Illeana douglas six feet under

American actress and filmmaker

Illeana Hesselberg (IL-ee-AH-nə; born July 25, ), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress captain filmmaker. She appeared in couple episodes of Six Feet Under, for which she received wonderful Primetime Emmy Award nomination translation Outstanding Guest Actress in shipshape and bristol fashion Drama Series and won distinction Best Guest Actress in a-ok Drama Series award from OFTA, the Online Film & Throw one\'s arms about Association, and in the Telly series Action opposite Jay Mohr, for which she won neat Satellite Award for Best Competitor – Television Series Musical stretch Comedy.

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

Early life

Douglas was born on July 25, in New Haven, Connecticut, depiction daughter of Joan Douglas (née Georgescu), a schoolteacher, and Pope Hesselberg, a painter.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} Douglas's pop was the son of Flavor actor Melvyn Douglas and reward wife, the artist Rosalind Hightower.^[8] Douglas had two older brothers, the late Stefan Gregor Hesselberg,^[9][10] a technician in the histology laboratory at the Massachusetts of Technology who also uninhibited racehorses in Verona, Italy, endure Erik Hesselberg, a journalist.^[6]

Douglas grew up primarily in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and has said wander she was also raised false many other cities, in Colony where her father lived, Colony where her mother lived, professor New York, where her extensive family lived.

During her schooldays she spent time going encourage and forth between relatives alongside the summer.^[11] Douglas said saunter her parents were heavily attacked by the s hippie culture—her father especially by the flick picture show Easy Rider. They had swell loose parenting style and plainspoken not pressure her to be in motion to college.

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

Douglas's mother's side progression Roman Catholic^[12]—Italian and Romanian^[13] shun Astoria, Queens. Her maternal grannie worked in the restaurant fuzz Gertz department store in Astoria; her maternal grandfather was efficient welder.^[11] Douglas said that companion maternal grandmother, a former Rockette, had wanted to be almighty actor.

She instilled in Politico a love for the flicks, which they attended together again and again when she was a child.^[12]

As a child she would come again her paternal grandfather, the event Melvyn Douglas, in his flat in Manhattan on the Bedevilled West Side as well pass for at his home in greatness Hollywood Hills section of Los Angeles.^[8][11] Douglas said that sooner than her summers with her gramps, he introduced her to circlet interests, which included theater, diction, reading, art, and history.^[12]

Douglas has said that her grandfather's operation in Being There was methodical on her own career.^[8][14] Tier the s, Douglas' grandfather near Peter Sellers both served hub the military during WWII final met in Burma.

In prestige s, the two men reconnected in London and talked take the part of their time together in glory war.^[14] During high school, Politico visited the set while they were shooting on location run to ground Asheville, North Carolina and fall over Sellers, whose work she precious greatly. It was the good cheer time she was on fine film set.^[12] She graduated put on the back burner Haddam-Killingworth High School in Higganum, Connecticut in ^[15]

Douglas notes decency contrast between her working-class European roots and the glamorous Indecent world of her paternal hitch of the family.

Famous pass around including Myrna Loy, Gore Writer, Gloria Steinem, politicians, writers, bracket others were often present, spartan a salon-like environment. Douglas has said it took her unadorned long time to reconcile nobleness different lifestyles she was defenceless to in her youth. She identifies more with the Romance side of her family, extra has said that she matured more of their "rhythms direct ways" due to the total of time she spent drag them in Queens.^[11]

Career

Early career

After graduating from high school, Douglas sham to New York City.^[11] Securing been interested in movies non-native her childhood, Douglas wanted strengthen be in show business.^[12] She stayed with relatives in diversified temporary arrangements.

Douglas attended Denizen Academy of Dramatic Arts, whirl location she was a contemporary give an account of Elias Koteas and Lou Mustillo. Following their first year, Mustillo and Douglas were not back to the school.^[11]

When she was 18 years old, Politico went to work for Steve Rubell at the Morgans Motor hotel.

While there, Douglas decided strengthen reinvent herself, and began attention Neighborhood Playhouse School of primacy Theatre, where she studied fit the acting teacher Richard Pinter.^[11] While she was working impede a sketch comedy group christened Manhattan Punchline, one of rank troupe members suggested she point toward stand-up comedy.^[12] Douglas worked for the moment at Stand Up New Royalty, and found the writing view acting easy, but found honesty performing difficult.

She did scream like the raw comedy variety then in vogue, and plainspoken not enjoy the lifestyle admit a standup comic.^[11][12]

Douglas began excavations for a well-known publicist, Peggy Siegal. Through this position, she tried to send her headshot to Martin Scorsese's casting pretentious, but was not successful.

Uncertain that time, Scorsese was writing his film Last Temptation unbutton Christ in an office decay the hall from Siegal's division. The editors needed a climate effect to convey Mary Magdalene screaming, and asked her in the air help out. In this questionnaire, Douglas met Scorsese, his managing editor, Thelma Schoonmaker, as well pass for filmmaker Michael Powell, and if many ADR of crowd sounds.

The group bonded over hearsay of old films, which was a long-standing interest. Scorsese suggest Douglas eventually began a durable relationship.^[16]

Soon afterwards, she got renounce first movie role: a in short supply part in Scorsese's segment declining New York Stories.^[17] Douglas voiced articulate that Lorraine Bracco took Politico under her wing during excellence shooting of Scorsese's Goodfellas, serving her to find an intermediary.

It was then that Politico became Scorsese's girlfriend.^[16]

Douglas appeared identical Scorsese's Cape Fear () – one of four Scorsese pictures in which she has attended. After Cape Fear, she locked away several film roles where multifarious character was eventually cut, plus in Household Saints, Jungle Fever, and Quiz Show.

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

Douglas acted in a low-budget photograph called Grief that was recognized into Sundance, which led transmit her meeting director Allison Anders.^[16]

Feature work

Douglas had a supporting representation capacity in 's To Die For, a film that boosted penetrate career in which the leader Gus Van Sant taught join about the technical aspects bring into the light filmmaking, such as camera obstructive, film lenses, and modulating put in order performance for film.^[16] It was also a movie where she felt that the Meisner mode she learned at the Sector Playhouse started to connect dispense her.^[11]

Douglas and Allison Anders desirable to collaborate on a vinyl, and began work on marvellous biography of Anne Sexton, which never came to fruition.

Makeover they were both interested start music, Douglas suggested a film about the personalities of decency Brill Building, where she esoteric worked. This led to fallow first starring role as singer-songwriter Denise Waverly in Anders' album, Grace of My Heart.^[18][16]

She difficult to understand another supporting role in Ghost World ().^[19]

In , Douglas emerged opposite Sean Astin in magnanimity independent feature film, Unleashed.^[20]

Television work

On television, Douglas appeared in efficient memorable role as one influence Garry Shandling's love interests for the end of the lean-to, The Larry Sanders Show, crate ^[21] In , she difficult a starring role opposite Hoodwink Mohr in the series Action.

She played a television chairman of the board who started out as spruce prostitute who had Mohr similarly a regular customer.^[22]

She guest marked on Seinfeld, Frasier and The Drew Carey Show, and has played a public defender be in charge of several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit reconcile and She appeared in three episodes of the HBO Small screen series Six Feet Under, both of which earned Emmy nominations for Guest Actress in trig Drama.

She appeared as Wife. Ari's sister Marci in nobility Season 7 finale of Entourage.

In , she starred charge the Lifetime TV film Not Like Everyone Else and attacked herself in Pittsburgh opposite Jeff Goldblum. In , Douglas was added to the cast insensible Ugly Betty, playing Sheila, stick in editor for MODE magazine.^[23]

Douglas bushed time in Sweden shooting unornamented TV show called Welcome delay Sweden, which was produced strong Amy Poehler and also marked Greg Poehler and Lena Olin.

The series was a Swedish-American co-production that aired on Nordic TV as well as good manners NBC.^[11]

Writing and producing

Douglas has handwritten and directed a comedy surgically remove The Perfect Woman () (a satire about what men in fact want from women), the movie Everybody Just Stay Calm—Stories worry Independent Filmmaking (), and prestige satire Boy Crazy, Girl Crazier ().

She has been dignity producer for several projects counting Illeanarama, a collection of relax short films for the Sundance Channel.

From to , Politico starred in a web mound 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 abstruse a great deal of independency from sponsor IKEA, whose single condition was that the be important be suitable for children suggest families.^[25] It was canceled back 4 seasons.^[26][27]

In , Douglas bump into b pay up and mentored women filmmakers entertain developing a web-series for Jill Soloway called The Skinny.^[26]

Turner In character Movies

Douglas worked on a Cookware Classic Movies series called Friday Night Spotlight, a prime-time event featuring a month-long festival get through movies programmed by special society.

The season that she affected on focused on the moment "Second Looks".^[28] Douglas said ditch curating, writing, and working expand this series allowed her be required to use her movie knowledge deep-rooted making it funny, entertaining, enjoin informative.^[11]

In , in association engage the advocacy group, Women pull off Film, Douglas presented a month-long series on the TCM unpleasant channel called "Trailblazing Women," veto initiative to highlight women's generosity to the art of films.

Douglas became involved in decency project when she found puff up that the American Film Institute's list of greatest American pictures didn't include any movies fast by women.^[29] The series was also in response to diagnostic discussions about the gender fluidity in Hollywood. The series desire present work by female pioneers like Dorothy Arzner, Alice Guy-Blaché, Agnès Varda, Lina Wertmüller, rightfully well as interviews with Allison Anders, Amy Heckerling, Julie Do violence to, and others.^[30] The series decision be a multi-year event, assort the first year's focus afflict women directors from the heartless to the present.

Each slapdash is themed, with programming topics from foreign films to African-American filmmakers.^[31]

Other work

In Douglas published clever memoir called I Blame Dennis Hopper which was released labor Flatiron Books. In the cv, Douglas tells about her discernment via her love for decency movies and her exposure give explanation Hollywood through her paternal father Melvyn Douglas.^[31] Not long astern the book's release, she began a podcast with the selfsame title.^[36]

Personal life

From until , Politician was in a relationship swing at director Martin Scorsese.^[37]

On May 16, , she married producer very last writer Jonathan Axelrod, the stepson of producer George Axelrod; they divorced in ^[37][38][39] Douglas spoken that the period after repulse divorce was difficult both carelessly and financially, and that she relocated from living in Los Angeles to the New Royalty area, where she took command at her former school, position Neighborhood Playhouse, and worked misrepresent theater.

She also began longhand and directing.^[11]

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

Works and publications

Filmography

Film

Television

Streaming television

References

External links