Jill Clayburgh | |
|---|---|
 Clayburgh inGriffin and Phoenix (1976) | |
| Born | (1944-04-30)April 30, 1944 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | November 5, 2010(2010-11-05) (aged 66) Lakeville, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Education | Sarah Lawrence College |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1968–2010 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2, includingLily Rabe |
| Relatives | Jim Clayburgh (brother) |
Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress known for her work in theater, television, and cinema. She received theCannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress and was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Actress for her breakthrough role inPaul Mazursky's comedy dramaAn Unmarried Woman (1978). She received a second consecutive Academy Award nomination forStarting Over (1979) as well as fourGolden Globe nominations for her film performances, and twoPrimetime Emmy Award nominations for her television work.
Clayburgh was a member of the Writers and Artists for Peace in the Middle East, a pro-Israel group. In 1984, she signed a letter protesting German arms sales toSaudi Arabia.[1]
Clayburgh was born in New York City, the daughter of a Protestant mother and a Jewish father. Her mother, Julia Louise (née Dorr), was an actress and theatrical production secretary for producerDavid Merrick. Her father was Albert Henry "Bill" Clayburgh, a manufacturing executive.[2][3] Her paternal grandmother was concert andopera singer Alma Lachenbruch Clayburgh (1881-1958).[4] Her brother,Jim Clayburgh, is a scenic designer.[5][6][7]
Clayburgh reportedly never talked about her religious background and was not raised in the faith of either of her parents.[5] Clayburgh never got along with her parents and began therapy at an early age: "I was very rebellious as a teenager, aside from having an unhappy, neurotic childhood. But I just can't go into it. I think I had a lot of energy and undirected need so I just kind of rebelled in a general fashion. I got myself in terrible, very personal trouble. Therapy has helped me a lot in my life."[8]
As a child, Clayburgh was inspired to become an actress when she sawJean Arthur asPeter Pan onBroadway in 1950.[9] She was raised onManhattan'sUpper East Side, where she attended the all-girlsBrearley School.[6] She then attendedSarah Lawrence College, where she studied religion, philosophy and literature, but ultimately decided to be an actress. She received her acting training atHB Studio.[10]
Clayburgh began acting as a student in summer stock and, after graduating, joined the Charles Street Repertory Theater inBoston, where she met another up-and-coming actor and futureAcademy Award-winning star,Al Pacino, in 1967. They met after starring inJean-Claude Van Itallie's playAmerica, Hurrah. They had a five-year romance and moved back together to New York City.[11]
In 1968, Clayburgh debuted off-Broadway in the double bill ofIsrael Horovitz'sThe Indian Wants the Bronx andIt's Called the Sugar Plum, also starring Pacino. Clayburgh and Pacino were cast in "Deadly Circle of Violence", an episode of theABC television seriesNYPD, premiering November 12, 1968. Clayburgh at the time was also appearing on the soap operaSearch for Tomorrow, playing the role of Grace Bolton. Her father would send the couple money each month to help with finances.[12]
She eventually made her Broadway debut in 1968 inThe Sudden and Accidental Re-Education of Horse Johnson, co-starringJack Klugman, which ran for 5 performances. In 1969, she starred in an off-Broadway production of the Henry Bloomstein playCalling in Crazy, at theAndy Warhol-owned Fortune theatre. She was in a TV pilot that did not sell,The Choice (1969) and appeared off Broadway inThe Nest (1970).
In 1969, Clayburgh made her screen debut inThe Wedding Party, written and directed byBrian De Palma.The Wedding Party was filmed in 1963 (during which Clayburgh was at Sarah Lawrence) but not released until six years later. The film focuses on a soon-to-be groom and his interactions with various relatives of his fiancée and members of the wedding party; Clayburgh played the bride-to-be. Her co-stars includedRobert De Niro, in one of his early film roles, andJennifer Salt. In his review fromThe New York Times,Howard Thompson wrote, "As the harassed engaged couple, two newcomers, Charles Pfluger and Jill Clayburgh, are as appealing as they can be."[13]
Clayburgh attracted attention when she appeared in the Broadway musicalThe Rothschilds (1970–72) which ran for 502 performances. She then went on to playDesdemona oppositeJames Earl Jones in the 1971 production ofOthello inLos Angeles, and had another Broadway success withPippin (1972–75), which ran for 1,944 performances.Clive Barnes ofThe New York Times found Clayburgh to be "all sweet connivance as the widow out to get her man."[14]
During this time, Clayburgh had a string of brief character parts in film and television. Some of these includeThe Telephone Book (1971),Portnoy's Complaint (1972),The Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973) andThe Terminal Man (1974), oppositeGeorge Segal.
After guest-starring on an episode ofThe Snoop Sisters, Clayburgh playedRyan O'Neal's ex-wife inThe Thief Who Came to Dinner (1973) and starred in a TV pilot that was not picked up,Going Places (1973). She also guest starred onMedical Center,Maude, andThe Rockford Files. She hostedSaturday Night Live on February 28, 1976 (Season 1, Episode 15) with musical guest,Leon Redbone. She later returned to Broadway forTom Stoppard'sJumpers, which ran for 48 performances. Despite her success on Broadway, it was film acting that really excited Clayburgh: "One of the things I like about the movies is the adventure of it," she said. "I like going to different places and I like doing a different scene every day."[15]
Clayburgh was praised for her performances in the TV moviesHustling (1975), in which she played a prostitute, andThe Art of Crime (1975).Hustling was a departure for her: "Before I didHustling I was always cast as a nice wife. I wasn't very good at it. Then withHustling, it was a nice role and it was a departure. People saw a different dimension."[8] Her performance in the TV film eventually earned her an Emmy nomination; she later said it revitalised her career.[16][17] "It changed my career," Clayburgh said. "It was a part that I did well, and suddenly people wanted me.Sidney Furie saw me, and wanted me forGable and Lombard."[18]
Clayburgh was cast asCarole Lombard in the 1976 biopicGable and Lombard withJames Brolin asClark Gable.Variety called it "a film with many major assets, not the least of which is the stunning and smashing performance of Clayburgh as Carole Lombard" andTime Out London felt she "produced a very modern version of the Lombard larkishness."[19][20]Vincent Canby ofThe New York Times suggested that her performance "comes off better" than Brolin's Gable, as "she appears to be creating a character whenever the fearfully bad screenplay allows it." Despite this, he felt both actors were miscast as the famous couple, writing further, "Miss Clayburgh could be an interesting actress, but there are always problems when small performers try to portray the kind of giant legends that Gable and Lombard were. Because both Gable and Lombard are still very much alive in their films on television and in repertory theaters, there is difficulty in responding to Mr. Brolin and Miss Clayburgh in any serious way."[21]
She starred in the acclaimed TV movieGriffin and Phoenix (1976) co-starring withPeter Falk. It tells the story of two ill-fated middle-aged characters who both face a terminal cancer diagnosis and have months left to live. Notably, Clayburgh developed the same type of cancer her character had in this film, succumbing to it in 2010. Also in 1976, she had her first big box office success playing the love interest ofGene Wilder's character in the comedy-mysterySilver Streak, also starringRichard Pryor. Critics felt Clayburgh had little to do inSilver Streak, andThe New York Times called her "an actress of too much intelligence to be able to fake identification with a role that is essentially that of a liberated ingenue."[22]
In 1977, she had another hit withSemi-Tough, a comedy set in the world of American professional football, which also starredBurt Reynolds andKris Kristofferson. Clayburgh played Barbara Jane Bookman, who has a subtle love triangle relationship with both Reynolds and Kristofferson's characters. Vincent Canby liked her performance, writing, "Miss Clayburgh, who's been asked to play zany heroines inGable and Lombard andSilver Streak by people who failed to provide her with material, has much better luck this time. She's charming," andThe Washington Post enjoyed her chemistry with Reynolds: "Reynolds and Clayburgh look wonderful together. They seem to harmonize in a way that would only be more apparent - and make their eventual recognition of being in love seem more appropriate."[23][24] BothSemi-Tough andSilver Streak earned her a reputation "as a popular modern stylist of screwball comedy" andThe Guardian noted how Clayburgh "had the kind of warmth and witty sophistication barely seen in Hollywood since Carole Lombard andJean Arthur".[25][15]
Clayburgh's breakthrough came in 1978 when she received the first of her twoAcademy Award for Best Actress nominations forPaul Mazursky'sAn Unmarried Woman. In what would be her career-defining role, Clayburgh was cast as Erica, the courageous abandoned wife who struggles with her new 'single' identity after her stockbroker husband leaves her for a younger woman. Upon release,An Unmarried Woman drew praise and was popular at the box office, briefly making Clayburgh, at 34, a star.[26] Clayburgh's performance garnered some of the best reviews of her career:Roger Ebert called the film "a journey that Mazursky makes into one of the funniest, truest, sometimes most heartbreaking movies I've ever seen. And so much of what's best is because of Jill Clayburgh, whose performance is, quite simply, luminous. Clayburgh takes chances in this movie. She's out on an emotional limb. She's letting us see and experience things that many actresses simply couldn't reveal" whileThe New York Times wrote, "Miss Clayburgh is nothing less than extraordinary in what is the performance of the year to date. In her we see intelligence battling feeling – reason backed against the wall by pushy needs."[27][28]
Writing forThe New Yorker, veteran criticPauline Kael noted:
Jill Clayburgh has a cracked, warbly voice -- a modern polluted-city huskiness. And her trembling, near-beautiful prettiness suggests a lot of pressure. On the stage, she can be dazzling, but the camera isn't in love with her -- she doesn't seem lighted from within. When Erica's life falls apart and her reactions go out of control, Clayburgh's floating, not-quite-sure, not-quite-here quality is just right. And she knows how to use it: she isn't afraid to get puffy-eyed from crying, or to let her face go slack. Her appeal to the audience is in her addled radiance; she seems so punchy that we're a little worried for her. No other film has made such a sensitive, empathic case for a modern woman's need to call her soul her own.[29]
In addition to her Oscar nomination, Clayburgh also earned her firstGolden Globe nomination forBest Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama (both of which she lost toJane Fonda forComing Home) and won theBest Actress Award at theCannes Film Festival, which she andIsabelle Huppert shared.
During this time, she turned down the lead inNorma Rae, a film that earnedSally Field her first Oscar. Still, in 1979, Clayburgh had a career peak after starring in two movies that garnered her widespread acclaim. The first wasBernardo Bertolucci'sLa Luna (1979), which she made in Italy. The film presents an incestuous relationship between a mother and her drug-addicted son, and was poorly received at the time.[16] Clayburgh agreed to star in this film because she felt that "most great roles explore something that is socially taboo."[30] Bertolucci was especially impressed with her work, having complimented her ability "to move from one extreme to the other in the same shot, be funny and dramatic within the same scene."[31] Despite the film's controversy, Clayburgh's performance as a manipulative opera singer was generally praised: Critic Richard Brody called it "her most extravagant role" and a review inThe New York Times felt she was "extraordinary under impossible circumstances."[32][33] Also, in theLondon Review of Books,Angela Carter wrote, "Jill Clayburgh, seizing by the throat the opportunity of working with a great European director, gives a bravura performance: she is like the life force in person".[34]
Her second and last film of 1979 wasAlan J. Pakula'sStarting Over, a romantic comedy withBurt Reynolds andCandice Bergen. Pakula hired her because, "the extraordinary thing is that she's so many people. In a Jill Clayburgh movie you don't know what you're going to get."[30] As a nursery-school teacher who falls reluctantly in love with Reynolds's divorced character, her performance was lauded byThe New York Times: "Miss Clayburgh delivers a particularly sharp characterization that's letter-perfect during the first part of the story and unconvincing in the second, through no fault of her own."[35]Starting Over earned her a second Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. Also that year, she later returned to the stage withIn the Boom Boom Room as a go-go dancer.[36] She had wanted to play this role since 1972 when the play originally premiered on Broadway, but she lost the role toMadeline Kahn. Although she wasn't cast inDavid Rabe's play, she later married him in 1979.[16]
Her back-to-back success withAn Unmarried Woman andStarting Over led writer Mel Gussow to suggest that Clayburgh was one of the few "stars for the 80's, fresh, natural anti‐ingenues" alongsideMeryl Streep andDiane Keaton, adding, "These are stage actresses who have become movie stars on their own terms, free of "glamour," ready to clown as well as to play heroines."[37] In 1980, she was cast oppositeMichael Douglas in a romantic comedy,It's My Turn, in which she teaches the proof of thesnake lemma. NovelistEleanor Bergstein, who had written the screenplay, was delighted with Clayburgh's casting. "To me," says Bergstein, "Jill is one of the few actresses who looks like she has imagined her life, made her life happen. I think that divides women in a way, women whose intelligence animates their faces. They have willed themselves to be beautiful, to be exactly who they are. Their minds inform their faces. I think Jill is like that. Lots of actresses are just the opposite." Clayburgh herself was attracted to the part because "Kate is the closest person to myself that I have ever played. People always say, 'Oh,An Unmarried Woman, that's you.' But really, of course, it's not."[38] The following year, she was a conservative Supreme Court justice inFirst Monday in October, a comedy withWalter Matthau. Her performance was praised and earned her a Golden Globe nomination forBest Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical.
By the mid-1980s, Clayburgh appeared in fewer and less successful films, despite turning to more dramatic material. She played a valium addict and documentarist inI'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1981), written by David Rabe, her husband. "I guess people look at me and they think I'm a ladylike character," said Clayburgh, "but it's not what I do best. I do best with characters who are coming apart at the seams."[36] The film received negative reviews, butJanet Maslin ofThe New York Times liked Clayburgh's performance and wrote that she played her high-powered career woman "earnestly and vigorously."[39] In the controversialHanna K. (1983), she was a court-appointed Israeli-American lawyer assigned to defend a Palestinian man for directorCosta-Gavras. The film was a box office failure and hurt her career.[40] Upset by the film's reception, Clayburgh gave up cinema for three years, during which time she was busy bringing up her children.[15]
Alongside then-rising starsRaúl Julia andFrank Langella, Clayburgh returned to Broadway for a revival of Noël Coward'sDesign for Living (1984–85), directed byGeorge C. Scott, which ran for 245 performances. Writing for theChristian Science Monitor, John Beaufort wrote, "Jill Clayburgh's Gilda is not merely sexy and volatile. She can be sweetly feminine. She is a woman struggling both to find herself and to discover where she belongs in this triangle. In more than one respect, Miss Clayburgh grasps the deeper as well as the more superficially amusing aspects of her dilemma."[41]
As her feature film career waned, Clayburgh began accepting roles in television films, includingWhere Are the Children? (1986) as a divorcée who gets revenge on her ex-spouse, andMiles to Go... (1986). She returned to film in 1987 when she drew praise for portraying a shallow, sophisticatedManhattan magazine writer inAndrei Konchalovsky's little-seen independent filmShy People; although the film flopped, this was her most substantial film role afterHanna K.[40]The Guardian found her "amusing" while Ebert called Clayburgh's work "sadly overlooked" and her "other best role" afterAn Unmarried Woman.[15][42]
AfterShy People, Clayburgh took on a series of roles in the television filmsWho Gets the Friends? (1988) andFear Stalk (1989), in which she portrayed a budding cartoonist and a strong-willed soap opera producer, respectively. She then played an investigator studying a child-abuse case inUnspeakable Acts (1990). In 1991, Clayburgh earned decent reviews for her role as English actress and singerJill Ireland in the television biopicReason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story[43][44][45][46][47][48][49] (1991), which detailed Ireland's struggle to beat cancer and to help her adopted son get past his heroin addiction.[50] Although Clayburgh never met Ireland, she read her book and listened to taped interviews with her in preparation. Ken Tucker ofEntertainment Weekly praised Clayburgh's accent inReason for Living, writing, "Quite aside from her smooth assurance, Clayburgh pulls off Ireland's English accent without calling attention to herself."[51] This performance ledThe New York Times to write that her small-screen work was "a sign of the times: older actresses accustomed to playing strong roles are finding their best work [in film] on television."[52]
Gradually, Clayburgh shifted into being more of a supporting character actress in the 1990s, taking on roles as diverse as an antagonistic judge inTrial: The Price of Passion (1992) and the interfering wife ofAlan Alda's character inWhispers in the Dark (1992). After appearing inBen Gazzara'sBeyond the Ocean (1990), which was shot inBali, and the unreleasedPretty Hattie's Baby (1991), she becametypecast as an attractive maternal figure: she was the long-missing matriarch inRich in Love (1992), a wheelchair-user mother inFirestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland (1993), andEric Stoltz's single mother inNaked in New York (1993). A review inPeople magazine felt Clayburgh "[did] her best as the footloose mother" inRich in Love, while Roger Ebert praised her casting inNaked in New York as "exactly on target".[53][54] She also playedKitty Menendez, who was murdered by her sons, inHonor Thy Father and Mother: The True Story of the Menendez Murders (1993), a role whichVariety perceived to be "incomplete, but that has more to do with the script than Clayburgh's performance."[55] She continued to play concerned, protective mothers inFor the Love of Nancy (1994),The Face on the Milk Carton (1995),Going All the Way (1997),Fools Rush In (1997),When Innocence Is Lost (1997) andSins of the Mind (1997), and was in "good form" as the forceful, pushystage mother inCrowned and Dangerous (1997).[56]
In the late 1990s, Clayburgh guest-starred on episodes ofLaw & Order andFrasier, and starred in another short-lived sitcom,Everything's Relative (1999), and a short-lived series,Trinity (1999).[57]
After appearing inMy Little Assassin (1999) andThe Only Living Boy in New York (2000), she had her first prominent lead role sinceHanna K. andShy People inEric Schaeffer's comedyNever Again (2001).[58] Roger Ebert praised Clayburgh "for do[ing] everything humanly possible to create a character who is sweet and believable" and called it "a reminder of Clayburgh's gifts as an actress", whileStephen Holden of theNew York Times credited her for lending "emotional weight" to the part of "a desperately lonely 54-year-old single mother."[59][60] Also in 2001, she appeared inFalling and had a semi-recurring role onAlly McBeal as Ally's mother and onThe Practice, before becoming a regular in another short-lived show,Leap of Faith (2002).
She returned to off-Broadway as a falsely convicted mother-of-two inBob Balaban's production ofThe Exonerated (2002–04) withRichard Dreyfuss. Writing forVariety magazine,Charles Isherwood commended Clayburgh for playing her part "with clear-eyed dignity."[61] She then appeared inPhenomenon II (2003) and received an Emmy nomination for guest appearances in the seriesNip/Tuck in 2005. That year she continued her resurgent stage career inA Naked Girl on the Appian Way, which ran for 69 performances. More successful wasThe Busy World is Hushed (2005–06) on off-Broadway, where she replacedChristine Lahti and played a widowed Episcopal minister and scholar.[62]Variety critic David Rooney praised Clayburgh's "wisdom and quiet humor while refusing to define Hannah's questionable behavior and convictions as right or wrong, sound or unsound" and her "embrace of the woman's uncertainties, mak[ing] her all the more human."[63]
In 2006, she appeared on Broadway inNeil Simon'sBarefoot in the Park withPatrick Wilson andAmanda Peet; she played Peet's mother, a role originated byMildred Natwick. It ran for 109 performances and was met with mixed reviews.[64] Still, Clayburgh's performance drew praise and theNew York Times criticBen Brantley lauded "her winning way with dialogue that can make synthetic one-liners sound like filigree epigrams. Trim and dazzlingly blond, she is a glamorous eyeful inIsaac Mizrahi's rich dowager costumes."[65] She returned to the screen that same year as a therapist's eccentric wife inRyan Murphy's all-star ensembledramedyRunning with Scissors, an autobiographical tale of teenage angst and dysfunction based on the book byAugusten Burroughs; also starringAnnette Bening,Gwyneth Paltrow andEvan Rachel Wood, Clayburgh's supporting performance earned her aBest Supporting Actress nomination by theSt. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association. By the end of 2006, Clayburgh played a wistful eccentric in what was her last stage appearance,The Clean House (2006–07) on off-Broadway, and was praised for her "goofy lightness" byThe Post Gazette.[66]
During 2007–2009, Clayburgh appeared in theABCtelevision seriesDirty Sexy Money, playing the wealthy socialite Letitia Darling.[67] She then playedJake Gyllenhaal's mother inEdward Zwick'sLove & Other Drugs (2010) andKristen Wiig's mother inPaul Feig's acclaimed blockbuster comedyBridesmaids (2011), which was the last film that Clayburgh completed.
Clayburgh died at her home inLakeville, Connecticut, on November 5, 2010, after privately battlingchronic lymphocytic leukemia for more than two decades.[68][69][70][71]
As a teenager, Clayburgh had two back-alley abortions, which she chronicled in the 1991 bookThe Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion.[72] Clayburgh dated actorAl Pacino from 1967 to 1972.[73]
She marriedscreenwriter andplaywrightDavid Rabe in 1979.[74] They had two children: a son, Michael Rabe, and a daughter, the actressLily Rabe.[75][76][77]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | Hustling | Wanda | TV movie Nominated –Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1976 | Griffin and Phoenix | Sarah Phoenix | |
| 1986 | Miles To Go | Moira Browning | |
| 1989 | Fear Stalk | Alexandra Maynard | |
| 1991 | Reason For Living: The Jill Ireland Story | Jill Ireland | |
| 1994 | For the Love of Nancy | Sally Walsh | |
| 1995 | The Face on the Milk Carton | Miranda Jessmon |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | N.Y.P.D. | Woman in park | Episode: "Deadly Circle of Violence" |
| 1969 | Search for Tomorrow | Grace Bolton | |
| 1972 | The Snoop Sisters | Mary Nero | Episode: "The Female Instinct" |
| 1974 | Medical Center | Beverly | Episode: "Choice of Evils" |
| 1974 | The Rockford Files | Marilyn Polonski | Episode: "The Big Ripoff" |
| 1974 | Maude | Adele | Episode: "Walter's Heart Attack" |
| 1998 | Law & Order | Sheila Atkins | Episode: "Divorce" |
| 1998 | Frasier | Marie (voice) | Episode: "The Perfect Guy" |
| 1998 | Trinity | Eileen McCallister | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | Everything's Relative | Mickey Gorelick | 4 episodes |
| 1999–2001 | Ally McBeal | Jeannie McBeal | 4 episodes |
| 2002 | Leap of Faith | Cricket Wardwell | 6 episodes |
| 2004 | Nip/Tuck | Bobbi Broderick | 2 episodes Nominated –Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series |
| 2004 | The Practice | Victoria Stewart | 3 episodes |
| 2007–2009 | Dirty Sexy Money | Letitia Darling | 23 episodes |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Sudden and Accidental Re-Education of Horse Johnson | Dolly (original) | 3 previews only |
| 1970 | The Rothschilds | Hannah Cohen (original) | Nominated –Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical |
| 1972 | Pippin | Catherine (original) | Record-breaking 1,944 performances[78] |
| 1974 | Jumpers | Dotty (original) | |
| 1984 | Design for Living | Gilda (original) | 17 previews only |
| 2005 | A Naked Girl on the Appian Way | Bess Lapin (original) | |
| 2006 | Barefoot in the Park | Mrs. Banks (original) | |
| 2008 | Ages of the Moon | Unknown |
