Photo: Jared Purdy at https://www.flickr.com/photos/jaredpurdy/, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia CommonsJoan Allen
American actress (born 1956)
- Born August 20, 1956
- 10 movies
Joan Allen is an American actress, born on 20 August 1956 in Rochelle, Illinois, whose career runs from Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company to Broadway and Hollywood. She won a Tony Award for her Broadway debut in Burn This and earned three Academy Award nominations: for Nixon, The Crucible and The Contender. Her specialty is control under pressure, women whose composure tells you more than an outburst would. Wider audiences know her as CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy in the Bourne films, and she won a Canadian Screen Award for Room.
Joan Allen appears in 10 films in The Rerun, from 1986 to 2012. Most of that work is in thriller, action and spy. Frequent collaborators in The Rerun: Brian Cox (3), Scott Glenn (2), Albert Finney (2), Paul Greengrass (2), Franka Potente (2).
Known for
- Nixon (1995). Earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the Academy Award.
- The Contender (2000). Earned a Best Actress nomination for the Academy Award.
- Face/Off (1997).
- The Bourne Supremacy (2004).
Career
Allen joined Steppenwolf in 1977 at John Malkovich’s invitation and spent a decade on stage before her film debut in Compromising Positions (1985). Broadway success came quickly with Burn This opposite Malkovich and The Heidi Chronicles. Her screen run from the mid-1990s was remarkable: Pat Nixon in Oliver Stone’s Nixon, Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible, a brittle suburban wife in The Ice Storm, and a quiet awakening in Pleasantville.
The Contender (2000) brought a Best Actress nomination, and TNT’s The Mists of Avalon an Emmy nomination. She played against type in Face/Off, led The Upside of Anger, and joined the Bourne series in 2004. She returned to Broadway in 2009 with Impressionism and later in The Waverly Gallery, and her supporting turn in the Canadian co-production Room won her a Canadian Screen Award.
Where to start
- Nixon (1995): the first of her Oscar nominations, and the film’s moral centre.
- Face/Off (1997): proof she can hold her own inside a John Woo action machine.
- The Bourne Supremacy (2004): Pamela Landy’s arrival, crisp and formidable.
- The Crucible (1996) and The Ice Storm (1997): two of her finest performances, back to back.
Movies
Quick answers
- What movies and TV shows has Joan Allen been in?
- Joan Allen appears in The Bourne Legacy (2012), Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009), Death Race (2008), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), The Notebook (2004), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), Pleasantville (1998), Face/Off (1997), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) and Manhunter (1986) on The Remote.
- When was Joan Allen born?
- Joan Allen was born on 20 August 1956.
Before you go