Amy Irving | |
|---|---|
 Irving at the Governor's Ball Party after the1989 Academy Awards | |
| Born | (1953-09-10)September 10, 1953 (age 72) Palo Alto, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3 |
| Parents |
|
| Relatives | David Irving (brother) Austin Irving (niece) |
Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer, who has worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include anObie Award, and nominations for twoGolden Globe Awards and anAcademy Award.
Born inPalo Alto, California, to actorsJules Irving andPriscilla Pointer, Irving was involved in theater inSan Francisco before her family moved toNew York City during her teenage years. In New York, she made herBroadway debut inThe Country Wife (1965–1966) at age 13. Irving studied theater at San Francisco'sAmerican Conservatory Theater and at theLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She made her feature film debut inBrian De Palma'sCarrie (1976) and had a lead role inThe Fury, a 1978 supernatural thriller.
In 1980, Irving appeared in a Broadway production ofAmadeus and the filmHoneysuckle Rose (1980). She was cast inBarbra Streisand'smusical epicYentl (1983), for which she was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1988, she received an Obie Award for herOff-Broadway performance in a production ofThe Road to Mecca, and was nominated for aGolden Globe Award for her performance in the comedyCrossing Delancey (1988).
Irving went on to appear in the original Broadway production ofBroken Glass (1994) and the revival ofThree Sisters (1997). In film, she starred in the ensemble comedyDeconstructing Harry (1997), and reprised her role asSue Snell inThe Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) before co-starring oppositeMichael Douglas inSteven Soderbergh's crime-dramaTraffic (2000). She appeared in the independent filmsThirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) andAdam (2009). From 2006 to 2007, she starred in theBroadway production ofThe Coast of Utopia. In 2018, she reunited with Soderbergh, appearing in a supporting role in his horror filmUnsane.
Irving was born on September 10, 1953, in Palo Alto.[1] Her father was film and stage directorJules Irving (born Jules Israel) and her mother was actressPriscilla Pointer.[1] Her brother is writer and directorDavid Irving and her sister, Katie Irving, is a singer and teacher of deaf children. Irving's father was of Russian-Jewish descent,[2] and one of Irving's maternal great-great-grandfathers was also Jewish.[3] Irving was raised in her mother's faith ofChristian Science, and her family observed no religious traditions.[2]
Her father co-founded theActor's Workshop and she was active in local theater as a child.[4][5] She attended theAmerican Conservatory Theater in San Francisco[1] in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and appeared in several productions there. She also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As a teenager, Irving moved with her family toManhattan, New York, where her father was appointed the director of theLincoln Center Repertory Theater.[2] She graduated from theProfessional Children's School[6] and made herOff-Broadway debut at age 17 inAnd Chocolate on Her Chin.
Irving's first stage appearance was at nine months old in the production "Rumplestiltskin" where her father brought her on the stage to play the part of his child whom he trades for spun gold. Then at age two, she portrayed a bit-part character ("Princess Primrose") in a play which her father directed. She had a walk-on role in the 1965–66 Broadway showThe Country Wife at age 12. Her character was to sell a hamster toStacy Keach in a crowd scene. The play was directed by family friendRobert Symonds, the associate director of theLincoln Center Repertory Theater, and who later became her stepfather after her father died and her mother remarried. Within six months of returning toLos Angeles from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the mid-1970s, Irving was cast in a major motion picture and was working on various TV projects such as guest spots inPolice Woman,Happy Days, and a lead role in the mini-series epicOnce an Eagle opposite veteransSam Elliott andGlenn Ford, and a youngMelanie Griffith. She played Juliet inRomeo and Juliet at the Los Angeles Free Shakespeare Theatre in 1975, and returned to the role at theSeattle Repertory Theatre (1982–1983).
Irving auditioned for the role ofPrincess Leia inStar Wars, which went toCarrie Fisher. She then starred in the Brian DePalma-directed filmsCarrie asSue Snell (her mother was also inCarrie), andThe Fury as Gillian Bellaver. In 1999, she reprised her role as Sue Snell inThe Rage: Carrie 2. She starred withRichard Dreyfuss in 1980 inThe Competition. Also in 1980, she appeared inHoneysuckle Rose, which also marked her on-screen singing debut. Both her andDyan Cannon's characters were country-and-western singers, and both actresses did their own singing in the film. In 1983, she featured inBarbra Streisand's directorial debut,Yentl, for which she received an Academy Award nomination forBest Supporting Actress. In 1984, she co-starred inMicki + Maude. In 1988, she was inCrossing Delancey (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination). That same year, she also gave another singing performance in the live-action/animated filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit, providing the singing voice forJessica Rabbit. In 1997, she appeared in Woody Allen'sDeconstructing Harry. Irving also appeared in the TV showAlias asEmily Sloane, portrayed Princess Anjuli in the big-budget miniseries epicThe Far Pavilions and headlined the lavish TV productionAnastasia: The Mystery of Anna. More recently Irving appeared in the filmsTraffic (2000),Tuck Everlasting (2002),Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002) and an episode ofLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2001.
Irving's stage work includesAmadeus (replacingJane Seymour due to pregnancy) at theBroadhurst Theatre for nine months,Heartbreak House withRex Harrison at theCircle in the Square Theatre,Broken Glass at theBooth Theatre andThree Sisters withJeanne Tripplehorn andLili Taylor at theRoundabout Theatre. Additional Off-Broadway credits include:The Heidi Chronicles;The Road to Mecca;The Vagina Monologues in both London and New York;The Glass Menagerie with her mother, actressPriscilla Pointer;Celadine, a world premiere atGeorge Street Playhouse inNew Brunswick, New Jersey; and the 2006 one-woman play,A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop. In 1994, she andAnthony Hopkins hosted the48th Tony Awards at theGershwin Theatre, New York.
Irving's last Broadway appearance was in the American premiere ofTom Stoppard'sThe Coast of Utopia at New York'sLincoln Center during its 2006–07 season. In 2009, she played the title role inSaint Joan, in an audio version by theHollywood Theater of the Ear. In May 2010, Irving made her Opera Theatre of Saint Louis debut in the role of Desiree Armfeldt in Isaac Mizrahi's directorial debut ofStephen Sondheim'sA Little Night Music. In October 2010, Irving guest-starred in "Unwritten," thethird episode of the seventh season of the Fox seriesHouse M.D..[7] In 2013, Irving appeared in a recurring role inZero Hour. In 2018, she co-starred in the psychological horror filmUnsane, directed bySteven Soderbergh.[8]
In April 2023, Irving released her first album,Born In a Trunk, featuring 10 cover songs pulled from her life and career.[9]
Irving dated American film directorSteven Spielberg from 1976 to 1980. She then had a brief relationship withWillie Nelson, her co-star in the filmHoneysuckle Rose.[10] The breakup with Spielberg cost her the role ofMarion Ravenwood inRaiders of the Lost Ark, which he had offered to her at the time,[11] but they reunited and were married from 1985 to 1989. She received an estimated $100 million divorce settlement after a judge controversially vacated aprenuptial agreement that had been written on a napkin.[12]
In 1989, she became romantically and professionally involved withBrazilian film directorBruno Barreto;[13] they were married in 1996 and divorced in 2005. She has two sons: Max Samuel (with Spielberg), born June 13, 1985; and Gabriel Davis (with Barreto), born May 4, 1990.[14]
She married Kenneth Bowser Jr., a documentary filmmaker, in 2007. He has a daughter, Samantha, from a previous marriage with entertainment lawyer Marilyn Haft.[12] The couple live in a barn converted into a home in ruralWestchester County, New York. The building burned down in a fire in 2009, but the couple rebuilt it on the same spot with reclaimed wood, and still live there as of 2025, when the house was profiled inThe New York Times "At Home" series. Irving also owns a $9M apartment in New York City which she purchased in 2015.[15][16]
| Year(s) | Play | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Carrie | Sue Snell | [17] | |
| 1978 | The Fury | Gillian Bellaver | ||
| 1979 | Voices | Rosemarie Lemon | ||
| 1980 | Honeysuckle Rose | Lily Ramsey | ||
| The Competition | Heidi Joan Schoonover | |||
| 1983 | Yentl | Hadass Vishkower | ||
| 1984 | Micki & Maude | Maude Salinger | ||
| 1987 | Rumpelstiltskin | Katie | ||
| 1988 | Crossing Delancey | Isabelle Grossman | ||
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Jessica Rabbit | Singing voice | [18] | |
| 1990 | A Show of Force | Kate Melendez | [17] | |
| 1991 | An American Tail: Fievel Goes West | Miss Kitty | Voice | |
| 1993 | Benefit of the Doubt | Karen Braswell | ||
| 1995 | Kleptomania | Diana Allen | ||
| Call of the Wylie | Mel | Short film | ||
| 1996 | Carried Away | Rosealee Henson | [17] | |
| I'm Not Rappaport | Clara Gelber | |||
| 1997 | Deconstructing Harry | Jane | [18] | |
| 1998 | One Tough Cop | FBI Agent Jean Devlin | ||
| 1999 | The Confession | Sarah Fertig | ||
| The Rage: Carrie 2 | Sue Snell | [17] | ||
| Blue Ridge Fall | Ellie Perkins | |||
| 2000 | Bossa Nova | Mary Ann Simpson | [18] | |
| Traffic | Barbara Wakefield | [17] | ||
| 2001 | Thirteen Conversations About One Thing | Patricia | ||
| 2002 | Tuck Everlasting | Mother Foster | ||
| 2005 | Hide and Seek | Alison Callaway | ||
| 2009 | Adam | Rebecca Buchwald | ||
| 2018 | Unsane | Angela Valentini | [18] | |
| 2021 | A Mouthful of Air | Bobbi Davis | [19] |
| Year(s) | Play | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1975 | The Rookies | Cindy Mullins | Episode: "Reading, Writing and Angel Dust" | |
| Police Woman | June Hummel | Episode: "The Hit" | ||
| Happy Days | Olivia | Episode: "Tell It to the Marines" | ||
| 1976 | James Dean | Norma Jean | Television film | |
| Dynasty | Amanda Blackwood | |||
| Panache | Anne | |||
| 1976–1977 | Once an Eagle | Emily Pawlfrey Massengale | 7 episodes | [18] |
| 1977 | I'm a Fool | Lucy | Television film | |
| 1984 | The Far Pavilions | Anjuli | 3 episodes | [18] |
| 1985 | Great Performances | Ellie Dunn | Episode: "Heartbreak House" | |
| 1986 | Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna | Anna Anderson | Television film | |
| 1989 | Nightmare Classics | The Governess | Episode: "The Turn of the Screw" | |
| 1994 | Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics | Melissa Sanders | Episode: "The Theatre" | |
| 1998 | Stories from My Childhood | Anastasia | Voice, episode: "Beauty and the Beast" | |
| 1999 | Spin City | Lindsay Shaw | Episode: "The Great Debate" | [18] |
| 2001 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Rebecca Ramsey | Episode: "Repression" | |
| American Masters | Novels | Voice, episode: "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams" | ||
| 2002–2005 | Alias | Emily Sloane | 9 episodes | [18] |
| 2010 | House | Alice Tanner | Episode: "Unwritten" | [18] |
| 2011 | A Night at the Movies: The Horrors of Stephen King | Herself/ Sue Snell (archive footage) | Television Film Documentary | |
| 2013 | Zero Hour | Melanie Lynch | 10 episodes | [18] |
| 2015 | The Good Wife | Phyllis Barsetto | Episode: "Innocents" | [18] |
| 2018 | The Affair | Nan | Episode #4.5 | |
| 2019 | Soundtrack | Polly | 2 episodes |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [37] | USCountry [38] | AUS [39] | CAN [40] | CANCountry [41] | |||
| Honeysuckle Rose (credited as "Willie Nelson and Family") |
| 11 | 1 | 3 | 24 | 4 | |
| Born in a Trunk[44] |
| ||||||
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Outcome | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Academy Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Yentl | Nominated | [45] |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | Heartbreak House | Nominated | [46] | |
| 1987 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Miniseries or Television film | Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna | Nominated | [47] |
| 1988 | Obie Awards | Distinguished Performance by an Actress | The Road to Mecca | Won | [48] |
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Nominated | [49] | ||
| 1989 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical | Crossing Delancey | Nominated | [47] |
| 1994 | Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Broken Glass | Nominated | [50] |
| 2001 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | Traffic | Won | [51] |
