Annette Bening

Played the editor of a prominent fashion magazine in Diane English's female ensemble "The Women," a remake of the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce

Played an unstable mother in the film adaptation of Augusten Burroughs' "Running With Scissors"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy

Portrayed the title role in "Mrs. Harris" (HBO); received Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress

Portrayed an aging British actress in the 1930s in "Being Julia"; based on the novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham; received Best Actress SAG and Academy Award nominations

Starred opposite Kevin Costner (also directed) and Robert Duvall in the western epic "Open Range"

Voiced Abigail Adams on the short lived PBS animated series "Liberty's Kids"

Co-starred with Garry Shandling in Mike Nichols' "What Planet Are You From?" (third collaboration with Nichols)

Played the shrewish, status-seeking wife of a man undergoing a mid-life crisis in "American Beauty"; was the feature film debut for writer Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes; received Best Actress Academy Award nomination

Appeared with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis in Edward Zwick's "The Siege"

Returned to the stage after a decade as Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" at the Geffen Playhouse

Played Jack Nicholson's wife in Tim Burton's blockbuster spoof "Mars Attacks!"

Co-starred with Michael Douglas in Rob Reiner's "The American President"; received a Golden Globe nomination for Actress in a Musical/Comedy

Re-teamed with Beatty for "Love Affair," a pallid remake of "An Affair to Remember" (1957) and "Love Affair" (1939)

Garnered further acclaim in "Regarding Henry" (re-teaming her with director Mike Nichols)

Met future husband, Warren Beatty co-starring in Barry Levinson's "Bugsy"

Delivered brilliant portrayal as the bubbly, treacherous con-artist Myra Langtry in Stephen Frears's "The Grifters"; received Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination

Offered a strong turn as a ditsy wanna-be actress in Mike Nichols' "Postcards From the Edge"

First leading role as the manipulative, seductive Marquise de Merteuil in Milos Forman's "Valmont"

Feature film debut as Dan Aykroyd's onscreen wife in "The Great Outdoors"

Played a Central Park Zookeeper in the Off-Broadway production of Michael Weller's "Spoils of War"

Landed guest spots on episodes of "Miami Vice" (NBC) and "Wiseguy" (CBS)

Received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in "Coastal Disturbances"

Moved to New York City

Off-Broadway stage debut as Holly Dancer in Tina Howe's widely acclaimed "Coastal Disturbances"

TV-movie debut in "Manhunt for Claude Dallas" (CBS)

Performed with Denver Center Theater Company

Performed with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival

Apprenticed with the American Conservatory Theater

Family moved to San Diego, California in the mid-1960s

First professional job as a dancer in "The Green Show" at San Diego's famed Old Globe Theatre

Moved to Los Angeles

Raised in Wichita, Kansas until the age of seven

Spent a year working as a cook on a charter scuba-diving boat at age 17 before college and scuba diving for recreation