Elizabeth McGovern facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth McGovern
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Elizabeth McGovern at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
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| Born |
Elizabeth Lee McGovern
July 18, 1961 Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
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| Education | Juilliard School |
| Occupation | Actor, musician |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Simon Curtis
(m. 1992) |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Instruments |
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| Associated acts | Sadie and the Hotheads |
Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress and musician. She has won a Screen Actors Guild Award and has been nominated for many other awards, including three Golden Globe Awards and one Academy Award.
Elizabeth McGovern started her acting career in films like Ordinary People (1980) and Ragtime (1981). For her role in Ragtime, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also starred in popular movies such as Once Upon a Time in America (1984) and The Handmaid's Tale (1990).
Later, she became widely known for playing Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, in the British TV show Downton Abbey (2010–2015). She also appeared in the Downton Abbey movies in 2019 and 2022. Besides acting, Elizabeth McGovern is also a singer and plays guitar in her band, Sadie and the Hotheads.
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Early Life and Education
Elizabeth McGovern was born in Evanston, Illinois, on July 18, 1961. Her mother, Katharine Wolcott, was a high school teacher, and her father, William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., was a university professor. She has Irish, English, and Scottish family roots. Her younger sister, Cammie McGovern, is a novelist.
When Elizabeth was 10, her family moved to Los Angeles, California. Her father got a teaching job at the UCLA School of Law. Elizabeth went to North Hollywood High School, where she started acting in school plays. After high school, she studied acting at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. She also attended the Juilliard School in New York City from 1979 to 1981, studying for a degree in Drama.
Acting Career
Elizabeth McGovern's acting career began while she was still studying.
Early Film Roles
In 1980, while at Juilliard, she got her first film role in Ordinary People. She played the girlfriend of a troubled teenager named Conrad Jarrett. The next year, she finished her acting studies and started performing in plays, both in smaller theaters and on famous stages.
In 1981, she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Evelyn Nesbit in the film Ragtime. She then appeared in Beginners (1982).
In 1984, she starred in the crime movie Once Upon a Time in America with Robert De Niro. That same year, she had leading roles in two other films: Racing with the Moon, a story about growing up, and the comedy Lovesick.
Later, she appeared in films like Johnny Handsome (1989) and The Handmaid's Tale (1990). She also co-starred with Kevin Bacon in the romantic comedy She's Having a Baby and the thriller The Bedroom Window. In 1994, she starred with Brad Pitt in the comedy The Favor.
Recent Film Work
In the 2000s, Elizabeth McGovern continued to appear in films. She was in Woman in Gold, a drama directed by her husband, Simon Curtis, and starring Helen Mirren.
In 2018, she starred in The Chaperone. In this film, she played Norma Carlisle, a woman who volunteers to chaperone the young dancer Louise Brooks to New York City. The Chaperone was the first film Elizabeth McGovern also helped produce.
She returned to her role as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, for the Downton Abbey film in 2019 and its 2022 sequel. These movies continued the story from the popular TV series.
Television Roles
Elizabeth McGovern has acted in many television shows, mostly in the UK. In 1999 and 2000, she played Marguerite St. Just in a BBC TV series called The Scarlet Pimpernel. She also starred in the crime drama Thursday the 12th that same year.
On American TV, she appeared in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2007. She also had roles in other TV productions like Broken Glass (1996) and Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre where she played Snow White.
From 2010 to 2015, she played Cora, Countess of Grantham, in the British TV series Downton Abbey. Her character was married to Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville. Downton Abbey was a huge success, and Elizabeth McGovern received nominations for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her role. This was the third time she and Hugh Bonneville played a married couple on screen.
Music Career
Elizabeth McGovern is also a talented singer-songwriter and plays the guitar. In 2008, she started her band called Sadie and the Hotheads. They released their first album, I Can Wait, that year.
The band has released several studio albums, including How Not To Lose Things (2012) and Still Waiting (2014). They have toured across the UK and Europe, performing at festivals like the Isle of Wight Festival and Montreux Jazz Festival.
In 2014, Elizabeth recorded three Christmas songs. Her version of It Came Upon a Midnight Clear and a duet with Julian Ovenden appeared on the album Christmas At Downton Abbey.
After Downton Abbey ended in 2015, Elizabeth and Sadie and the Hotheads worked on their fourth album. In 2016, they released a collection of songs from their first three albums called The Collection (Everybody's Got A Song).
In 2019, Elizabeth released her fifth album, The Truth. This album was released under her own name, but it still featured all the musicians from Sadie and the Hotheads. The album even included a song with Samuel L. Jackson as a guest singer!
Theatre Performances
Elizabeth McGovern has a strong background in theatre, performing in many plays in both New York and London.
In New York, some of her roles included Melissa Gardner in Love Letters (1989) and Ophelia in Hamlet (1992). She also played Mrs. Conway in Time and the Conways in 2017.
After moving to London, she continued her stage work. She played Jenny in The Misanthrope (1996) and Darlene in Hurlyburly (1997). Other notable roles include Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter (2005) and Jackie Kennedy in Aristo (2008).
In 2018 and 2020, she played Veronica in God of Carnage. In 2022 and 2023, she took on the role of Ava Gardner in Ava: The Secret Conversations. She also played Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in 2023.
Elizabeth McGovern was honored with the Will Award by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in 2013 for her contributions to theatre.
Personal Life
In 1992, Elizabeth McGovern married Simon Curtis, a British film director and producer. They have two daughters and live in Chiswick, London.
Images for kids
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Elizabeth McGovern at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival
See also
In Spanish: Elizabeth McGovern para niños
