| Birth Name: | Ellen Rona Barkin |
| Birth Date: | April 16, 1954 |
| Birth Place: | The Bronx, New York, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Hunter College |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 1978–present |
| Children: | 2 |
Ellen Rona Barkin (born April 16, 1954) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was in the 1982 film Diner, and in the following years, she had starring roles in films such as Tender Mercies (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), The Big Easy (1986), Johnny Handsome, and Sea of Love (both 1989).
In 1991, for her leading role in the film Switch, Barkin received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. Her subsequent film credits include: Man Trouble, Into the West (both 1992), This Boy's Life (1993), Bad Company, Wild Bill (both 1995), The Fan (1996), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999), Crime and Punishment in Suburbia (2000), Palindromes (2004), Trust the Man (2005), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Brooklyn's Finest (2009), and The Cobbler (2014). In 1998, Barkin received a Primetime Emmy Award for her performance in the television film Before Women Had Wings. In 2011, she received the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her Broadway theatre debut in The Normal Heart. From 2016 until 2019, she played the leading role of Janine "Smurf" Cody on the TNT drama series Animal Kingdom. From 2012 until 2013, she played the leading role of Jane Forrest on the NBC sitcom The New Normal.
Her producing credits include the films Letters to Juliet, Shit Year (both 2010), and Another Happy Day (2011).
Barkin was born on April 16, 1954, in the Bronx, New York, the daughter of Evelyn (née Rozin), a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman.[1] [2] [3] Her family was Jewish;[4] [5] they had emigrated from Siberia and the Russian–Polish border.[6]
Barkin lived in Flushing, New York, and attended Parsons Junior High School. She received her high school diploma at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts.[7] She then attended Hunter College and double majored in history and drama. At one point, Barkin wanted to teach ancient history. She continued her acting education at New York City's Actors Studio. According to Time, she studied acting for 10 years before landing her first audition.[8]
Her break-out role was in the comedy-drama film Diner (1982), written and directed by Barry Levinson, for which she received favorable reviews. Barkin was cast in the drama film Tender Mercies (1983) after impressing its director Bruce Beresford during an audition in New York City, despite her inexperience and his lack of familiarity with her work. Robert Duvall, who played the lead role in Tender Mercies, said of Barkin, "She brings a real credibility to that part, plus she was young and attractive and had a certain sense of edge, a danger to her that was good for that part." She also appeared in the 1983 rock and roll drama film Eddie and the Cruisers.
Barkin later appeared in several successful films, including the thrillers The Big Easy (1987), opposite Dennis Quaid and Sea of Love (1989), opposite Al Pacino. Barkin also appeared in off-Broadway plays, including a role as one of the roommates in Extremities, about an intended rape victim played by Susan Sarandon who turns the tables on her attacker. About her performance in the play Eden Court, The New York Times critic Frank Rich summarized: "If it were really possible to give the kiss of life to a corpse, the actress Ellen Barkin would be the one to do it. In Eden Court, the moribund play that has brought her to the Promenade Theater, Miss Barkin is tantalizingly alive from her bouncing blond ponytail to the long legs that gyrate wildly and involuntarily every time an Elvis Presley record plays on stage".[9]
Barkin has also done work in made-for-television films such as Before Women Had Wings (1997), for which she won an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie and The White River Kid (1999). She voiced the start of each Theme Time Radio Hour with host Bob Dylan on XM's Deep Tracks. In 2005, Barkin set up a film production company with her brother, George, along with her husband at the time and billionaire investor, Ronald Perelman.
Barkin appeared in her Broadway debut as Dr. Brookner in The Normal Heart, for which she won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.[10] Barkin has received acclaim for her performance in Another Happy Day. IndieWire cited her turn as one of the best female performances of the year.[11] In 2015, she starred as Dani Kirschenbloom, in the Showtime comedy-drama series Happyish.
From 2016 through 2019, Barkin starred as Janine "Smurf" Cody, the crime family's matriarch, in the TNT drama series Animal Kingdom.[12] The series is based on the 2010 Australian film where Smurf was played by Jacki Weaver.[13] [14]
Barkin is the mother of two children, Jack Daniel (born 1989) and Romy Marion (born 1992), from her marriage to actor Gabriel Byrne. She and Byrne separated in 1993 and divorced in 1999, but remain close. Byrne attended Barkin's 2000 wedding to multibillionaire and businessman Ronald Perelman. Her second marriage ended in divorce in 2006.[15]
In 1998, Barkin had a relationship with actor Johnny Depp with whom she worked on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. From 2008 to 2011, Barkin dated filmmaker Sam Levinson.
In October 2006, "Magnificent Jewels from the Collection of Ellen Barkin" were sold for $20,369,200 at Christie's, New York.[16]
Barkin has a brother, George, who was formerly the editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and High Times.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Up in Smoke | Woman Playing Guitar | Uncredited | |
| 1982 | Diner | Beth Schreiber | ||
| 1983 | Tender Mercies | Sue Ann | ||
| 1983 | Daniel | Phyllis Isaacson | ||
| 1983 | Enormous Changes at the Last Minute | Virginia | ||
| 1983 | Eddie and the Cruisers | Maggie Foley | ||
| 1984 | Harry & Son | Kate Wilowski | ||
| 1984 | data-sort-value="Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension, The" | The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension | Penny Priddy | |
| 1985 | Terminal Choice | Mary O'Connor | ||
| 1986 | Desert Bloom | Aunt Starr | Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actress | |
| 1986 | Down by Law | Laurette | ||
| 1987 | data-sort-value="Big Easy, The" | The Big Easy | Anne Osborne | Sant Jordi Award for Best Foreign Actress |
| 1987 | Made in Heaven | Lucille | Uncredited | |
| 1987 | Siesta | Claire | ||
| 1989 | Johnny Handsome | "Sunny" Boyd | Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress | |
| 1989 | Sea of Love | Helen Cruger | Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress | |
| 1991 | Switch | Amanda Brooks | Nominated—American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy | |
| 1992 | Mac | Oona Goldfarb | ||
| 1992 | Man Trouble | Joan Pruance | ||
| 1992 | Into the West | Kathleen | ||
| 1993 | This Boy's Life | Caroline Wolff Hansen | ||
| 1995 | Bad Company | Margaret Wells | ||
| 1995 | Wild Bill | Calamity Jane | ||
| 1996 | data-sort-value="Fan, The" | The Fan | Jewel Stern | Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Adventure/Drama |
| 1996 | Mad Dog Time | Rita Everly | ||
| 1998 | Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas | Waitress At North Star Cafe | ||
| 1999 | Drop Dead Gorgeous | Annette Atkins | ||
| 1999 | data-sort-value="White River Kid, The" | The White River Kid | Eva Nell La Fangory | |
| 2000 | Crime and Punishment in Suburbia | Maggie Skolnick | ||
| 2000 | Mercy | Detective Cathy Palmer | ||
| 2001 | Someone Like You | Diane Roberts | ||
| 2004 | She Hate Me | Margo Chadwick | ||
| 2004 | Palindromes | Joyce Victor | ||
| 2004 | Ocean's Twelve | Abigail Sponder | Scenes deleted[17] | |
| 2005 | Trust the Man | Norah | ||
| 2007 | Ocean's Thirteen | Abigail Sponder | ||
| 2009 | Brooklyn's Finest | FBI Agent Smith | ||
| 2009 | Happy Tears | Shelly | ||
| 2010 | Twelve | Mrs. Brayson | ||
| 2010 | data-sort-value="Chameleon, The" | The Chameleon | Kimberly Miller | |
| 2010 | Shit Year | Colleen West | ||
| 2010 | Empress | |||
| 2011 | Another Happy Day | Lynn Hellman | Nominated — Women's Image Network Awards for Best Actress in a Feature Film | |
| 2013 | Very Good Girls | Norma Berger | ||
| 2014 | data-sort-value="Cobbler, The" | The Cobbler | Elaine Greenawalt | |
| 2016 | Hands of Stone | Stephanie Arcel | ||
| 2017 | Active Adults | Lucy | ||
| 2021 | Breaking News in Yuba County | Debbie | ||
| 2022 | data-sort-value="Man from Toronto, The" | The Man from Toronto | The Handler | |
| 2023 | data-sort-value="Out-Laws, The" | The Out-Laws | Lily McDermott | [18] |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Kent State | Student | Television movie | |
| 1981 | We're Fighting Back | Chris Capoletti | Television movie | |
| 1982 | Parole | Donna | Television movie | |
| 1984 | Terrible Joe Moran | Ronnie | Television movie | |
| 1986 | Act of Vengeance | Annette Gilly | Television movie | |
| 1986 | data-sort-value="Princess Who Had Never Laughed, The" | The Princess Who Had Never Laughed | Princess Henrietta | Television movie |
| 1988 | Clinton and Nadine | Nadine Powers | Television movie Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie | |
| 1997 | Before Women Had Wings | Glory Marie Jackson | Television movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film | |
| 2001 | King of the Hill | Lenore (voice) | Episode: "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator" | |
| 2012 | Modern Family | Mitzi Roth | Episode: "Send Out the Clowns" | |
| 2012–2013 | data-sort-value="New Normal, The" | The New Normal | Jane Forrest | Lead role; 22 episodes |
| 2015 | Happyish | Dani Kirschenbloom | Lead role; 9 episodes | |
| 2016–2019 | Animal Kingdom | Janine "Smurf" Cody | Lead role; 46 episodes | |
| 2017 | data-sort-value="Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The" | The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks | Sasha Walz | Television movie |
| 2023 | Poker Face | Kathleen Townsend | Episode: "Exit Stage Death" |