birthdays: Jennifer Connelly (info)

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Jennifer Connelly

was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York, to Ilene (Schuman), a dealer of antiques, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing manufacturer. Her father had Irish and Norwegian ancestry, and her mother was from a Jewish immigrant family. Jennifer grew up in Brooklyn Heights, just across the Brooklyn Bridge from Manhattan, except for the four years her parents spent in Woodstock, New York. Back in Brooklyn Heights, she attended St. Ann's school. A close friend of the family was an advertising executive. When Jennifer was ten, he suggested that her parents take her to a modeling audition. She began appearing in newspaper and magazine ads (among them "Seventeen" magazine), and soon moved on to television commercials. A casting director saw her and introduced her to Sergio Leone, who was seeking a young girl to dance in his gangster epic Érase una vez en América (1984). Although having little screen time, the few minutes she was on-screen were enough to reveal her talent. Her next role after that was an episode of the British horror anthology TV series Tales of the Unexpected (1979) in 1984.

After Leone's movie, horror master Dario Argento signed her to play her first starring role in his thriller Phenomena (1985). The film made a lot of money in Europe but, unfortunately, was heavily cut for American distribution. Around the same time, she appeared in the rock video "I Drove All Night," a Roy Orbison song, co-starring Jason Priestley. She released a single called "Monologue of Love" in Japan in the mid-1980s, in which she sings in Japanese a charming little song with semi-classical instruments arrangement. On the B-side is "Message Of Love," which is an interview with music in background. She also appeared in television commercials in Japan.

She enrolled at Yale, and then transferred two years later to Stanford. She trained in classical theater and improvisation, studying with the late drama coach Roy London, Howard Fine, and Harold Guskin.

The late 1980s saw her starring in a hit and three lesser seen films. Amongst the latter was her roles in Étoile (1989), as a ballerina and in Algunas chicas (1988), where she played a self-absorbed college freshman. The hit was Dentro del laberinto (1986), released in 1986. Jennifer got the job after a nationwide talent search for the lead in this fantasy directed by Jim Henson and produced by George Lucas. Her career entered in a calm phase after those films, until Dennis Hopper, who was impressed after having seen her in "Some Girls", cast Jennifer as an ingénue small-town girl in Labios ardientes(1990), based upon the 1950s crime novel "Hell Hath No Fury". It received mixed critical reviews, but it was not a box office success.

Rocketeer (1991), an ambitious Touchstone super-production, came to the rescue. The film was an old-fashioned adventure flick about a man capable of flying with rockets on his back. Critics saw in "Rocketeer" a top-quality movie, a homage to those old films of the 1930s in which the likes of Errol Flynn starred. After "Rocketeer," Jennifer made Destinos opuestos (1991), Venganza escrita (1992), Mulholland Falls (La brigada del sombrero) (1996), and El secreto de los Abbott (1997). In 1998, she was invited by director Alex Proyas to make Dark City (1998), a strange, visually stunning science-fiction extravaganza. In this movie, Jennifer played the main character's wife, and she delivered an acclaimed performance. The film itself didn't break any box-office record but received positive reviews. This led Jennifer to a contract with Fox for the television series The $treet (2000), a main part in the memorable and dramatic love-story Resucitar un amor(2000) and, more important, a breakthrough part in the polemic and applauded independent Réquiem por un sueño (2000), a tale about the haunting lives of drug addicts and the subsequent process of decadence and destruction. In "Requiem for a Dream," Jennifer had her career's most courageous, difficult part, a performance that earned her a Spirit Award Nomination. She followed this role with Pollock. La vida de un creador (2000), in which she played Pollock's mistress, Ruth Klingman. Most recently, Ron Howard chose her to co-star with Russell Crowe in Una mente maravillosa (2001), the film that tells the true story of John Nash, a man who suffered from mental illness but eventually beats this and wins the Nobel Prize in 1994. Jennifer played Nash's wife and won a Golden Globe, BAFTA, AFI and Oscar as Best Supporting Actress.

Jennifer lives in New York. She is 5'7", and speaks fluent Italian and French. She enjoys physical activities such as swimming, gymnastics, and bike riding. She is also an outdoors person -- camping, hiking and walking, and is interested in quantum physics and philosophy. She likes horses, Pearl Jam, SoundGarden, Jesus Jones, and occasionally wears a small picture of the The Dalai Lama on a necklace. Her favorite colors are cobalt blue, forest green, and "very pale green/gray -- sort of like the color of the sea". She likes to draw. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jean Bergeron

Spouse

Paul Bettany (1 January 2003 - present) (2 children)

Trade Mark

Dark, thick eyebrows

Dark hair and green eyes

Curvaceous, buxom figure

Deep sultry voice

Freckle on her upper lip

Trivia

Has a son, Kai Dugan (born 1997), with photographer David Dugan.

Cut a single in Japan, which she sang in phonetic Japanese. She says her agent made up the idea that she is semi-fluent in the language.

Is fluent in French and Italian.

Was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People by People Magazine in 2002.

The character Veronica in Escuela de jóvenes asesinos (1988) was originally written with her in mind, but she turned the role down.

Daughter-in-law of actor Thane Bettany and Anne Kettle.

First child with husband Paul Bettany, a son named Stellan Bettany, born 5 August, 2003. Stellan's Godfather is the actor Charlie Condou, Paul's best friend.

Her father was of Irish and Norwegian heritage. Her mother was from an Ashkenazi Jewish family (from Poland and Russia).

Named her son Stellan after Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård.

In three of her movies (Dark City (1998), Réquiem por un sueño (2000), and Casa de arena y niebla (2003)), she appears standing at the end of a pier in a striking image. All three directors created the shots for different reasons, and they are not an homage or reference to each other, just an unlikely coincidence.

She was nearly cast as Diane Court in Cameron Crowe's Un gran amor (1989). Ione Skyegot the part instead.

Enrolled at Yale as an English major, then transferred two years later to Stanford.

Has said she used to use the online username "ecksor", which is a phonetic spelling of XOR (Exclusive OR) - a tribute to her cousin Jerry who is a computer security expert.

Ranked #14 in Celebrity Sleuth's "25 Sexiest Women of 1993".

Ranked #53 in Stuff's "103 Sexiest Women" (2003).

Ranked #74 in FHM-USA's "100 Sexiest Women" (2002).

Ranked #85 in Askmen's "Most Desirable Woman" (2002).

Ranked as #88 in FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2005" special supplement. (2005).

Is a vegan.

Has an interest in mathematics and software.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#54). [2007].

Auditioned for the title role of Ojos de fuego (1984).

With Una mente maravillosa (2001) and Un cruce en el destino (2007), has now played the wife of Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix, who both appeared in Gladiator (2000) = Crowe as the hero and Phoenix as the villain.

Is an only child.

Ultimátum a la Tierra (2008), in which she starred, opened on her 38th birthday. December 12, 2008.

Returned to work 7 months after giving birth to her son Kai in order to begin filming Resucitar un amor (2000).

Returned to work 5 months after giving birth to her son Stellan in order to begin filming Dark Water (La huella) (2005).

Has twice played a character named "Sarah Williams". First was in Dentro del laberinto(1986), second was in Resucitar un amor (2000).

Expecting her third child [December 14, 2010].

Gave birth to her daughter Agnes Lark Bettany, with husband Paul Bettany, at home in New York via scheduled water birth (31 May 2011).

Princess Jasmine's appearance in the Disney animated film Aladdin (1992) was based and influenced on her, as well as the sister of her animator, Mark Henn.

When she was 17 she auditioned for the role of Sarah Tobias in Acusados (1988), but the part went to Jodie Foster.

Returned to work 10 months after giving birth to her daughter Agnes to begin filming Un invierno en la playa (2012).

Was the 120th actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Una mente maravillosa (2001) at The 74th Annual Academy Awards(2002) on March 24, 2002.

Is one of 13 actresses who won their Best Supporting Actress Oscars in a movie that also won the Best Picture Oscar (she won for Una mente maravillosa (2001)). The others are Hattie McDaniel for Lo que el viento se llevó (1939), Teresa Wright for La señora Miniver(1942), Celeste Holm for La barrera invisible (1947), Mercedes McCambridge for El político (1949), Donna Reed for De aquí a la eternidad (1953), Eva Marie Saint for La ley del silencio (1954), Rita Moreno for West Side Story (Amor sin barreras) (1961), Meryl Streep for Kramer contra Kramer (1979), Juliette Binoche for El paciente inglés (1996), Judi Dench for Shakespeare enamorado (1998), Catherine Zeta-Jones for Chicago (2002) and Lupita Nyong'o for 12 años de esclavitud (2013).

Is one of 22 Oscar-winning actresses to have been born in the state of New York. The others are Alice Brady, Teresa Wright, Anne Revere, Celeste Holm, Claire Trevor, Judy Holliday, Shirley Booth, Susan Hayward, Patty Duke, Anne Bancroft, Barbra Streisand, Jane Fonda, Lee Grant, Beatrice Straight, Whoopi Goldberg, Mercedes Ruehl, Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Leo and Anne Hathaway.

She has ADHD, for which she has been medicated ever since she was a kid.

Personal Quotes

Acting is great. When it works it is so fulfilling. You do the research and work with other talented people who are creative and compassionate and use all your faculties. The ability to express yourself completely is the most wonderful feeling in the world. Each film is a chapter in my life wherein I learn so much more about myself.

I so much enjoy being able to completely allow myself to be consumed by a role, and really grow in the process,once you've done that, it's hard to go back working on things you don't care about.

[talking about the films she did in the beginning of her career]: You don't want to get rid of your experiences, because they're your experiences - good or bad - and you need them, but it would be great if they weren't on the video shelf!

[Talking about her character in Una mente maravillosa (2001)]: Alicia is the person who's trying to ground John Nash in reality and bring him home, literally, and back to what he was. In "A Beautiful Mind", there are scenes that were painful and scary and sad. I didn't have to go through degradation as I did in Réquiem por un sueño (2000), but there is a lot of emotional terrain in this movie. There's a tragedy in the family and it takes a toll on each of them as they try to live with each other.

[talking about her son Kai Dugan]: We've already done plays together. Very short plays. He dictates them to me. Sometimes he casts me, sometimes he doesn't. And when I'm in the play, he'll sometimes say to me, "No Mom, you didn't say that right!"

[on "The Ball Room Dance" scene, her favorite from Dentro del laberinto (1986)]: I wore a beautiful silver ball gown, which was a refreshing change from the blue jeans I wore in almost every other scene. It was really a gorgeous set, with masses of huge chandeliers and thousands of flickering candles, hundreds of silken cushions and curtains, and masses of people in strange masks and ornate dresses. There was the thrill of dancing with David Bowie to one of the songs he composed especially for the film. There wasn't enough room, for technical reasons, to really dance around properly, but we just drifted slowly and gracefully (I hope!) to David's music, and he looked fabulous! It's all a sort of magical fantasy sequence inside a huge bubble.

[about her son] I don't think I would be doing this quality of work if it hadn't been for my son. He's changed me. He's helped me to understand myself and find my place in the world.

[on growing up with a Catholic father and a Jewish mother] Ultimately I'm an Irish Catholic Jew. I'm riddled with guilt!