Elizabeth McGovern facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Elizabeth McGovern
McGovern at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
Born	Elizabeth Lee McGovern (1961-07-18) July 18, 1961 (age 64) Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Education	Juilliard School
Occupation	Actor, musician
Years active	1979–present
Spouse(s)	Simon Curtis ​ (m. 1992)​
Children	2
Musical career
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Associated acts	Sadie and the Hotheads

Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She is famous for her roles in movies and television shows. Many people know her as Cora Crawley, the Countess of Grantham, in the popular British TV series Downton Abbey.

McGovern has won many awards for her acting, including a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has also been nominated for an Academy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.

Besides acting, McGovern is a talented singer and guitarist. She started her own band called Sadie and the Hotheads in 2007. The band has released several albums and toured around the world.

Early Life and Education

Elizabeth McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois. Her mother, Katharine, was a high school teacher, and her father, William, was a university professor. She has a younger sister, Cammie McGovern, who is a novelist.

When she was ten, her family moved to Los Angeles, California. In high school, she discovered her love for acting by performing in school plays.

After high school, she studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She then attended the famous Juilliard School in New York City to study drama.

Career

Acting on Screen

McGovern started her film career in 1980 while she was still a student at Juilliard. Her first movie was Ordinary People, where she played the girlfriend of the main character.

Just one year later, she starred as Evelyn Nesbit in the movie Ragtime (1981). Her performance was so good that she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This was a huge honor for a young actress.

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in many popular films. These included the gangster movie Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and Racing with the Moon (1984), where she acted alongside Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage.

Famous Television Roles

McGovern has also had a successful career in television, especially in the United Kingdom. In 1999, she starred in the BBC series The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Her most famous television role came in 2010 when she was cast as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, in the British drama series Downton Abbey. The show became a worldwide hit. McGovern starred in the show for all six seasons, from 2010 to 2015. She was nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for this role.

She played Cora Crawley again in the hit movies Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022).

Stage and Theatre

McGovern is also a talented stage actress. She has performed in many plays in both New York and London.

Some of her notable roles include playing Ophelia in a production of Hamlet in 1992. She has also appeared in plays at famous theaters like The Old Vic and the Royal National Theatre in London.

In 2013, she received the Will Award from the Shakespeare Theatre Company for her work in classical theatre.

Music Career

McGovern is a singer-songwriter who plays the guitar. In 2008, she formed a band called Sadie and the Hotheads. She writes and sings songs for the band.

The band released its first album, I Can Wait, and began performing in London. Michelle Dockery, who played her daughter in Downton Abbey, has sometimes sung with the band.

Sadie and the Hotheads have toured across the UK and Europe, playing at big events like the Isle of Wight Festival. They have released several albums, including How Not To Lose Things and Still Waiting. In 2019, McGovern released a solo album called The Truth.

Personal Life

In 1992, McGovern married Simon Curtis, a British film director and producer. They have two daughters. The family lives in Chiswick, London.

Selected Filmography

Discography

With Sadie and the Hotheads

Solo Album

See also

In Spanish: Elizabeth McGovern para niños