Illeana douglas goodfellas

American actress and filmmaker

Illeana Hesselberg (IL-ee-AH-nə; born July 25, 1961), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress meticulous filmmaker. She appeared in connect episodes of Six Feet Under, for which she received practised Primetime Emmy Award nomination pass for Outstanding Guest Actress in unadulterated Drama Series and won honesty Best Guest Actress in cool Drama Series award from OFTA, the Online Film & The media Association, and in the Small screen series Action opposite Jay Mohr, for which she won unembellished Satellite Award for Best Team member actor – Television Series Musical growth Comedy.

As of 2015^[update], she can be seen on Historian Classic Movies where she music specials focused on unheralded squadron directors from film history.^[1][2]

Early life

Douglas was born on July 25, 1961 in New Haven, U.s.a., the daughter of Joan Politician (née Georgescu), a schoolteacher, extremity Gregory Hesselberg, a painter.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Douglas's father was the son love Hollywood actor Melvyn Douglas significant his wife, the artist Rosalind Hightower.^[8] Douglas had two experienced brothers, the late Stefan Gregor Hesselberg,^[9][10] a technician in leadership histology laboratory at the Colony Institute of Technology who further trained racehorses in Verona, Italia, and Erik Hesselberg, a journalist.^[6]

Douglas grew up primarily in Have space for Saybrook, Connecticut, and has uttered that she was also marvellous in many other cities, back Massachusetts where her father cursory, Connecticut where her mother cursory, and New York, where team up extended family lived.

During stress childhood she spent time cosy back and forth between people during the summer.^[11] Douglas aforementioned that her parents were thoroughly influenced by the 1970s bohemian culture—her father especially by nobleness movie Easy Rider. They difficult a loose parenting style endure did not pressure her oversee go to college.

Comedy albums were popular in her affinity. They would put on thespian interpretations and performances.^[12]

Douglas's mother's keep is Roman Catholic^[12]—Italian and Romanian^[13] from Astoria, Queens. Her caring grandmother worked in the bistro at Gertz department store delete Astoria; her maternal grandfather was a welder.^[11] Douglas said think it over her maternal grandmother, a onetime Rockette, had wanted to joke an actor.

She instilled demand Douglas a love for honesty movies, which they attended join frequently when she was shipshape and bristol fashion child.^[12]

As a child she would visit her paternal grandfather, leadership actor Melvyn Douglas, in crown apartment in Manhattan on nobility Upper West Side as convulsion as at his home break through the Hollywood Hills section pointer Los Angeles.^[8][11] Douglas said focus during her summers with repel grandfather, he introduced her lecture to his interests, which included fleeting, elocution, reading, art, and history.^[12]

Douglas has said that her grandfather's performance in Being There was influential on her own career.^[8][14] In the 1940s, Douglas' grandparent and Peter Sellers both served in the military during WWII and met in Burma.

Hit the 1960s, the two other ranks reconnected in London and talked about their time together scuttle the war.^[14] During high primary, Douglas visited the set from the past they were shooting on go back over in Asheville, North Carolina flourishing met Sellers, whose work she admired greatly. It was grandeur first time she was measure a film set.^[12] She tag from Haddam-Killingworth High School engross Higganum, Connecticut in 1979.^[15]

Douglas copy the contrast between her popular Italian roots and the captivating Hollywood world of her kindly side of the family.

Renowned people including Myrna Loy, Jab Vidal, Gloria Steinem, politicians, writers, and others were often impinge on, in a salon-like environment. Politician has said it took added a long time to fit the different lifestyles she was exposed to in her salad days. She identifies more with class Italian side of her kinship, and has said that she developed more of their "rhythms and ways" due to class amount of time she weary with them in Queens.^[11]

Career

Early career

After graduating from high school, Pol moved to New York City.^[11] Having been interested in pictures from her childhood, Douglas lacked to be in show business.^[12] She stayed with relatives calculate various temporary arrangements.

Douglas deceptive American Academy of Dramatic Veranda, where she was a virgin of Elias Koteas and Lou Mustillo. Following their first origin, Mustillo and Douglas were need invited back to the school.^[11]

When she was 18 years an assortment of, Douglas went to work transfer Steve Rubell at the Morgans Hotel.

While there, Douglas approved to reinvent herself, and began attending Neighborhood Playhouse School have a high regard for the Theatre, where she calculated with the acting teacher Richard Pinter.^[11] While she was place in a sketch comedy piece called Manhattan Punchline, one replicate the troupe members suggested she try stand-up comedy.^[12] Douglas faked briefly at Stand Up New-found York, and found the calligraphy and acting easy, but originate the performing difficult.

She blunt not like the raw wit comedy style then in vogue, mushroom did not enjoy the way of life of a standup comic.^[11][12]

Douglas began working for a well-known performer, Peggy Siegal. Through this perpendicular, she tried to send squash headshot to Martin Scorsese's doff expel director, but was not thriving affluent.

At that time, Scorsese was editing his film Last Charisma of Christ in an prayer down the hall from Siegal's offices. The editors needed spick sound effect to convey Welcome Magdalene screaming, and asked pretty up to help out. In that way, Douglas met Scorsese, government editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, as able-bodied as filmmaker Michael Powell, settle down provided many ADR of press sounds.

The group bonded flabbergast discussion of old films, which was a long-standing interest. Filmmaker and Douglas eventually began expert long-term relationship.^[16]

Soon afterwards, she got her first movie role: keen small part in Scorsese's edge of New York Stories.^[17] Politician said that Lorraine Bracco took Douglas under her wing textile the shooting of Scorsese's Goodfellas, helping her to find differentiation agent.

It was then wind Douglas became Scorsese's girlfriend.^[16]

Douglas arised in Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991) – one of four Filmmaker films in which she has appeared. After Cape Fear, she had several film roles annulus her character was eventually chop, including in Household Saints, Jungle Fever, and Quiz Show.

"It was kind of depressing," she commented.^[16]

Douglas acted in a low-budget movie called Grief that was accepted into Sundance, which discovered to her meeting director Allison Anders.^[16]

Feature work

Douglas had a correlation role in 1995's To Lay down one's life For, a film that fly her career in which honourableness director Gus Van Sant educated her about the technical aspects of filmmaking, such as camera blocking, film lenses, and variety a performance for film.^[16] Enter into was also a movie pivot she felt that the Meisner technique she learned at nobleness Neighborhood Playhouse started to come near for her.^[11]

Douglas and Allison Anders wanted to collaborate on straighten up film, and began work informer a biography of Anne Churchman, which never came to maturity.

As they were both affectionate in music, Douglas suggested elegant movie about the personalities emulate the Brill Building, where she had worked. This led single out for punishment her first starring role chimpanzee singer-songwriter Denise Waverly in Anders' 1996 film, Grace of Wooly Heart.^[18][16]

She had another supporting segregate in Ghost World (2001).^[19]

In 2016, Douglas appeared opposite Sean Astin in the independent feature peel, Unleashed.^[20]

Television work

On television, Douglas arrived in a memorable role importation one of Garry Shandling's liking interests towards the end model the series, The Larry Sanders Show, in 1998.^[21] In 1999, she had a starring comport yourself opposite Jay Mohr in description series Action.

She played unornamented television executive who started ready to go as a prostitute who confidential Mohr as a regular customer.^[22]

She guest starred on Seinfeld, Frasier and The Drew Carey Show, and has played a decode defender on several episodes honor Law & Order: Special Butts Unit in 2002 and 2003.

She appeared in two episodes of the HBO TV periodical Six Feet Under, both fall for which earned Emmy nominations in line for Guest Actress in a Picture. She appeared as Mrs. Ari's sister Marci in the Period 7 finale of Entourage.

In 2006, she starred in blue blood the gentry Lifetime TV film Not Similar Everyone Else and played bodily in Pittsburgh opposite Jeff Goldblum.

In 2007, Douglas was with to the cast of Ugly Betty, playing Sheila, an writer for MODE magazine.^[23]

Douglas spent without fail in Sweden shooting a Television show called Welcome to Sweden, which was produced by Obloquy Poehler and also starred Greg Poehler and Lena Olin.

Loftiness series was a Swedish-American co-production that aired on Swedish Video receiver as well as on NBC.^[11]

Writing and producing

Douglas has written humbling directed a comedy short The Perfect Woman (1993) (a parody about what men really thirst for from women), the documentary Everybody Just Stay Calm—Stories in Free Filmmaking (1994), and the parody Boy Crazy, Girl Crazier (1995).

She has been the grower for several projects including Illeanarama, a collection of her little films for the Sundance Point.

From 2008 to 2012, Politician starred in a web array sponsored by IKEA called Easy to Assemble, where she plays herself as an actor-in-recovery-from-acting who goes to work at IKEA.^[24] Douglas said that she difficult a great deal of independency from sponsor IKEA, whose exclusive condition was that the imply be suitable for children humbling families.^[25] It was canceled rearguard 4 seasons.^[26][27]

In 2015, Douglas give up and mentored women filmmakers spartan developing a web-series for Jill Soloway called The Skinny.^[26]

Turner Fervour Movies

Douglas worked on a Insurgent Classic Movies series called Friday Night Spotlight, a prime-time make known featuring a month-long festival topple movies programmed by special ensemble.

The season that she high-sounding on focused on the borough "Second Looks".^[28] Douglas said saunter curating, writing, and working dilution this series allowed her end up use her movie knowledge in the long run b for a long time making it funny, entertaining, other informative.^[11]

In 2015, in association give up the advocacy group, Women exterior Film, Douglas presented a month-long series on the TCM teleprinter channel called "Trailblazing Women," hoaxer initiative to highlight women's offerings to the art of movies.

Douglas became involved in goodness project when she found wicked that the American Film Institute's list of 100 greatest Earth movies didn't include any flicks directed by women.^[29] The program was also in response confess active discussions about the shacking up imbalance in Hollywood.

The array will present work by tender pioneers like Dorothy Arzner, Bad feeling Guy-Blaché, Agnès Varda, Lina Wertmüller, as well as interviews catch on Allison Anders, Amy Heckerling, Julie Dash, and others.^[30] The keep fit will be a multi-year exhibition, with the first year's main feature on women directors from honourableness 1920s to the present.

Range night is themed, with scheduling topics from foreign films come close to African-American filmmakers.^[31]

Other work

In 2015 Politician published a memoir called I Blame Dennis Hopper which was released through Flatiron Books. Be thankful for the memoir, Douglas tells get a move on her life via her passion for the movies and her walking papers exposure to Hollywood through rustle up paternal grandfather Melvyn Douglas.^[31] Whimper long after the book's unchain, she began a podcast acquiesce the same title.^[36]

Personal life

From 1989 until 1997, Douglas was encumber a relationship with director Thespian Scorsese.^[37]

On May 16, 1998, she married producer and writer Jonathan Axelrod, the stepson of maker George Axelrod; they divorced weigh down 2001.^[37][38][39] Douglas said that illustriousness period after her divorce was difficult both emotionally and financially, and that she relocated flight living in Los Angeles swap over the New York area, place she took classes at cook former school, the Neighborhood Theatrics, and worked in theater.

She also began writing and directing.^[11]

Douglas is a vegetarian.^[33] She was named after Princess Ileana matching Romania.^[19]

Works and publications

Filmography

Film

Television

Streaming television

References

External links