Judy Davis
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Judy Davis found her passion for acting as she grew up in Australia and attended the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Graduating the Sydney school in 1977, she started to work in Australian cinema, earning plaudits for her role in "My Brilliant Career" (1979), which netted her a BAFTA Award. Heralded as a promising young actress in her home country, Davis began her international march to stardom with her Emmy-nominated turn in "A Woman Named Golda" (1982). Shortly after, she garnered even more international prestige as her performance in David Lean's "A Passage to India" (1984) was nominated for Best Actress at the Academy Awards. For the rest of 1980s, she mostly worked in Australia before working with auteurs in the early '90s. She drew critical acclaim for her work in the Coen Brothers' "Barton Fink" (1991), David Cronenberg's "Naked Lunch" (1991), and Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives" (1992), including another Oscar nomination for her work in the latter. Outside of film, Davis was also prolific on television, drawing Golden Globe and Emmy attention for her work in a variety of made-for-TV movies and mini-series, including "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story" (1995), "Dash and Lilly" (1999), and perhaps most famously, "Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" (2001), in which she played the legendary actress. By the early 2000s, Davis' pace slowed down, but she still appeared in TV mini-series such as "The Reagans" (Showtime 2003) and even popped up in films such as "The Break-Up" (2006) and "Marie Antoinette" (2006). She netted Emmy notoriety for "The Starter Wife" (USA 2007) and "Feud: Bette and Joan" (FX 2017).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1977
Screen acting debut, "High Rolling"; delivered one line
1979
Landed breakthrough role I "My Brilliant Career"
1982
First non-Australian screen credit, the British thriller "Who Dares Wins/The Final Conflict"
1982
Landed first international role in "A Woman Called Golda"
1984
Received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for her widely seen performance as Adela Quested in David Lean's "A Passage to India"
1986
First feature pairing with husband Colin Friels, "Kangaroo"
1987
Reteamed with Gillian Armstrong for "High Tide"; film co-starred Friels
1989
Made U.S. stage debut in Los Angeles production of Tom Stoppard's play "Hapgood"
1990
Began association with Woody Allen in "Alice"
1991
Played George Sand in the period drama "Impromptu"
1991
Earned first Emmy nomination as a British woman involved with the French Underground during WWII in "One Against the Wind" (CBS), again paired with Sam Neill; earned Emmy nomination
1992
Received Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her memorable performance as a woman undergoing a divorce who finds a new love in Woody Allen's "Husbands and Wives"
1993
Cast to co-star with Jonathan Pryce and River Phoenix in "Dark Blood"; project terminated after Phoenix's death
1994
Teamed with Denis Leary and Kevin Spacey for the quirky comedy "The Ref"
1995
Played the lesbian lover of a U.S. Army nurse in "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story" (NBC), received Emmy Award as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
1996
Returned to Australian films as star of "Children of the Revolution"; reteamed onscreen with Sam Neill
1997
Landed featured role as the ex-wife of Jack Nicholson in "Blood & Wine"
1997
Third teaming with Woody Allen. "Deconstructing Harry"
1998
Cast in featured role as a teacher whose marriage crumbles in Allen's "Celebrity"
1998
Received Emmy nomination playing a struggling farmer in Australia's Outback faced with raising her husband's daughter from his first marriage in "Echo of Thunder" (CBS)
1999
Cast as Lillian Hellman opposite Sam Shepard as Dashiell Hammett in the A&E biopic "Dash & Lilly," directed by Kathy Bates; picked up another Emmy nomination as Best Actress
1999
Starred opposite Sally Field in "A Cooler Climate" (Showtime), received sixth Emmy nomination
1999
Made stage directorial debut with the Australian premiere of the one-man show "Barrymore"
2001
Starred in the Australian box office hit "The Man Who Sued God"
2001
Portrayed Judy Garland in the ABC miniseries "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows," adapted from Lorna Luft's memoir; won second Emmy
2003
Cast as an American translator who agrees to help a friend locate her missing husband in "Gaudi Afternoon"
2003
Portrayed Nancy Reagan in the controversal television movie "The Reagans" (Showtime), earned a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or Movie (2004)
2005
Portrayed Dora Fingleton, the long-suffering mother of champion swimmer Tony Fingleton in the true story "Swimming Upstream"
2006
Portrayed The Comtesse de Noailles in Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette"
2006
Earned an Emmy nomination for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for "A Little Thing Called Murder" (Lifetime)
2007
Played Molly's (Debra Messing) oldest friend Joan in the USA Network miniseries "The Starter Wife"
2011
Cast in BBC drama "Page Eight"
2012
Again directed by Woody Allen in the romantic comedy "To Rome with Love"; played the wife of Allen's character