Annette Bening
| Annette Bening | |
|---|---|
Bening at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival
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| Born | Annette Carol Bening May 29, 1958 Topeka, Kansas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1986–present |
| Spouse(s) | J. Steven White (m. 1984–91) Warren Beatty (m. 1992–present) |
| Children | 4 |
Annette Carol Bening[1] (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia and The Kids Are All Right, and won two Golden Globe Awards. She also won a BAFTA and a SAG award for her performance in American Beauty.
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Early life[edit]
Bening was born in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of four children. Her mother, Shirley (née Ashley), was a church singer and soloist, and her father, Arnett Grant Bening, was a sales training consultant and insurance salesman.[2][3][4] Her parents, natives of Iowa, were practicing Episcopalians of mostly German and English descent, and conservative Republicans.[5][6] Her sister and two brothers are Jane, Bradley and Byron. The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1959, where she spent her early childhood. In 1965, her father took a job with a company in San Diego, California, and they moved there. She began acting in junior high school, playing the lead in The Sound of Music. She graduated in 1975, from Patrick Henry High School where she studied drama. She then spent a year working as a cook on a charter boat taking fishing parties out on the Pacific Ocean, and scuba diving for recreation. She attended San Diego Mesa College, then completed an academic degree in theatre arts at San Francisco State University.
Career[edit]
Film[edit]
Bening made her film debut in The Great Outdoors (1988). Her second film appearance was as the Marquise de Merteuil in Valmont (1989), opposite Colin Firth. Her breakthrough role was in The Grifters (1990), which starred John Cusack and Anjelica Huston, and earned Bening an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actress. In 1991, she portrayed Virginia Hill in the Barry Levinson-directed biopic of Bugsy, starring Warren Beatty. Also in 1991, she appeared in Regarding Henry with Harrison Ford. In 1994, Bening and Beatty starred in Love Affair, which also featured Katharine Hepburn. In 1995, Bening appeared in The American President, followed by Tim Burton's sci-fi spoof Mars Attacks! (1996). In 1998, she co-starred with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis in The Siege.
The biggest critical and commercial success of her career thus far was the 1999 film American Beauty, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and was directed by Sam Mendes. For this performance, Bening was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress and won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress. Bening also starred in the films In Dreams (1999) and What Planet Are You From? (2000).
Bening played Charley Waite's love interest, Sue Barlow in Open Range. In 2004, she played the title role in Being Julia, which earned her a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination as Best Actress. She was nominated for an Emmy Award[7] for her portrayal of Jean Harris the 2005 HBO film Mrs. Harris. In 2006, she replaced Julianne Moore to star in the film adaptation of Running with Scissors. In December of that year, Bening hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guests Gwen Stefani and Akon.
In 2008, Bening starred in The Women. The following year she received strong reviews for her performance in the independent film Mother and Child (2009).[8] In 2010, Bening received strong critical acclaim for her performance in The Kids Are All Right, with several reviewers noting that she "deserves an Oscar" for her "sublime" performance.[9][10] For that role, Bening won a second Golden Globe, as well as Academy Award and Screen Actors Guild nominations.
Theatre[edit]
Prior to becoming a film actress, Bening was a member of the acting company at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco while studying acting as part of the Advanced Theatre Training Program. There, she starred in such productions as Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth. Bening also starred in productions of Pygmalion and The Cherry Orchard at the Denver Center Theatre Company during 1985-86. She made her Broadway debut in 1987, garnering a Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Coastal Disturbances. In 2009, Bening starred in a new interpretation of the Euripides classic Medea at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.[11] In 2010, she starred in Joanna Murray-Smith’s comedy The Female of the Species at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles.[12] It was announced in May 2014 that she will join fellow Academy Award Nominee John Lithgow as Goneril in Shakespeare's King Lear at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park as part of the Public Theatre's Free Shakespeare in the Park. It will mark her first New York stage appearance in 20 years.[13][14][15]
Other Work[edit]
In 2012, Bening's audiobook recording of Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway was released at Audible.com.
Personal life[edit]
Bening's first husband was choreographer J. Steven White. They married in 1984, separated in 1986, and divorced in 1991.[16]
Bening married Warren Beatty on March 12, 1992, just over a year after being cast to co-star in Bugsy.[16] They have four children: Stephen (born January 8, 1992), Benjamin (born August 23, 1994), Isabel (born January 11, 1997), and Ella (born April 8, 2000).[16]
Filmography[edit]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Miami Vice | Vicky | Episode: "Red Tape" |
| Wiseguy | Karen Leland / Maloy | Episode: "One on One" | |
| 1988 | Great Outdoors, TheThe Great Outdoors | Kate Craig | |
| 1989 | Valmont | Merteuil | |
| 1990 | Postcards from the Edge | Evelyn Ames | Cameo |
| The Grifters | Myra Langtry | London Film Critics' Circle Award for Newcomer of the Year National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress |
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| 1991 | Guilty by Suspicion | Ruth Merrill | |
| Regarding Henry | Sarah Turner | ||
| Bugsy | Virginia Hill | Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss (Shared with Warren Beatty) |
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| 1994 | Love Affair | Terry McKay | |
| 1995 | Richard III | Queen Elizabeth | |
| The American President | Sydney Ellen Wade | Nominated – American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy |
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| 1996 | Mars Attacks! | Barbara Land | |
| 1998 | The Siege | Elise Kraft/Sharon Bridger | Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress - Suspense |
| 1999 | In Dreams | Claire Cooper | |
| American Beauty | Carolyn Burnham | American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated – Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Actress - Drama Nominated – Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated – Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Nominated – Online Film & Television Association Award for Best Actress Nominated – Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Nominated – Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Nominated – Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress |
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| 2000 | What Planet Are You From? | Susan Anderson | |
| 2002–2003 | Liberty's Kids | Abigail Adams (voice) | 5 episodes |
| 2003 | Open Range | Sue Barlow | |
| 2004 | Being Julia | Julia Lambert |
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| 2005 | Mrs. Harris | Jean Harris |
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| 2006 | Running with Scissors | Deirdre Burroughs |
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| Saturday Night Live | Herself | Episodes: Annette Bening / Gwen Stefani & Akon | |
| 2008 | Women, TheThe Women | Sylvie Fowler | Nominated – Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress |
| 2009 | Mother and Child | Karen | Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Actress |
| 2010 | Kids Are All Right, TheThe Kids Are All Right | Dr. Nicole Allgood |
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| 2012 | Ruby Sparks | Gertrude | |
| Ginger & Rosa | May Bella | ||
| 2013 | The Face of Love | Nikki | |
| Girl Most Likely | Zelda | ||
| 2014 | Imagine | Post-Production | |
| 2014 | The Search | ||
| 2015 | Untitled Warren Beatty project | Filming |
Awards[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ "#83 Royal Descents, Notable Kin, and Printed Sources: A Third Set of Ten Hollywood Figures (or Groups Thereof), with a Coda on Two Directors". Americanancestors.org. 2008-04-18. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
- ^ "Annette Bening Biography (1958–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
- ^ "Putting `Real Life' First Makes Bening A Better Actress". Nl.newsbank.com. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
- ^ "Annette Bening Biography". TV Guide. 1958-05-29. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
- ^ Dutka, Elaine (1999-02-21). "The Aura of Annette; If She Makes the Merging of Career and Family Appear Effortless, It's an Illusion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-04-29.
- ^ Desson Thomson (October 24, 2004). "Annette Bening, Acting on Her Maternal Instincts". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-03.
- ^ "Annette Bening Emmy Nominated". Emmys.com. 2012-07-19. Retrieved 2013-01-21.
- ^ A. O. Scott (2010-05-07). "In a Melancholy Los Angeles, 'La Ronde' of Motherhood". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
- ^ "At the Movies: The Kids Are All Right". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
- ^ "Marc Fennell: the circle: going the distance & the kids are alright". Marcfennell.blogspot.com. 2010-09-02. Retrieved 2011-02-23.
- ^ "UCLA Live's new season: Annette Bening stars in world premiere". Los Angeles Times. June 3, 2009.
- ^ "She’s So Under the Gun, She Can’t Leave Her Desk". New York Times. March 1, 2010.
- ^ http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/05-2014/annette-bening-jessica-hecht-and-more-will-join-jo_68620.html?cid=homepage_news
- ^ http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/20/annette-bening-joins-king-lear-cast-for-shakespeare-in-the-park/?_php=true&_type=blogs&module=BlogPost-Title&version=Blog%20Main&contentCollection=Arts&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0&gwh=0FBEFDC4C395FF76BEF690DAD88CE40A&gwt=pay
- ^ http://playbill.com/news/article/191380-Annette-Bening-Jessica-Collins-Jessica-Hecht-Will-Be-John-Lithgows-Daughters-in-King-Lear
- ^ a b c "Biography for Annette Bening". Yahoo.com.
External links[edit]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Annette Bening. |
- Annette Bening at the Internet Movie Database
- Annette Bening at the Internet Broadway Database
- Annette Bening at AllMovie
- People in Film: Annette Bening – Focus Features
- Annette Bening at Emmys.com
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- Actresses from Kansas
- Actresses from San Diego, California
- American people of English descent
- American people of German descent
- American film actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American voice actresses
- Best Actress BAFTA Award winners
- Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners
- California Democrats
- Living people
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- Actors from Topeka, Kansas
- Actors from Wichita, Kansas
- San Francisco State University alumni
- 1958 births
- 20th-century American actresses
- 21st-century American actresses
- Shakespearean actresses
- American Shakespearean actresses
