Dianne Wiest | |
|---|---|
 Wiest in 2009 | |
| Born | Dianne Evelyn Wiest (1948-03-28)March 28, 1948 (age 77) Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of Maryland |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | Full list |
Dianne Evelyn Wiest[1] (/wiːst/;[2] born March 28, 1948)[3][4][5][6] is an American actress. She has won twoAcademy Awards for Best Supporting Actress for 1986'sHannah and Her Sisters and 1994'sBullets Over Broadway (both directed byWoody Allen), oneGolden Globe Award forBullets Over Broadway, the 1997Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series forRoad to Avonlea, and the 2008Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series forIn Treatment. In addition, she was nominated for anAcademy Award for 1989'sParenthood.
Other film appearances by Wiest includeFootloose (1984), Woody Allen'sThe Purple Rose of Cairo (1985),Radio Days (1987), andSeptember (1987),The Lost Boys (1987),Bright Lights, Big City (1988),Edward Scissorhands (1990),Little Man Tate (1991),The Birdcage (1996),Practical Magic (1998),Dan in Real Life (2007),Synecdoche, New York (2008),Rabbit Hole (2010),The Mule (2018),Let Them All Talk (2020), andI Care a Lot (2020). She also appeared in the television seriesLaw & Order (2000–2002), and theCBS comedyLife in Pieces (2015–2019), and inOnly Murders in the Building (2025).
Wiest was born inKansas City, Missouri. Her mother, Anne Stewart (née Keddie), was a nurse. Her father, Bernard John Wiest, was a college dean and former psychiatric social worker for theU.S. Army. Her parents met inAlgiers.[7][8][9] Wiest has two brothers, Greg and Don. She attended high school atNurnberg American High School in Germany. Her ambition was to be a ballet dancer, but she switched her goal to theater during her senior year.[10] Wiest graduated from theUniversity of Maryland in 1969 with a degree in Arts and Sciences.[11]
Wiest left her theater studies in Maryland after the third term in order to tour with a Shakespearean troupe. Later, she had a supporting role in aNew York Shakespeare Festival production ofAshes.[12] She also acted at theYale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, playing the title role inHenrik Ibsen'sHedda Gabler. She was an understudy both off-Broadway and on Broadway, inKurt Vonnegut'sHappy Birthday, Wanda June in 1970.[13][14]
She made her Broadway debut inRobert Anderson'sSolitaire/Double Solitaire, taking over in the role of the daughter in 1971.[15] She landed a four-year job as a member of theArena Stage inWashington, D.C.,[16] in such roles as Emily inOur Town, Honey inWho's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and leading roles inS. Ansky'sThe Dybbuk,Maxim Gorky'sThe Lower Depths andGeorge Bernard Shaw'sHeartbreak House. She toured theUSSR with the Arena Stage.[17] In 1976, Wiest attended theEugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and starred in leading roles in Amlin Gray'sPirates andChristopher Durang'sA History of the American Film. AtJoe Papp'sPublic Theater she took over the lead inAshes, and playedCassandra inAgamemnon, directed byAndrei Șerban. In 1979, she originated the role of Agnes inAgnes of God in its first production in Waterford, Connecticut.[18]
She appeared in two plays byTina Howe:Museum andThe Art of Dining. In the latter, Wiest's performance as the shy and awkward author Elizabeth Barrow Colt won three off-Broadway theater awards: anObie Award (1980), aTheatre World Award (1979–1980), and theClarence Derwent Award (1980), given yearly for the most promising performance in New York theatre.[19][20][21][22]
On Broadway she appeared inFrankenstein (1981), directed by Tom Moore, portrayedDesdemona inOthello (1982) oppositeJames Earl Jones andChristopher Plummer and co-starred withJohn Lithgow in Christopher Durang's romantic screwball comedyBeyond Therapy (1982), directed byJohn Madden.[15] (She played opposite Lithgow again in theHerbert Ross filmFootloose). During the 1980s, she also performed inHedda Gabler, directed byLloyd Richards atYale Repertory Theatre,[23] and inHarold Pinter'sA Kind of Alaska (1984, Manhattan Theatre Club),[24]Lanford Wilson'sSerenading Louie (1984),[25] andJanusz Glowacki'sHunting Cockroaches (1987, Manhattan Theater Club).[26] As Wiest became established as a film actress through her work inWoody Allen's films, she was less frequently available for stage roles. However, she did appear onstage during the 1990s, inIn the Summer House,Square One,Cynthia Ozick'sThe Shawl, andNaomi Wallace'sOne Flea Spare. In 2003, she appeared withAl Pacino andMarisa Tomei inOscar Wilde'sSalome. In 2005, she starred in Kathleen Tolan'sMemory House. She also starred in a production ofWendy Wasserstein's final playThird (directed byDaniel Sullivan) atLincoln Center.[27]
Later New York theater roles include performances as Arkadina in an off-Broadway revival ofThe Seagull (oppositeAlan Cumming's Trigorin) and as Kate Keller in a Broadway revival ofArthur Miller'sAll My Sons, oppositeJohn Lithgow,Patrick Wilson, andKatie Holmes.[28] In 2009, Wiest appeared in theNational Memorial Day Concert on the Mall in Washington, D.C. in a dialogue with Katie Holmes celebrating the life of an American veteran seriously wounded in Iraq, José Pequeño.[29] Wiest spent September 2010 as a visiting teacher at Columbia University's Graduate Acting Program,[30] working with a group of 18 first-year MFA Acting students on selected plays byAnton Chekhov andArthur Miller.
In 2016, Wiest took on the role of "Winnie" in TheYale Repertory Theatre's production ofSamuel Beckett'sHappy Days.[31] She reprised the role forTheatre for a New Audience indowntown Brooklyn, New York, in the spring of 2017,[32] and theMark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in 2019.[33]
Her early screen roles include small roles inIt's My Turn (credited onscreen as Diane Wiest) andI'm Dancing as Fast as I Can, both starringJill Clayburgh in the lead roles. In 1984, she starred inFootloose, as the reverend's wife and Ariel's mother. Under Woody Allen's direction, Wiest won anAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress forHannah and Her Sisters in 1987 andBullets Over Broadway in 1995.[16][34] She also appeared in three other Woody Allen films:The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985),Radio Days (1987) andSeptember (1987).[35]
She followed her first Oscar success with performances inThe Lost Boys (1987) andBright Lights, Big City (1988). She also starred withSteve Martin,Mary Steenburgen,Jason Robards,Keanu Reeves andMartha Plimpton inRon Howard'sParenthood, for which she received her second Oscar nomination. Other major film roles includeTim Burton'sEdward Scissorhands (1990),Jodie Foster'sLittle Man Tate (1991) andThe Birdcage (1996),Mike Nichols's remake ofLa Cage aux Folles.
On television, her performance on the seriesRoad to Avonlea in 1997 brought her her firstEmmy Award forOutstanding Guest Actress in a Dramatic Series. She received another nomination for her performance in the 1999 telefilmThe Simple Life of Noah Dearborn, co-starringSidney Poitier. She starred in thetelevisionmini-seriesThe 10th Kingdom in 2000. From 2000 to 2002, Wiest portrayed interim District AttorneyNora Lewin in theNBC crime dramaLaw & Order. She also played the character in two episodes ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit and thepilot episode ofLaw & Order: Criminal Intent.
Wiest starred alongsideSteve Carell andJuliette Binoche inDan in Real Life (2007) and had a key supporting role inCharlie Kaufman's 2008 filmSynecdoche, New York. In 2008, she also appeared asGabriel Byrne's therapist,Gina Toll, on theHBO television seriesIn Treatment, for which she received her secondEmmy Award, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She received another nomination (in the same category) for the second season, in 2009, but did not win.
She starred alongsideNicole Kidman inRabbit Hole (2010), whom she worked with onPractical Magic.Rabbit Hole debuted at theToronto International Film Festival. Wiest also co-starred inLawrence Kasdan's 2012 comedyDarling Companion, alongsideKevin Kline andDiane Keaton. In 2020, Wiest starred inSteven Soderbergh's dramaLet Them All Talk alongsideMeryl Streep, andCandice Bergen. That same year she also starred oppositeRosamund Pike in the action thrillerI Care a Lot.[36]
Since 2021, she has starred in theParamount+ crime thriller seriesMayor of Kingstown, and in 2025 it was announced that she would be joining the cast ofOnly Murders in the Building as the grieving widow of doorman Lester, Lorraine.[37][38]
Wiest was in a relationship with her talent agentSam Cohn for three years in the mid-1980s.[39][40] She adopted two daughters: Emily and Lily.[17]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | It's My Turn | Gail | Credited as Diane Wiest |
| 1982 | I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can | Julie Addison | |
| 1983 | Face of Rage | Rebecca Hammil | |
| Independence Day | Nancy Morgan | ||
| 1984 | Falling in Love | Isabelle | |
| Footloose | Vi Moore | ||
| 1985 | The Purple Rose of Cairo | Emma | |
| 1986 | Hannah and Her Sisters | Holly | |
| 1987 | Radio Days | Bea | |
| September | Stephanie | ||
| The Lost Boys | Lucy Emerson | ||
| 1988 | Bright Lights, Big City | Mrs. Conway | |
| 1989 | Parenthood | Helen Buckman | |
| Cookie | Lenore Voltecki | ||
| 1990 | Edward Scissorhands | Peg Boggs | |
| 1991 | Little Man Tate | Jane Grierson | |
| 1994 | Bullets Over Broadway | Helen Sinclair | |
| Cops & Robbersons | Helen Robberson | ||
| The Scout | Doctor H. Aaron | ||
| 1995 | Drunks | Rachel | |
| 1996 | The Associate | Sally Dugan | |
| The Birdcage | Louise Keeley | ||
| 1998 | Practical Magic | Aunt Bridget 'Jet' Owens | |
| The Horse Whisperer | Diane Booker | ||
| 2001 | I Am Sam | Annie Cassell | |
| 2002 | Merci Docteur Rey | Elisabeth Beaumont | |
| 2005 | Robots | Lydia Copperbottom | Voice |
| 2006 | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints | Flori Montiel | |
| 2007 | Dedication | Carol | |
| Dan in Real Life | Nana Burns | ||
| 2008 | Passengers | Toni | |
| Synecdoche, New York | Ellen Bascomb / Millicent Weems | ||
| 2009 | Rage | Miss Roth | |
| 2010 | Rabbit Hole | Nat | |
| 2011 | The Big Year | Brenda Harris | |
| 2012 | Darling Companion | Penny Alexander | |
| The Odd Life of Timothy Green | Ms. Crudstaff | ||
| 2014 | The Humbling | Carol Stapleford | |
| 2015 | Five Nights in Maine | Lucinda | |
| Sisters | Deana Ellis | ||
| 2018 | The Mule | Mary Stone | |
| 2020 | I Care a Lot | Jennifer Peterson | |
| Let Them All Talk | Susan | ||
| 2022 | My Father's Dragon | Iris the Rhinoceros | Voice |
| 2024 | Apartment 7A | Minnie Castevet | |
| 2026 | Practical Magic 2 | Aunt Bridget 'Jet' Owens | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Zalmen: or, The Madness of God | Nina | Television film |
| 1978 | Great Performances: Out of Our Father's House | Elizabeth Gertrude Stern | |
| 1997 | Road to Avonlea | Lillian Hepworth | 1 episode |
| 1999 | The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn | Sarah McClellan | Television film |
| 2000 | The 10th Kingdom | The Evil Queen/Christine White | Miniseries, 5 episodes |
| 2000–02 | Law & Order | D.A.Nora Lewin | Lead role, 46 episodes |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | 1 episode | |
| 2001–02 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | 2 episodes | |
| 2004 | The Blackwater Lightship | Lily Devereux Breen | Television film |
| Category 6: Day of Destruction | Secretary of Energy Shirley Abbott | 2 episodes | |
| 2008–09 | In Treatment | Dr. Gina Toll | Main role, 17 episodes |
| 2008 | The Return of Jezebel James | Talia Tompkins | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | Woody Allen: A Documentary | Herself | |
| 2014 | The Blacklist | Ruth Kipling | 1 episode |
| 2015–19 | Life in Pieces | Joan Short | Main role, 79 episodes |
| 2021–23 | Mayor of Kingstown | Mariam McLusky | Main role, 19 episodes |
| 2025 | Only Murders in the Building | Lorraine Coluca | Recurring (season 5), 4 episodes |
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Wiest has been nominated for threeAcademy Awards forBest Supporting Actress receiving two wins for her performances in theWoody Allen filmsHannah and Her Sisters (1986) andBullets Over Broadway (1994). She has received fourPrimetime Emmy Award nominations for her work on television, winning two awards forRoad to Avonlea (1996) andIn Treatment (2008). She has also received twoGolden Globe Award nominations and twoScreen Actors Guild Award nominations.
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