ALLEN, Joan 1956–

PERSONAL

Born August 20, 1956, in Rochelle, IL; daughter of Jeff (a gas station operator) and Dorothy Allen; married Peter Friedman (an actor), January 1, 1990 (separated, 2002); children: Sadie. Education: Attended Eastern Illinois University; Northern Illinois University, B.A., theatre, 1978.

Addresses: Agent—ICM, 8942 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills, CA 90211; 40 W. 57th St., New York, NY 10019. Publicist—PMK/HBH, 700 San Vicente Blvd., Suite G910, West Hollywood, CA 90069.

Career: Actress and producer. Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, IL, founding member. National spokesperson for the First Book National Book Bank. Also worked as a secretary for an educational film company.

Awards, Honors: Theatre World Award, Clarence Derwent Award, Joseph Jefferson Award, Drama Desk Award, and Outer Critics Circle Award, 1984, all for And a Nightingale Sang; Obie Award, best ensemble, Village Voice, 1986, for The Marriage of Bette and Boo; Antoinette Perry Award, best actress in a play, 1988, for Burn This; Antoinette Perry Award nomination, best actress in a play, 1989, for The Heidi Chronicles; Los Angeles Film Critics Award, best supporting actress, Boston Society of Film Critics Award, best supporting actress, 1995, Academy Award nomination, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, National Society of Film Critics Award, Chicago Film Critics Association Award, all best supporting actress, Film Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a supporting role, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, 1996, all for Nixon; Academy Award nomination, best supporting actress, Golden Globe Award nomination, best supporting actress, Southeastern Film Critics Association, best supporting actress, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture—drama, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, 1997, Empire Award, best actress, 1998, all for The Crucible; Golden Satellite Award nomination, best actress in a motion picture—drama, 1998, ALFS Award nomination, London Critics Circle, actress of the year, 1999, for The Ice Storm; ShoWest Award, supporting actress of the year, 1998; Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite supporting actress—action/adventure, 1998, for Face/Off; Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, Boston Society of Film Critics Award, best supporting actress, 1998, Southeastern Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, Online Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, Golden Satellite Award, best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture—comedy or musical, Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination, best supporting actress, Broadcast Film Critics Association Award, best supporting actress, Saturn Award, best supporting actress, Academy of Science Fiction, Horror, and Fantasy Films, 1999, all for Pleasantville; Golden Apple Award, female star of the year, 2000; Sierra Award nomination, best actress, Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award, 2000, Academy Award nomination, best actress in a leading role, Screen Actors Guild Award nomination, outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role, Online Film Critics Association nomination, best actress, Independent Spirit Award nomination, best female lead, Golden Satellite Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a motion picture—drama, Golden Globe Award nomination, best performance by an actress in a motion picture—drama, Chicago Film Critics Association Award nomination, best actress, Alan J. Pakula Award (with others), Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Blockbuster Entertainment Award nomination, favorite actress—drama, 2001, all for The Contender; Emmy Award nomination, outstanding supporting actress in a miniseries or movie, 2002, for The Mists of Avalon; Golden Starfish Award for Career Achievement, Hamptons International Film Festival, 2003.

CREDITS

Stage Appearances:

Exit the King, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago, IL, 1978.

(Off–Broadway debut) Helen Stott, And a Nightingale Sang, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, then Mitzi E. Newhouse Theatre, New York City, later Hartford Stage Company, Hartford, CT, all 1983.

Bette, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, New York Shakespeare Festival, Public Theatre, New York City, 1985.

Anna Mann, Burn This, Centre Theatre Group, Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles Music Center, Los Angeles, CA, then Plymouth Theatre, New York City, both 1987.

Dr. Heidi Holland, The Heidi Chronicles, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York City, 1988, then Plymouth Theatre, 1989.

Also appeared in Balm in Gilead, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Cloud 9, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Earthly Possessions, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; The Fifth of July, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; A Lesson from Aloes, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; The Miss Firecracker Contest, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Reckless, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Three Sisters, Steppenwolf Theatre Company; and Marathon '86.

Film Appearances:

Mary Alice Mahoney, Compromising Positions, Paramount, 1985.

Reba McClane, Manhunter (also known as Red Dragon: The Pursuit of Hannibal Lecter), De Laurentis Entertainment Group, 1986.

Maddy Nagle, Peggy Sue Got Married, TriStar, 1986.

Vera Tucker, Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Paramount, 1988.

Irene, In Country, Warner Bros., 1989.

Bonnie Waitzkin, Searching for Bobby Fischer (also known as Innocent Moves), Paramount, 1993.

Caroline Whitney, Josh and S.A.M., Columbia, 1993.

Zenobia "Zeena" Frome, Ethan Frome, Miramax, 1993.

Margaret Roberts, Mad Love, Buena Vista, 1995.

Pat Nixon, Nixon, Buena Vista, 1995.

Elizabeth Proctor, The Crucible, Twentieth Century–Fox, 1996.

Eve Archer, Face/Off (also known as Face Off), Paramount, 1997.

Elena Hood, The Ice Storm, Fox Searchlight, 1997.

Betty Parker, Pleasantville, New Line Cinema, 1998.

Helen Harding, All the Rage (also known as It's the Rage), New City Releasing, 1999.

Sinead Hamilton, When the Sky Falls, Trimark Pictures, 2000.

Senator Laine Hanson, The Contender (also known as Rufmord–jenseits der moral), DreamWorks, 2000.

Herself, Under the Hood: Making "Tucker" (documentary), Paramount Home Video, 2000.

Herself, The Contender: The Making of a Political Thriller (documentary), DreamWorks Home Entertainment, 2001.

Arlene Groden, Off the Map, Manhattan Pictures International, 2003.

Anne Hamilton, The Notebook, New Line Cinema, 2004.

Pamela Landy, The Bourne Supremacy (also known as Die Bourne verschworung), Universal, 2004.

She, Yes, Sony Pictures Classics, 2004.

Terry Wolfmeyer, The Upside of Anger, New Line Cinema, 2005.

Pushers Needed, Arclight Films, 2005.

Film Work:

Coproducer, Pushers Needed, Arclight Films, 2005.

Television Appearances; Miniseries:

Iris Friedman, Evergreen, NBC, 1985.

Voice, New York: A Documentary Film (documentary; also known as American Experience: New York—A Documentary Film), PBS, 1999.

Morgause, The Mists of Avalon (also known as Die nebel von Avalon), TNT, 2001.

Television Appearances; Movies:

Ellie, The Room Upstairs, CBS, 1987.

Sarah Brady, Without Warning: The James Brady Story (also known as The James Brady Story and Thumbs Up), HBO, 1991.

Television Appearances; Specials:

Say Goodnight, Gracie, Chicago Public Television, 1983.

Ann Deever, "All My Sons," American Playhouse, PBS, 1987.

The 50th Annual Tony Awards, 1996.

The 69th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 1997.

The 2000 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Fox, 2000.

The 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, TNT, 2001.

Presenter, The 2001 IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards (also known as The 16th Annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards), Independent Film Channel, 2001.

The 73rd Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 2001.

Voice, War Letters (documentary), PBS, 2001.

The Big Show (also known as The Big Show: Toronto International Film Festival), CBC, 2001.

The 55th Annual Tony Awards, CBS, 2001.

Jeff Bridges: Building Bridges (documentary), Arts and Entertainment, 2002.

Presenter, AFI Awards, CBS, 2002.

Television Appearances; Episodic:

Sally Dobbs, "Shelter Skelter," The Twilight Zone, CBS, 1987.

Guest caller Lydia, "High Crane Drifter," Frasier, NBC, 1995.

Late Show with David Letterman, 1996.

The Rosie O'Donnell Show, 1997.

Host, Saturday Night Live, NBC, 1998.

Mrs. Frost, "Robert Frost," Voices and Visions PBS, 2000.

The View, ABC, 2002.

RECORDINGS

Taped Readings:

Another Country: The Emotional Terrain of Our Elders by Mary Pipher, S&S Audio, 1999.

Blessings by Anna Quindlen, 2002.

If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff, HarperCollins/Geringer, 2003.

The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King, Hyperion Audiobooks, 2003.

Read My Antonia by Willa Cather and Unless by Carol Shields.

OTHER SOURCES

Books:

Newsmakers 1998, Issue 1, Gale, 1998.

Periodicals:

Back Stage West, January 28, 1999, p. 6.

Entertainment Weekly, December 22, 1995, p. 43; January 17, 1997, p. 27; March 21, 1997, p. 44; October 10, 1997, p. 34; February 23, 2001, p. 38.

Interview, October, 2000, p. 200.

Nation, May 1, 1989, p. 605.

National Review, February 12, 1996, p. 57.

New Republic, December 16, 1996, p. 30.

People Weekly, August 22, 1988, p. 15; September 25, 1989, p. 16; June 17, 1991, p. 11; August 16, 1993, p. 17.

Playboy, December, 1992, p. 20.

Time, August 9, 2004, p. 88.

Us, March, 1996, p. 101.