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Dana Ivey

 
Actor: Dana Ivey
 
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  • Born: Aug 14, 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Comedy, Drama
  • Career Highlights: Sleepless in Seattle, Guilty As Sin, Ghost Town
  • First Major Screen Credit: A Child Lost Forever (1992)

Biography

Her name may not ring any bells, but talented actress Dana Ivey has a face familiar to audiences thanks to countless supporting roles in such high-profile films as The Color Purple (1985), Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Sabrina (1995), and Legally Blonde 2 (2003). And though she was almost always at least halfway down the credits list, Ivey consistently added dimension and personality to even the most minor roles. A Georgia native who got her start on-stage, Ivey appeared in numerous American and Canadian theater productions before making her home in New York during the 1980s. It wasn't long before she rose through the ranks of the New York stage scene and made her Broadway debut in Noël Coward's Present Laughter. Roles in Quartermaine's Terms and Driving Miss Daisy (as the eponymous character) earned Ivey two Obies and found her reputation as an actress growing. Subsequent work in the Broadway production of Heartbreak Hotel earned her two supporting actress Tony nominations in the mid-'80s. In 1978, Ivey made her television debut in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow, and soon her small-screen career blossomed in such efforts as the NBC miniseries Little Gloria... Happy at Last. Though Ivey simultaneously nurtured a feature career with supporting roles in Explorers and The Color Purple, it was her performance in the 1986 sitcom Easy Street that truly found her coming into her own on the television. After recalling her previous stage exploits with Heartbreak House and Sunday in the Park With George in 1986, Ivey joined the cast of All My Children in 1989 and spent the majority of the following decade in such features as The Addams Family (1991), Sabrina (1995), and Simon Birch (1998). Although her career leaned increasingly toward feature work, Ivey also remained true to her stage roots, appearing in such plays as The Glass Menagerie in 1998 and Major Barbara in 2001. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Dana Ivey
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Dana Ivey
Born Dana Robins Ivey
August 14, 1941 (1941-08-14) (age 67)
Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Years active 1962–present

Dana Robins Ivey (born August 14, 1941) is an American character actress.

Contents

Early life

Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of Mary Nell Ivey Santacroce (née McKoin), a teacher, speech therapist and actress who appeared in productions of Driving Miss Daisy and taught at Georgia State University, and Hugh Daugherty Ivey, a physicist and professor who taught at Georgia Tech and later worked at the Atomic Energy Commission.[1] Her parents later divorced. She has a younger brother, John, and a half-brother, Eric Santacroce, from her mother's re-marriage to Dante Santacroce.[2] Ivey has described her Unitarian upbringing as "very liberal."[3] She received her undergraduate degree at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and then received a Fulbright grant to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She was a member of the Phi Mu sorority at Rollins College.[4] She received an Honorary Doctorate (Humane Letters) from Rollins College in February 2008.[5][6]

Career

Ivey appeared in numerous American and Canadian stage productions before making New York City her home in the late 1970s. She made her Broadway debut playing two small roles in a 1981 production of Macbeth; the following year she was cast in a major supporting role in a revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter, for which she received the Clarence Derwent Award as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. She was nominated for two Tony Awards in the same season (1984) - as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George and Best Featured Actress in a Play for a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House - a feat repeated by only two other actresses, Amanda Plummer and Kate Burton. Ivey's performances in Driving Miss Daisy (in the title role) and Quartermaine's Terms won her Obies, an annual award presented by the newspaper The Village Voice for off-Broadway productions.

Ivey's first major screen appearance was in Steven Spielberg's adaptation of Alice Walker's The Color Purple in 1985. Her many film credits include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sabrina, Postcards from the Edge, The Adventures of Huck Finn, The Scarlet Letter, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,Sleepless in Seattle, Two Weeks Notice, and Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde.

In 1978, Ivey made her television debut in the daytime soap opera Search for Tomorrow. Her television credits include the 1982 miniseries Little Gloria... Happy at Last, and guest appearances on Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, Oz, The Practice, Sex and the City, and Monk. She has also guest starred as the tyrannical President of the Condo board, Ms Langer, in the Three Days of the Condo episode of Frasier.

Ivey performed in the New York premiere of The Savannah Disputation by Evan Smith at the Off-Broadway theater Playwrights Horizons. The comedy costarred Marylouise Burke, Reed Birney, and Kellie Overbey and was directed by Walter Bobbie (director of the revival of Chicago). The production ran from February 6, 2009 through March 15.[7]

Broadway credits

Theatre awards and nominations

  • 2008 American Theatre Hall of Fame
  • 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Butley, nominee)
  • 2005 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (The Rivals, nominee)
  • 1997 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (The Last Night of Ballyhoo, nominee)
  • 1997 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (The Last Night of Ballyhoo and Sex and Longing, winner)
  • 1987 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (Driving Miss Daisy, nominee)
  • 1984 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Sunday in the Park with George, nominee)
  • 1984 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Heartbreak House, nominee)
  • 1983 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Quartermaine's Terms, nominee)
  • 1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Present Laughter, nominee)

References

  1. ^ "Dana Ivey Biography (1942?-)". Filmreference.com. http://www.filmreference.com/film/20/Dana-Ivey.html. Retrieved on 2008-12-05. 
  2. ^ "Dana Ivey Biography". Yahoo! Movies. http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800019556/bio. Retrieved on 2008-12-05. 
  3. ^ "BALLYHOO AND DAISY, TOO Between the Lines with Alfred Uhry and Dana Ivey by Don Shewey". American Theatre. April 1997. http://www.donshewey.com/theater_articles/BALLYHOO.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-05. 
  4. ^ "phimuaglaia article, Winter/Spring 2008
  5. ^ Orlando Sentinel article, February 15, 2008
  6. ^ collegenews.org article, February 26, 2008
  7. ^ Current Season at Playwrights Horizon,playwrightshorizons.org, accessed November 18, 2008

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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