Dana Ivey (born August 12, 1941)^[1] is an American retired actress. She is a five-timeTony Award nominee for her work onBroadway, and won the 1997Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play for her work in bothSex and Longing andThe Last Night of Ballyhoo. She originated the title role inDriving Miss Daisy and was nominated for a Drama Desk award for Best Actress in a Play. Her film appearances includeThe Color Purple (1985),Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988),The Addams Family (1991),Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992),Sleepless in Seattle (1993),Addams Family Values (1993),Two Weeks Notice (2002),Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003),Rush Hour 3 (2007), andThe Help (2011).

Dana Ivey
Ivey inProfessional Cuddler, 2018
Born	(1941-08-12)August 12, 1941 (age 83) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Alma mater	London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1962–2019
Mother	Mary Nell Ivey Santacroce
Website	danaivey.com

Ivey was born inAtlanta, Georgia. Her mother,Mary Nell Ivey Santacroce (née McKoin), was a teacher, speech therapist, and actress who appeared in productions ofDriving Miss Daisy and taught atGeorgia State University; Mary Nell was considered byJohn Huston to be "one of the three or four greatest actresses in the world."^[2] Her father, Hugh Daugherty Ivey, was aphysicist and professor who taught atGeorgia Tech and later worked at theAtomic Energy Commission.^{[citation needed]} Her parents later divorced. She has a younger brother, John, and a half-brother, Eric Santacroce, and one nephew, Evan Santacroce from her mother's remarriage to Dante Santacroce.^[3]

Dana Ivey received her undergraduate degree atRollins College inWinter Park, Florida. She was a member ofPhi Mu women's fraternity and earned a Fulbright grant to study drama at theLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[4] She received an honorary doctorate (humane letters) from Rollins College in February 2008.^[5]

Before making New York City her home in the late 1970s, Ivey appeared in numerous American and Canadian stage productions and served as director ofDramaTech in Atlanta from 1974 to 1977, as had her mother before her from 1949 to 1966. In 1981, Ivey made herBroadway debut playing two small roles in a production ofMacbeth; the following year, she was cast in a major supporting role in a revival ofNoël Coward'sPresent Laughter, for which she received the Clarence Derwent Award as Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. She was nominated for twoTony Awards in the same season (1984) – as Best Featured Actress in a Musical forStephen Sondheim'sSunday in the Park with George and Best Featured Actress in a Play for a revival ofHeartbreak House – a feat repeated by only three other actresses,Amanda Plummer,Jan Maxwell, andKate Burton.^[6]

Ivey's performances inQuartermaine's Terms andDriving Miss Daisy (creating the title role)^[7] earned herObie Awards,^[8] as did that inMrs. Warren's Profession (2005).^[9]

Ivey performed in the New York premiere in 2009 ofThe Savannah Disputation by Evan Smith atPlaywrights Horizons. The comedy co-starred Marylouise Burke, Reed Birney, and Kellie Overbey.^[10][11]

In July 2010, she appeared as Winnie inHappy Days bySamuel Beckett at theWestport Playhouse.^[12] She appeared as Miss Prism in theRoundabout Theatre Company Broadway production ofThe Importance of Being Earnest in 2011.^[13] Ivey played Mrs Candour in the 2016 production ofThe School for Scandal at theLucille Lortel Theatre.^[14]

In December 2016, Ivey was invited by theNoël Coward Society to lay flowers on the statue of SirNoël Coward at theGershwin Theatre in Manhattan to celebrate the 117th birthday of "The Master".

Ivey's first film appearance was inJoe Dante's 1985science-fictionfantasy filmExplorers withEthan Hawke andRiver Phoenix.^[15] Her first major screen appearance was inSteven Spielberg's adaptation ofAlice Walker'sThe Color Purple later that same year. Among her other film credits areDirty Rotten Scoundrels, the1995 remake ofSabrina,Simon Birch,Postcards from the Edge,Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,The Addams Family,Sleepless in Seattle,Addams Family Values,Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde,The Adventures of Huck Finn,Orange County,Rush Hour 3,The Leisure Seeker,The Importance of Being Earnest, and asSandra Bullock's character's mother, Mrs. Kelson, inTwo Weeks Notice. In 2011, she played the role of Grace Higginbotham in the critically acclaimed film,The Help, and starred inMuhammad Ali's Greatest Fight.

In 1978, Ivey made her television debut in the daytimesoap operaSearch for Tomorrow. Her television credits include a starring role in the sitcomEasy Street opposite Loni Anderson and guest appearances onHomicide: Life on the Street,Law & Order,Frasier,Oz,The Practice,Sex and the City,Ugly Betty,Boardwalk Empire, andMonk (episode "Mr. Monk and the Other Detective").

• Macbeth (1981)^[16]
• Present Laughter (1983)
• Heartbreak House (1984)
• Sunday in the Park with George (1984)
• Pack of Lies (1985)
• The Marriage of Figaro (1985)
• Indiscretions (1995)^[17]
• Sex and Longing (1996)^[18]
• The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997)
• Waiting in the Wings (1999/2000)
• Major Barbara (2001)
• Henry IV (2003)
• A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (2003)
• The Rivals (2005)
• Butley (2006)
• The Importance of Being Earnest (2011)

• 1983 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Quartermaine's Terms, nominee)
• 1983 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Present Laughter, nominee)
• 1984 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (Sunday in the Park with George, nominee)
• 1984 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Heartbreak House, nominee)
• 1987 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (Driving Miss Daisy, nominee)
• 1997 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (The Last Night of Ballyhoo, nominee)
• 1997Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (The Last Night of Ballyhoo andSex and Longing, winner)
• 2005Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (The Rivals, nominee)
• 2007 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play (Butley, nominee)
• 2008 Induction into theAmerican Theater Hall of Fame^[19]

• Dana Ivey at theInternet Broadway Database 
• Dana Ivey at theInternet Off-Broadway Database
• Dana Ivey atIMDb
• Playwrights Horizons
• Official website