Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an
Emmy Award-winning and Golden Globe
Award-nominated American actress.
Biography
Early life
Barkin was born in the Bronx, New York to a
chemical salesman and a hospital administrator at Jamaica Hospital, and raised in a Jewish home.
Education
She received her high school diploma at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. Barkin then
attended Hunter College and received her degree in history and drama (a double major). At one point she wanted to teach
ancient history. Barkin continued her acting education at New York's Actor's Studio. According to Time she studied acting for
seven years before landing her first audition.[1]
Career
Barkin became a notable actress in the 1980s. Her break out role was in Barry Levinson's Diner (1982)
where she received favorable reviews in the media.
She appeared in several successful films including the thrillers Sea of
Love, opposite Al Pacino (1989), and
The Big Easy (1987) with Dennis Quaid.
Barkin also appeared in the theatre in New York, mostly off-Broadway plays.
New York Times critic Frank Rich
summarized her performance in the play Eden Court this way: "If it were really possible to give the kiss of life to a
corpse, the actress Ellen Barkin would be the one to do it. In Eden Court, the moribund play that has brought her to the
Promenade Theater, Miss Barkin is tantalizingly alive from her bouncing blond ponytail to the long legs that gyrate wildly and
involuntarily every time an Elvis Presley record plays on stage."[2]
She has also done work in made-for-television films like Before Women Had
Wings (1987) and The White River Kid (1999). Currently she voices the start of each Theme Time Radio Hour with host Bob Dylan on XM's "Deep Tracks."
In 2005 she set up a film production company with her brother George and her ex-husband,
billionaire investor, Ronald Perelman. She is currently (2007) suing Perelman for $3.4 million in investment funds he reportedly
promised to invest, but has yet to deliver. [3]
Personal life
Barkin is the mother of two children, Jack (born 1989) and Romy Marion (born 1992) from her first marriage, to actor
Gabriel Byrne, which ended in 1993 in an amicable divorce.
She has a brother, George Barkin, who was formerly the editor in chief of National
Lampoon and High Times.
In 2000 she married businessman Ronald Perelman, but
according to New York Magazine the marriage ended in a messy divorce in
2006 with Barkin receiving $40 million.[4]
Awards
Emmy Awards Wins
- Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for: Before Women Had Wings (1997).
Other Wins
- Golden Satellite Awards: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting
Role in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, for Before Women Had Wings (1997).
- Sant Jordi Awards: Best Foreign Actress, for The Big Easy (1987), Barcelona, Spain.
Golden Globes Nominations
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical, for Switch
(1991).
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV, for Before Women Had Wings (1997).
Selected filmography
Footnotes
External links
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