Biography
A favorite of filmmaker Woody Allen, the director offered her every stage actress' dream of playing complex, well-developed characters which she brought to sparkling life in films including "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986), "Radio Days" (1987) and "Bullets Over Broadway" (1994). Hollywood generally gave the versatile actress less adventurous work and Wiest obliged with innumerable supporting roles as underwritten moms, though some of …
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Not Afraid, Not Afraid
Merci Docteur Rey
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Career Milestones
2011 | Cast in the comedy feature "The Big Year" opposite Owen Wilson, Jack Black, and Steve Martin | |
2010 | Played Nicole Kidman's mother in the drama "Rabbit Hole" | |
2008 | Cast as Paul's (Gabriel Byrne) own therapist and mentor on the HBO series "In Treatment"; earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations in 2009 for Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | |
2007 | Played the mother of Dane Cook and Steve Carell in "Dan in Real Life" | |
2006 | Cast in the coming-of-age drama "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints" | |
2005 | Voiced Mrs. Copperbottom in the animated feature "Robots" | |
2004 | Portrayed an opera-diva mother in "Merci Docteur Rey" | |
2001 | Played a neighbor who befriends a mentally retarded man (Sean Penn) and his daughter (Dakota Fanning) in "I Am Sam" | |
2000 | Joined cast of the NBC drama series "Law & Order" as the district attorney | |
2000 | Reteamed with John Lithgow as husband and wife in the period comedy "Portofino" | |
2000 | Cast as the Evil Queen out to usurp the throne from the heir in the elaborate NBC miniseries "The 10th Kingdom" | |
1999 | Played the restaurant owner friend to a local craftsman (Sidney Poitier) in the CBS drama "The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn"; received Emmy nomination | |
1998 | Portrayed the sister-in-law of Robert Redford in "The Horse Whisperer" | |
1997 | Returned to the NY stage in "One Flea Spare" at the New York Shakespeare Festival | |
1996 | Won an Emmy guest-starring on The Disney Channel's "Avonlea" | |
1996 | Played the lead role in George Bernard Shaw's "Jitta's Atonement" at the Bershire Theater Festival; directed by and co-starred Harris Yulin | |
1996 | Cast as the wife of a conservative politician in Mike Nichols' "The Bird Cage"; film loosely based on "La Cage aux Folles" | |
1995 | Acted in the film, "Drunks"; directed by Peter Cohn (the son of Wiest's agent and former off-screen companion Sam Cohn) | |
1994 | Created role of a Holocaust survivor in Cynthia Ozick's play "Blue Light"; directed Sidney Lumet | |
1994 | Delivered one of her best screen performances as an over-the-hill actress in Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway"; won second Best Supporting Actress Academy Award; first performer to win two Oscars in films directed by same person | |
1994 | Acted with Harris Yulin in "Don Juan in Hell" | |
1991 | Portrayed the child psychologist who clashes with the mother of a genius in Jodie Foster's directorial debut "Little Man Tate" | |
1990 | Played the Avon Lady who befriends the title character in Tim Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" | |
1989 | Earned second Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination as the exasperated single mother in "Parenthood" | |
1987 | Co-starred with Ron Silver (as Polish emigres) in the play "Hunting Cockroaches" | |
1987 | Played the mother of teenagers who fall prey to a gang of young vampires in Joel Schumacher's flashy "The Lost Boys" | |
1987 | Offered a lovely turn as the high-strung Aunt Bea in Allen's nostalgic "Radio Days" | |
1986 | Breakthrough screen role, as the somewhat neurotic Holly in Allen's "Hannah and Her Sisters"; won Best Supporting Actress Academy Award | |
1985 | First film with director Woody Allen, "The Purple Rose of Cairo"; played a hooker | |
1985 | Directed the play "Not About Heroes" featuring Edward Hermann and Dylan Baker at the Williamstown Theatre Festival; production transferred to Off-Broadway | |
1984 | Cast as the long-suffering minister's wife in "Footloose"; first onscream teaming with John Lithgow | |
1984 | Portrayed Maggie (the character based on Marilyn Monroe) opposite Frank Langella in Arthur Miller's "After the Fall" | |
1983 | Played the leading role of a rape victim in the ABC movie "The Face of Rage" | |
1982 | Returned to Broadway as Desdemona opposite James Earl Jones in "Othello" | |
1982 | First featured film role, supporting Jill CLayburgh in "I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can" | |
1982 | Network TV-movie debut in "The Wall" (CBS), a fictionalized account of the Jewish Resistance to the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto during WWII | |
1981 | Made Broadway debut in the ill-fated "Frankenstein" | |
1980 | Played title role in Long Wharf staging of "Hedda Gabler" | |
1980 | Feature film debut in "It's My Turn" starring Jill Clayburgh | |
1979 | Breakthrough stage role, "The Art of Dining" | |
1976 | Appeared in a supporting role in the New York Shakespeare Festival production "Ashes" | |
1975 | TV debut in a "Great Performances" (PBS) presentation of the Arena Theater's production of Elie Wiesel's "Zalmen/Zalmen, or the Madness of God" | |
| Spent four years with the Arena Theater in Washington, DC; travelled to the USSR with company | ||
| Left college and toured with the American Shakespeare Company | ||
1964 | At age 16, dropped ballet in favor of acting | |
| Studied at the School of American Ballet in NYC as a teenager | ||
| As a child and adolescent, moved frequently due to father's military career | ||
Awards
2009 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in In Treatment |
2009 | Independent Spirit Award for Robert Altman Award in Synecdoche, New York |
2008 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television in In Treatment |
2008 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in In Treatment |
2002 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in Law & Order |
2001 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in Law & Order |
1999 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress In a Miniseries or Movie in The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn |
1997 | Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress In a Drama Series in Avonlea |
1997 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture in The Birdcage |
1995 | Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female in Bullets Over Broadway |
1995 | Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in Bullets Over Broadway |
1994 | Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in Bullets Over Broadway |
1994 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Bullets Over Broadway |
1994 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress in Bullets Over Broadway |
1994 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress in Bullets Over Broadway |
1994 | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in Bullets Over Broadway |
1989 | Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in Parenthood |
1989 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Parenthood |
1986 | Academy Award for Actress In a Supporting Role in Hannah and Her Sisters |
1986 | Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture in Hannah and Her Sisters |
1986 | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress in Hannah and Her Sisters |
1986 | New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress in Hannah and Her Sisters |
1986 | National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress in Hannah and Her Sisters |
1986 | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress in Hannah and Her Sisters |