Ellen Barkin

Biography

Offbeat, unconventionally pretty, and utterly mesmerizing, Ellen Barkin was born in 1954 in the Bronx, New York, to Evelyn (Rozin), a hospital administrator, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. Her parents were both from Russian Jewish families. Raised in the South Bronx and Queens, New York area, she wanted to be an actress as early as her teens and was eventually accepted into Manhattan's High School of the Performing Arts. Barkin then attended Hunter College and received her degree after double majoring in history and drama. At one point she wanted to teach ancient history, but instead turned her thoughts back to her first love: acting. Barkin then continued her education at New York's Actor's Studio. Fearful of the auditioning process, she studied acting for seven years before finally landing her first audition. While continuing her studies, she worked as a waitress at the avant-garde Ocean Club. Performing off-Broadway in such plays "Shout Across the River" (1979), "Extremities" (1983), "Fool for Love" (1984) and "Eden Court" (1985), she was applauded across the board for her first film lead in _Diner (1982)_ (qv) opposite 'Mickey Rourke' (qv) and 'Daniel Stern (I)' (qv), and pursued sexy tough-cookie status thereafter with such quirky roles in _The Big Easy (1986)_ (qv) starring 'Dennis Quaid' (qv) and _Siesta (1987)_ (qv) with Irish actor 'Gabriel Byrne' (qv), whom she married in 1987 and separated from in 1993 after producing a son and daughter. She and Byrne divorced in 1999. With trademark squinting eyes and slightly off-kilter facial features, Barkin continued the fascination of her seamy/steamy girl-from-the-wrong-side-of-the-tracks status most notably opposite 'Al Pacino (I)' (qv) in the thriller _Sea of Love (1989)_ (qv). In addition, she was well cast as 'Robert De Niro' (qv)'s abused wife in _This Boy's Life (1993)_ (qv), and portrayed "Calamity Jane" in _Wild Bill (1995)_ (qv) with earnest. Other impressionable offbeat projects included roles in _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)_ (qv), _Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)_ (qv) and _Mercy (2000)_ (qv). On TV, she was well-cast in the mini-movie _Clinton and Nadine (1988) (TV)_ (qv) and won an Emmy award for her gripping performance in _Before Women Had Wings (1997) (TV)_ (qv) opposite 'Oprah Winfrey' (qv) as another abused wife who, in this case, turns her violent anger on her own daughters. In 2000, Barkin married billionaire 'Ronald O. Perelman' (qv), eleven years her senior and chairman of the Revlon company, and put her career relatively on hold, appearing sporadically in edgy films like _She Hate Me (2004)_ (qv) and _Palindromes (2004)_ (qv). Barkin and Perelman went through an acrimonious divorce in 2006. Just prior to her divorce in late 2005, Barkin ventured into independent film production with Applehead Pictures, a company she set up with her brother 'George Barkin' (qv), who is a scriptwriter and former editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and High Times, and former Independent Film Channel executive 'Caroline Kaplan (I)' (qv). In her first major acting appearance since her divorce from Perelman, Barkin co-starred in _Ocean's Thirteen (2007)_ (qv) with 'George Clooney' (qv), 'Matt Damon' (qv), 'Brad Pitt' (qv) and former co-star Pacino. She followed up Ocean's with a supporting role in 'Antoine Fuqua' (qv)'s _Brooklyn's Finest (2009)_ (qv), _Happy Tears (2009)_ (qv) with 'Parker Posey' (qv) and 'Demi Moore' (qv), and _Twelve (2010)_ (qv). Recently, Barkin has produced features, including _Letters to Juliet (2010)_ (qv) and _Another Happy Day (2011)_ (qv) (she also starred in the latter project). On the small screen, she appeared in an episode of _"Modern Family" (2009)_ (qv) and her new NBC show, _"The New Normal" (2012)_ (qv), got a sneak peek during the Olympics. She lives with her two teenage children in Manhattan.