Amy Irving
{{short description|American actress and singer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Amy Irving
| image = Amy Irving cropped.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Irving at the Governor's Ball Party after the 1989 Academy Awards
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1953|9|10}}
| birth_place = Palo Alto, California, U.S.
| alma_mater = {{plainlist|
}}
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1965–present
| spouse = {{unbulleted list
| {{marriage|Steven Spielberg|1985|1989|reason=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Bruno Barreto|1996|2005|reason=divorced}}
| {{marriage|Kenneth Bowser|2007}}
}}
| children = 2
| father = Jules Irving
| mother = Priscilla Pointer
| 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 an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award.
Born in Palo Alto, California, to actors Jules Irving and Priscilla Pointer, Irving was involved in theater in San Francisco before her family moved to New York City during her teenage years. In New York, she made her Broadway debut in The Country Wife (1965–1966) at age 13. Irving studied theater at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She made her feature film debut in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976) and had a lead role in The Fury, a 1978 supernatural thriller.
In 1980, Irving appeared in a Broadway production of Amadeus and the film Honeysuckle Rose (1980). She was cast in Barbra Streisand's musical epic Yentl (1983), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1988, she received an Obie Award for her Off-Broadway performance in a production of The Road to Mecca, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the comedy Crossing Delancey (1988).
Irving went on to appear in the original Broadway production of Broken Glass (1994) and the revival of Three Sisters (1997). In film, she starred in the ensemble comedy Deconstructing Harry (1997), and reprised her role as Sue Snell in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999) before co-starring opposite Michael Douglas in Steven Soderbergh's crime-drama Traffic (2000). She appeared in the independent films Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) and Adam (2009). From 2006 to 2007, she starred in the Broadway production of The Coast of Utopia. In 2018, she reunited with Soderbergh, appearing in a supporting role in his horror film Unsane.
Early life
Irving was born on September 10, 1953, in Palo Alto.{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/amy-irving-in-praise-of-older-women/|title=Amy Irving: In Praise Of Older Women|date=26 April 2006|work=CBS News|access-date=1 July 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205232104/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/amy-irving-in-praise-of-older-women/ |archive-date=December 5, 2020 }} Her father was film and stage director Jules Irving (born Jules Israel) and her mother was actress Priscilla Pointer. Her brother is writer and director David Irving and her sister, Katie Irving, is a singer and teacher of deaf children. Irving's father was of Russian-Jewish descent, and one of Irving's maternal great-great-grandfathers was also Jewish.{{cite web|url=http://americanjewisharchives.org/FAJF/results.php?pg=37 |title=First American Jewish Families |publisher=American Jewish Archives |date=September 21, 2015 |access-date= October 4, 2016}} Irving was raised in her mother's faith of Christian Science, and her family observed no religious traditions.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-04-17-ca-47056-story.html |title=The Amy Chronicles|author=Pacheo, Patrick |work=Los Angeles Times|date=November 8, 1986 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104210801/https://articles.latimes.com/1994-04-17/entertainment/ca-47056_1_amy-irving/2|archive-date=January 4, 2014|url-status=live}}
Her father co-founded the Actor's Workshop and she was active in local theater as a child.{{cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/2007/02/07/famous-and-almost-famous-people-raised-in-palo-alto/|work=The Mercury News|title=Famous – and almost famous – people raised in Palo Alto|date=7 February 2007|access-date=18 July 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://people.com/archive/amy-irvings-enjoying-a-close-encounter-of-two-kinds-love-with-steven-spielberg-and-stardom-in-the-fury-vol-9-no-12/|work=People|title=Amy Irving's Enjoying a Close Encounter of Two Kinds: Love with Steven Spielberg and Stardom in 'The Fury'|author=Berns, Cherie|date=27 March 1978|volume=9|number=12|access-date=18 July 2017}} She attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco 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 to Manhattan, New York, where her father was appointed the director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. She graduated from the Professional Children's School{{cite web|url=http://www.pcs-nyc.org/page.cfm?page=1302|work=Professional Children's School|title=Alumni: Distinguished Alumni|access-date=18 July 2017|archive-date=23 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323171251/http://www.pcs-nyc.org/page.cfm?page=1302|url-status=dead}} and made her Off-Broadway debut at age 17 in And Chocolate on Her Chin.
Career
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 show The Country Wife at age 12. Her character was to sell a hamster to Stacy Keach in a crowd scene. The play was directed by family friend Robert Symonds, the associate director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater, and who later became her stepfather after her father died and her mother remarried. Within six months of returning to Los 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 in Police Woman, Happy Days, and a lead role in the mini-series epic Once an Eagle opposite veterans Sam Elliott and Glenn Ford, and a young Melanie Griffith. She played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Los Angeles Free Shakespeare Theatre in 1975, and returned to the role at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (1982–1983).
Irving auditioned for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, which went to Carrie Fisher. She then starred in the Brian DePalma-directed films Carrie as Sue Snell (her mother was also in Carrie), and The Fury as Gillian Bellaver. In 1999, she reprised her role as Sue Snell in The Rage: Carrie 2. She starred with Richard Dreyfuss in 1980 in The Competition. Also in 1980, she appeared in Honeysuckle Rose, which also marked her on-screen singing debut. Both her and Dyan Cannon's characters were country-and-western singers, and both actresses did their own singing in the film. In 1983, she featured in Barbra Streisand's directorial debut, Yentl, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1984, she co-starred in Micki + Maude. In 1988, she was in Crossing Delancey (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination). That same year, she also gave another singing performance in the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, providing the singing voice for Jessica Rabbit. In 1997, she appeared in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry. Irving also appeared in the TV show Alias as Emily Sloane, portrayed Princess Anjuli in the big-budget miniseries epic The Far Pavilions and headlined the lavish TV production Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. More recently Irving appeared in the films Traffic (2000), Tuck Everlasting (2002), Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002) and an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2001.
Irving's stage work includes Amadeus (replacing Jane Seymour due to pregnancy) at the Broadhurst Theatre for nine months, Heartbreak House with Rex Harrison at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Broken Glass at the Booth Theatre and Three Sisters with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Lili Taylor at the Roundabout 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, actress Priscilla Pointer; Celadine, a world premiere at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey; and the 2006 one-woman play, A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop. In 1994, she and Anthony Hopkins hosted the 48th Tony Awards at the Gershwin Theatre, New York.
Irving's last Broadway appearance was in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia at New York's Lincoln Center during its 2006–07 season. In 2009, she played the title role in Saint Joan, in an audio version by the Hollywood 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 of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. In October 2010, Irving guest-starred in "Unwritten," the third episode of the seventh season of the Fox series House M.D..{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/News/Irving-Baker-House-1023052.aspx|title=Amy Irving and Dylan Baker to Guest-Star on House|work=TV Guide |publisher=TVGuide.com|access-date=September 15, 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100916225111/http://www.tvguide.com/News/Irving-Baker-House-1023052.aspx| archive-date= 16 September 2010 | url-status= live}} In 2013, Irving appeared in a recurring role in Zero Hour. In 2018, she co-starred in the psychological horror film Unsane, directed by Steven Soderbergh.{{cite web|work=MovieWeb|title=Unsane Trailer: Steven Soderbergh's First Horror Movie Is Here|author=Gallagher, Brian|date=January 29, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190220022955/https://movieweb.com/unsane-movie-trailer-2018-steven-soderbergh/|archive-date=February 20, 2019|url=https://movieweb.com/unsane-movie-trailer-2018-steven-soderbergh/|access-date=February 20, 2019|url-status=live|df=mdy-all}}
In April 2023, Irving released her first album, Born In a Trunk, featuring 10 cover songs pulled from her life and career.{{cite web | last=Fekadu | first=Mesfin| title=Oscar-Nominated Actress Amy Irving Set to Release First Album (Exclusive) | website=The Hollywood Reporter | date=15 February 2023 | url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-news/amy-irving-first-album-born-in-a-trunk-1235326474/ | access-date=3 April 2023}}
Personal life
Irving dated American film director Steven Spielberg from 1976 to 1980. She then had a brief relationship with Willie Nelson, her co-star in the film Honeysuckle Rose.{{cite web|url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/review/willie-nelsons-memoir-recalls-making-movies-with-robert-redford/news-story/968c37143a1994669f180253a28e654f|work=The Australian|title=Willie Nelson's memoir recalls making movies with Robert Redford|author=Nelson, Willie|date=30 May 2015|access-date=18 July 2017}} The breakup with Spielberg cost her the role of Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he had offered to her at the time,{{cite book|author=Perry, George|title=Steven Spielberg: The Making of his Movies|publisher=Orion|year=1998|pages=[https://archive.org/details/stevenspielberg0000perr/page/44 44–45]|isbn=0-7528-1848-1|url=https://archive.org/details/stevenspielberg0000perr/page/44}} but they reunited and were married from 1985 to 1989. She received an estimated $100 million divorce settlement after a judge controversially vacated a prenuptial agreement that had been written on a napkin.
In 1989, she became romantically and professionally involved with Brazilian film director Bruno Barreto;{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/06/27/starting-over-34/|work=Chicago Tribune|title=Starting Over|date= June 27, 1993|access-date= July 17, 2017|author=Hanson, Cynthia}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/05/07/amy-irving-revealed/|work=Chicago Tribune|title=Irving Revealed|date=May 7, 1996|access-date=July 17, 2017|author=Caro, Mark|page=2}}
She married Kenneth Bowser Jr., a documentary filmmaker, in 2007. He has a daughter, Samantha, from a previous marriage with entertainment lawyer Marilyn Haft.{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/carrie-star-amy-irving-2-5m-upper-west-side-pad-article-1.1982565|work=New York Daily News|title='Carrie' star Amy Irving wants $2.5M for her Upper West Side pad|date=October 21, 2014|author=Clarke, Katherine}} The couple live in a barn converted into a home in rural Westchester 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 in The New York Times "At Home" series. Irving also owns a $9M apartment in New York City which she purchased in 2015.{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2015/11/30/amy-irving-buys-8-9m-manhattan-apartment/|work=New York Post|title=Amy Irving buys $8.9M Manhattan apartment|author=Keil, Jennifer Gould|date=30 November 2015|access-date=17 July 2017}}{{cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Joanne |title=Amy Irving |work=The New York Times |date=March 13, 2025 |access-date=2025-03-13 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/14/realestate/amy-irving-home-album.html}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| scope="col" | Year(s)
! scope="col" | Play ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| scope="row"| 1976
| | align=center|{{cite web|work=AFI Catalog of Feature Films|publisher=American Film Institute|title=Amy Irving Filmography|url=https://catalog.afi.com/Person/172734-Amy-Irving?sid=605061af-538f-4d64-9156-4ba6d0ced250&sr=3.6299553&cp=1&pos=0&isMiscCredit=false|access-date=February 20, 2019}} |
| scope="row"| 1978
|{{sortname|The|Fury|The Fury (film)}} |Gillian Bellaver | |
| scope="row"| 1979
|Rosemarie Lemon | |
| scope="row"| 1980
|Lily Ramsey | |
| scope="row"| 1980
|{{sortname|The|Competition|The Competition (1980 film)}} |Heidi Joan Schoonover | |
| scope="row"| 1983
|Hadass Vishkower | |
| scope="row"| 1984
|Maude Salinger | |
| scope="row"| 1987
|Katie | |
| scope="row"| 1988
|Isabelle Grossman | |
| scope="row"| 1988
|Singing voice |
| scope="row"| 1990
|{{sortname|A|Show of Force}} |Kate Melendez | |
| scope="row"| 1991
|{{sortname|An|American Tail: Fievel Goes West}} |Miss Kitty |Voice |
| scope="row"| 1993
|Karen Braswell | |
| scope="row"| 1995
|Kleptomania |Diana Allen | | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1995
|Call of the Wylie |Mel |Short film | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1996
|Rosealee Henson | |
| scope="row"| 1996
|Clara Gelber | |
| scope="row"| 1997
|Jane | |
| scope="row"| 1998
|FBI Agent Jean Devlin | |
| scope="row"| 1999
|{{sortname|The|Confession|The Confession (1999 film)}} |Sarah Fertig | |
| scope="row"| 1999
|{{sortname|The|Rage: Carrie 2}} |Sue Snell | |
| scope="row"| 1999
|Blue Ridge Fall |Ellie Perkins | | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 2000
|Mary Ann Simpson | |
| scope="row"| 2000
|Barbara Wakefield | |
| scope="row"| 2001
|Thirteen Conversations About One Thing |Patricia | |
| scope="row"| 2002
|Mother Foster | |
| scope="row"| 2005
|Alison Callaway | |
| scope="row"| 2009
|Adam |Rebecca Buchwald | |
| scope="row"| 2018
| Unsane |Angela Valentini | |
| scope="row"| 2021
| Bobbi Davis | | align=center| {{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2019/09/amanda-seyfried-mouthful-air-finn-wittrock-paul-giamatti-amy-irving-jennifer-carpenter-1202711336/|title='A Mouthful Of Air': Amanda Seyfried, Finn Wittrock, Paul Giamatti, Amy Irving & Jennifer Carpenter Set For Maven Pictures Drama|website=Deadline Hollywood|first=Andreas|last=Wiseman|date=September 5, 2019|access-date=September 5, 2019}} |
=Television=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| scope="col" | Year(s)
! scope="col" | Play ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Notes ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| scope="row"| 1975
|{{sortname|The|Rookies}} |Cindy Mullins |Episode: "Reading, Writing and Angel Dust" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1975
|June Hummel |Episode: "The Hit" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1975
|Olivia |Episode: "Tell It to the Marines" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1976
|Norma Jean |Television film | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1976
|Amanda Blackwood |Television film | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1976
| Panache |Anne |Television film | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1976–1977
|Emily Pawlfrey Massengale |7 episodes | align=center| {{cite web|work=TV Guide|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/amy-irving/credits/139403/|title=Amy Irving Credits|access-date=February 20, 2019}} |
| scope="row"| 1977
|Lucy |Television film | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1984
|{{sortname|The|Far Pavilions}} |Anjuli |3 episodes |
| scope="row"| 1985
|Ellie Dunn |Episode: "Heartbreak House" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1986
|Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna |Television film | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1989
|The Governess |Episode: "The Turn of the Screw" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1994
|Twilight Zone: Rod Serling's Lost Classics |Melissa Sanders |Episode: "The Theatre" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1998
|Anastasia |Voice, episode: "Beauty and the Beast" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 1999
|Lindsay Shaw |Episode: "The Great Debate" |
| scope="row"| 2001
|Law & Order: Special Victims Unit |Rebecca Ramsey |Episode: "Repression" |
| scope="row"| 2001
|Novels |Voice, episode: "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams" | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 2002–2005
|9 episodes |
| scope="row"| 2010
|Alice Tanner |Episode: "Unwritten" |
| scope="row"| 2013
|Melanie Lynch |10 episodes |
| scope="row"| 2015
|{{sortname|The|Good Wife}} |Phyllis Barsetto |Episode: "Innocents" |
| scope="row"| 2018
|{{sortname|The|Affair|The Affair (TV series)}} |Nan |Episode #4.5 | align=center| |
| scope="row"| 2019
|Polly |2 episodes | align=center| |
Stage credits
Albums
Accolades
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="margin-right: 0;" |
| scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Award ! scope="col" | Category ! scope="col" | Nominated work ! scope="col" | Outcome ! scope="col" class="unsortable" | {{Tooltip|Ref.|Reference}} |
|---|
| rowspan="2" | 1984
| Yentl | {{nominated}} |
| Drama Desk Award
| Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play | {{nominated}} |
| 1987
| Best Actress – Miniseries or Television film | Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna | {{nominated}} | align=center|{{Cite web|title=Amy Irving|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/person/amy-irving|access-date=2021-06-18|website=www.goldenglobes.com}} |
| rowspan="2"|1988
| Distinguished Performance by an Actress | rowspan="2"|The Road to Mecca | {{win}} |
| Drama Desk Award
| Outstanding Actress in a Play | {{nominated}} |
| 1989
| Golden Globe Awards | Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical | {{nominated}} |
| 1994
| Drama Desk Award | Outstanding Actress in a Play | {{nominated}} |
| 2001
| Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture | Traffic | {{win}} |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{iobdb name}}
{{Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actress}}
{{Steven Spielberg|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Amy}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from New York City
Category:Actresses from Palo Alto, California
Category:Actresses from San Francisco
Category:Actresses from the San Francisco Bay Area
Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Category:American Christian Scientists
Category:American Conservatory Theater alumni
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:American Shakespearean actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American voice actresses
Category:Obie Award recipients
Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners