Dana Ivey

A handsome supporting player of stage, screen and TV, frequently cast as strong, officious women, Dana Ivey began her career on stage, appearing in numerous productions throughout the US and Canada. She settled in NYC in the 1980s, where she made her Broadway debut in Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" and won critical praise (and two OBIE Awards) for creating the roles of Melanie in "Quartermaine's Terms" (1982-83) and the title role of Daisy Werthan in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Driving Miss Daisy" (1986-87). She received two 1984 Supporting Actress Tony nominations for her work on Broadway in the play "Heartbreak Hotel", with Rex Harrison and Amy Irving and in the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical "Sunday in the Park With George", with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.

On the small screen, Ivey made her TV debut in the CBS soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" (1978) and appeared in the primetime NBC miniseries "Little Gloria...Happy at Last" (1982). She went on to be featured in the comedy series "Easy Street" (NBC, 1986-87) and reprised her roles from "Heartbreak House" (1984) "Sunday In the Park With George" (1985) for Showtime/American Playhouse specials. In features, Ivey made a stern if benign mistress to Oprah Winfrey's belligerent-turned-meek character in "The Color Purple" (1985), and had memorable roles in such features as "The Addams Family" (1991) and its 1993 sequel "Addams Family Values", "Home Alone 2: Alone in New York" (1992) and "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993). Ivey also scored as Harrison Ford's tart-tongued secretary in the Sydney Pollack's remake of "Sabrina" (1995).