Naturally brunette/blue-eyed beauty Amy Davis Irving was born in PaloAlto, California. She is the youngest of three children, and thedaughter of influential theatrical/television director and producerJules Irving, and actressPriscilla Pointer. Her father was ofRussian Jewish descent, and her mother's ancestry includes English,Scots-Irish, Welsh, Jewish, and German.

Amy was brought up in the world of theater. She was put on stage fromthe time she was nine-months-old, her father was the director and hermother was the actress, they didn't want baby sitters for theirchildren, so if she wasn't performing, she would stay in the wardrobedepartment or her mother used to put her in the second row center whereshe could watch her. And, before she was 10-years-old, she had alreadyworked in several plays. At a young age, Amy Irving was trained at theAmerican Conservatory Theater and Britain's London Academy of Music andDramatic Arts (L.A.M.A.D.A.). She made her off-Broadway debut at theage of 17 and, from that moment to date, she received critical acclaim,appearing in such plays as: "Heartbreak House" (1983), "The Road toMecca" (1988), "Broken Glass" (1994), "The Three Sisters" (1997), "TheGuys" (2002), "Ghosts" (2002) and "Celadine" (2004), among others.

In 1976, Amy made her film debut, playing "Sue Snell", one of her mostunforgettable characters inStephen King'sCarrie (1976), a classic in the horrorgenre, taken to the big screen by directorBrian De Palma. For the next few years,Irving continued working in important films,Fyuurii (1978), also directed by DePalma,Voices (1979) andThe Competition (1980). Later, in1983, she gave a fine performance as "Hadass", inBarbra Streisand'sYentl (1983); earning an Oscar nomination. Two of her bestopportunities arrived in the late 80s, when she played "Anna Anderson"inAnastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986)and "Isabelle Grossman" in the romantic comedy,Crossing Delancey (1988); shereceived a Golden Globe nomination for each movie.

Amy was married to directorSteven Spielberg from 1985 to 1989 andshe has a son with him,Max Spielberg.And, in 1990, after her divorce, she met Brazilian directorBruno Barreto while they were working onA Show of Force (1990). They weda few years later and they have a son (Gabriel). In 1997, Irving made aguest appearance onWoody Allen'sChikyû wa Onna de Mawatteru (1997)and, in 1999, she came back in the sequel ofCarrie (1976),The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999).

Unfortunately, her film opportunities narrowed in the90s. However, in the year 2000, she surprised the whole world againwhen she performed as "Mary Ann Simpson", a very funny and sensual, atthe same time, English teacher in the film,Bossa Nova (2000). She managed tocapture this peculiar character very well. After this romantic comedy,Amy had a great opportunity, playing "Barbara Wakefield",Michael Douglas' wife inTraffic (2000), the film was a hugesuccess and she won an Actor Award, shared with the rest of the cast.Then, this beautiful and talented actress continued working inremarkable films such asThirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001),with herCarrie (1976) co-star,Sissy Spacek, in the Walt Disneyproduction,Tuck Everlasting (2002) and inthe horror film,Hide and Seek (2005), along withRobert De Niro. Recently, she had animportant part as "Emily Sloane" in the very-known show,Alias (2001).

In addition to her talents as an actress, she is a great dancer andalso showed off her vocal talents, singing in films such asRoger Rabbit (1988),Honeysuckle Rose (1980),Rumpelstiltskin (1987) andAn American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991).

Nowadays, Amy Irving continues working on stage in Broadway productionsand spends most of her time with her friends and family, especiallywith her two children.