Jill Clayburgh facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh in Griffin and Phoenix (1976)
Born	(1944-04-30)April 30, 1944 New York City, U.S.
Died	November 5, 2010(2010-11-05) (aged 66) Lakeville, Connecticut, U.S.
Education	Sarah Lawrence College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–2010
Spouse(s)	David Rabe ​ (m. 1979)​
Children	2, including Lily Rabe
Relatives	Jim Clayburgh (brother)

Jill Clayburgh (April 30, 1944 – November 5, 2010) was an American actress. She was well-known for her work in plays, TV shows, and movies. She won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress for her big role in An Unmarried Woman (1978). She was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for this film. She received another Academy Award nomination for Starting Over (1979). Jill Clayburgh also earned four Golden Globe nominations for her movie roles.

Early Life and Inspiration

Jill Clayburgh was born in New York City. Her mother, Julia Louise, was an actress. Her father, Albert Henry "Bill" Clayburgh, was a business executive. Her grandmother, Alma Lachenbruch Clayburgh, was an opera singer. Her brother, Jim Clayburgh, designs sets for plays.

When Jill was a child, she saw Jean Arthur play Peter Pan on Broadway. This show made her want to become an actress. She grew up in Manhattan and went to the Brearley School. Later, she studied religion, philosophy, and literature at Sarah Lawrence College. But she decided acting was her true passion. She trained at HB Studio.

Becoming an Actress

Starting Out in Acting

Jill Clayburgh began acting in summer plays while still a student. After college, she joined a theater group in Boston. There, in 1967, she met another young actor, Al Pacino. They acted together in a play called America, Hurrah. They dated for five years and moved to New York City.

In 1968, Jill performed in her first off-Broadway plays. She also appeared on the TV show NYPD and the soap opera Search for Tomorrow. Her first Broadway play was The Sudden and Accidental Re-Education of Horse Johnson in 1968.

Her first movie role was in The Wedding Party (1969). This movie was filmed in 1963, when she was still in college. She played the bride-to-be. Robert De Niro was also in this film.

Success on Stage

Clayburgh and James Earl Jones in Othello (1971)

Jill Clayburgh became well-known for her role in the Broadway musical The Rothschilds (1970–72). It ran for 502 shows. She then played Desdemona in Othello (1971) in Los Angeles. Another big Broadway success was Pippin (1972–75), which ran for 1,944 shows. A critic from The New York Times said she was "all sweet connivance."

During this time, Jill also had small roles in movies and TV shows. These included The Terminal Man (1974) with George Segal. She also guest-starred on shows like Medical Center, Maude, and The Rockford Files. She even hosted Saturday Night Live in 1976. Even with her Broadway success, Jill loved movie acting. She said she liked the "adventure" of movies and going to different places.

Becoming a Movie Star

Jill Clayburgh played Carole Lombard in the 1976 movie Gable and Lombard. Critics praised her performance. She then starred in the TV movie Griffin and Phoenix (1976) with Peter Falk. In this film, her character had a terminal illness. Sadly, Jill Clayburgh later developed the same type of cancer.

In 1976, she had her first big movie hit with the comedy-mystery Silver Streak. She played the love interest of Gene Wilder's character. The film also starred Richard Pryor. In 1977, she had another hit with Semi-Tough, a comedy about American football. She starred with Burt Reynolds and Kris Kristofferson. Critics liked her performance and her chemistry with Burt Reynolds. These films helped her become known for playing "screwball comedy" roles.

Her biggest breakthrough came in 1978 with Paul Mazursky's An Unmarried Woman. She played Erica, a brave wife who deals with being single after her husband leaves her. This role made her a star. Critics loved her performance. Roger Ebert called it "luminous." The New York Times said she was "nothing less than extraordinary."

For An Unmarried Woman, Jill Clayburgh was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

In 1979, Jill Clayburgh had two more successful films. The first was La Luna, filmed in Italy. The second was Starting Over, a romantic comedy with Burt Reynolds and Candice Bergen. Her role in Starting Over earned her a second Oscar nomination.

Critics saw Jill Clayburgh as a new kind of movie star. She was natural and real, like Meryl Streep and Diane Keaton. In 1980, she starred with Michael Douglas in It's My Turn. The next year, she played a Supreme Court justice in First Monday in October with Walter Matthau. Her performance earned her another Golden Globe nomination.

Later Roles

By the mid-1980s, Jill Clayburgh appeared in fewer movies. She focused more on TV movies. These included Where Are the Children? (1986) and Shy People (1987). In Shy People, she played a magazine writer. Roger Ebert called her work in this film "sadly overlooked."

In 1991, she played English actress Jill Ireland in the TV movie Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story. This film showed Ireland's fight against cancer. Critics praised Clayburgh's performance.

Throughout the 1990s, Jill Clayburgh took on more supporting roles. She often played caring mothers. She was in films like Rich in Love (1992) and Naked in New York (1993). She also guest-starred on TV shows like Law & Order and Frasier.

In 2001, she had a main role in the comedy Never Again. Roger Ebert said it was "a reminder of Clayburgh's gifts as an actress." She also had roles on Ally McBeal and The Practice. In 2005, she received an Emmy nomination for her guest appearances on the series Nip/Tuck.

She returned to Broadway in 2006 in Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. She played the mother of Amanda Peet's character. Later that year, she was in the movie Running with Scissors. Her supporting role earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Jill Clayburgh's last films were Love & Other Drugs (2010), where she played Jake Gyllenhaal's mother, and Bridesmaids (2011), where she played Kristen Wiig's mother. Bridesmaids was released after her death.

Personal Life

Jill Clayburgh dated actor Al Pacino from 1967 to 1972. In 1979, she married screenwriter and playwright David Rabe. They had two children: a son named Michael and a daughter, actress Lily Rabe.

Death

Jill Clayburgh had chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of cancer, for over 20 years. She kept her illness private. She passed away from it at her home in Lakeville, Connecticut, on November 5, 2010.

Selected Filmography

See also

In Spanish: Jill Clayburgh para niños