Amy Irving facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Amy Irving
Irving at the Governor's Ball Party after the 1989 Academy Awards
Born	(1953-09-10) September 10, 1953 (age 71) Palo Alto, California, U.S.
Alma mater	American Conservatory Theater London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–present
Spouse(s)	Steven Spielberg ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 1989)​ Bruno Barreto ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 2005)​ Kenneth Bowser ​ (m. 2007)​
Children	2
Parents	Jules Irving (father) Priscilla Pointer (mother)
Relatives	David Irving (brother) Austin Irving (niece)

Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer. She has worked in movies, on stage, and in television shows. She has won an Obie Award and was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award.

Amy was born in Palo Alto, California. Her parents, Jules Irving and Priscilla Pointer, were also actors. She started acting in theater in San Francisco. When she was a teenager, her family moved to New York City. At age 13, she made her first appearance on Broadway in a play called The Country Wife (1965–1966).

Amy studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Her first movie role was in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976). She then had a main role in The Fury, a supernatural thriller from 1978.

In 1980, Amy was in the Broadway play Amadeus and the movie Honeysuckle Rose. She was also in Barbra Streisand's musical movie Yentl (1983). For her role in Yentl, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1988, she won an Obie Award for her acting in the Off-Broadway play The Road to Mecca. She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her role in the comedy Crossing Delancey (1988).

Amy continued to act on Broadway in Broken Glass (1994) and Three Sisters (1997). In movies, she appeared in the comedy Deconstructing Harry (1997). She played her role as Sue Snell again in The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999). Later, she co-starred with Michael Douglas in Steven Soderbergh's crime movie Traffic (2000). She also appeared in independent films like Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) and Adam (2009). From 2006 to 2007, she was in the Broadway play The Coast of Utopia. In 2018, she worked with Steven Soderbergh again in his horror movie Unsane.

Amy Irving's Early Life

Amy Irving was born on September 10, 1953, in Palo Alto, California. Her father, Jules Irving, was a film and stage director. Her mother, Priscilla Pointer, was an actress. Amy has a brother, David Irving, who is a writer and director. Her sister, Katie Irving, is a singer and teaches deaf children.

Amy's father was of Russian-Jewish background. One of her mother's great-great-grandfathers was also Jewish. Amy was raised in her mother's faith, Christian Science. Her family did not follow any religious traditions.

Her father helped start the Actor's Workshop. Amy was involved in local theater when she was a child. She went to the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early 1970s. She acted in several plays there. She also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As a teenager, Amy moved with her family to Manhattan, New York. Her father became the director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. She finished school at the Professional Children's School. At age 17, she made her Off-Broadway debut in a play called And Chocolate on Her Chin.

Amy Irving's Acting Career

Amy's very first time on stage was when she was just nine months old! Her father brought her on stage in a play called "Rumplestiltskin." At age two, she had a small part as "Princess Primrose" in another play her father directed. When she was 12, she had a small role in the 1965–66 Broadway show The Country Wife. She played a character who sold a hamster to Stacy Keach.

After returning from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the mid-1970s, Amy quickly got a role in a big movie. She also worked on TV shows. She had guest roles in Police Woman and Happy Days. She also had a main role in the mini-series Once an Eagle. In 1975, she played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Los Angeles Free Shakespeare Theatre. She played Juliet again at the Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1982–1983.

Irving at the opening night for Heartbreak House, December 1983

Amy tried out for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, but Carrie Fisher got the part. Amy then starred in two movies directed by Brian DePalma: Carrie as Sue Snell (her mother was also in Carrie), and The Fury as Gillian Bellaver. In 1999, she played Sue Snell again in The Rage: Carrie 2.

In 1980, she starred with Richard Dreyfuss in The Competition. Also in 1980, she appeared in Honeysuckle Rose. This movie was her first time singing on screen. Both her character and Dyan Cannon's character were country singers, and both actresses sang their own songs in the film.

In 1983, she was in Barbra Streisand's first movie as a director, Yentl. For this role, Amy was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1984, she co-starred in Micki + Maude. In 1988, she was in Crossing Delancey, which earned her a Golden Globe nomination. That same year, she also sang in the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, providing the singing voice for Jessica Rabbit. In 1997, she appeared in Woody Allen's movie Deconstructing Harry.

Amy also appeared in the TV show Alias as Emily Sloane. She played Princess Anjuli in the big miniseries The Far Pavilions. She also starred in the TV production Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. More recently, Amy appeared in the movies Traffic (2000), Tuck Everlasting (2002), and Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002). She was also in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2001.

Amy's stage work includes Amadeus (where she replaced Jane Seymour). She was also in Heartbreak House with Rex Harrison. Other plays include Broken Glass and Three Sisters with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Lili Taylor. Her Off-Broadway roles include The Heidi Chronicles and The Road to Mecca. She also performed in The `...` Monologues in London and New York. She acted with her mother, Priscilla Pointer, in The Glass Menagerie. In 1994, she and Anthony Hopkins hosted the 48th Tony Awards in New York.

Amy's most recent Broadway appearance was in The Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard in 2006–07. In 2009, she played the main role in Saint Joan for an audio version. In May 2010, Amy made her debut at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis. She played Desiree Armfeldt in Isaac Mizrahi's production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. In October 2010, Amy was a guest star in an episode of the TV series House M.D. called "Unwritten." In 2013, Amy had a recurring role in the TV series Zero Hour. In 2018, she co-starred in the psychological horror film Unsane, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

In April 2023, Amy Irving released her first music album, Born In a Trunk. It features 10 cover songs that are special to her life and career.

Amy Irving's Personal Life

Amy Irving dated film director Steven Spielberg from 1976 to 1980. She then had a short relationship with Willie Nelson, her co-star in Honeysuckle Rose. Amy and Steven Spielberg got back together and were married from 1985 to 1989.

In 1989, she started a relationship with Brazilian film director Bruno Barreto. They were married in 1996 and divorced in 2005. Amy has two sons: Max Samuel, born in 1985 (with Spielberg), and Gabriel Davis, born in 1990 (with Barreto).

Amy married Kenneth Bowser Jr., a documentary filmmaker, in 2007. They live in a barn that was turned into a home in rural Westchester County, New York. Their home burned down in a fire in 2009. However, they rebuilt it in the same spot using reclaimed wood. They still live there as of 2025.

Amy Irving's Film Roles

Amy Irving's Television Roles

Amy Irving's Stage Performances

Amy Irving's Albums

Amy Irving's Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Amy Irving para niños