister	Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress " Miniseries or a Movie Gracie Allen Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Mini-Series Nominated "? Australian Film Institute International Award for Best Actress Nominated "? Prism Award for Performance in a TV Movie or Miniseries Nominated "? Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2007	Masters of Science Fiction: A Clean Escape	Dr. Deanna Evans
2009	Diamonds	Senator Joan Cameron	Nominated "? Gemini Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series Nominated "? Satellite Award for Best Actress " Miniseries or Television Film
2011	Page Eight	Jill Tankard	Nominated "? Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress " Miniseries or a Movie

Other awards

• 1994 Film Critics Circle of Australia Award Special Achievement Award ("* For her outstanding body of Australian and international work and for her considerable contribution to the profession of screen acting.")

Nominations

• 1982 Laurence Olivier Award for Actress of the Year in a New Play (Insignificance)
• 2004 Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Play (Victory)