Went to ivy-league Yale college to study dramatic arts.
Patricia Davies Clarkson (born December 29, 1959) is an American actress. She has starred in many films and television series, including The Station Agent (2003), The Green Mile (1999), Far from Heaven (2002), Dogville (2003), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), Cairo Time (2009), Shutter Island (2010), and The Party (2017). She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Pieces of a Woman (2020).
Early Life
Patricia Clarkson was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the daughter of Jackie, a schoolteacher, and Arthur Clarkson, a politician. She has three older siblings. Her paternal grandfather was of Irish and English descent, and her paternal grandmother was of Danish ancestry. Through her father, she is a cousin of U.S. Representative Jerry Moran.
Clarkson graduated from high school in 1977 and then attended Fordham University. She later transferred to Yale University, from which she graduated with a B.A. in English in 1981.
Career
After graduation, Clarkson began her acting career on stage with the Connecticut Repertory Theatre. She appeared in a number of made-for-television films throughout the 1980s, including George Washington (1984), The First Olympics: Athens 1896 (1984), and An Early Frost (1985). She made her feature film debut in The Untouchables (1987).
Clarkson had supporting roles in a number of films throughout the 1990s, including The Dead Pool (1988), Rocket Gibraltar (1988), Jumanji (1995), and The Untouchables (1987). She also had a leading role in the miniseries Tales of the City (1993).
Clarkson’s breakthrough role came in 1998 with the independent film High Art. She subsequently appeared in a number of notable films, including The Green Mile (1999), Far from Heaven (2002), Dogville (2003), Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005), Cairo Time (2009), Shutter Island (2010), and The Party (2017).
In 2020, Clarkson won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Pieces of a Woman.
Personal Life
Clarkson has been married to actor David Robb since 1987. They have two children together.
Physical Characteristics
Clarkson is 5 feet 4 inches tall and has brown hair and blue eyes.
General Info
Full Name
Patricia Clarkson
Net Worth
$3 million
Date Of Birth
December 29, 1959
Height
1.64 m
Profession
Voice Actor
Education
Louisiana State University, Yale School of Drama, Yale University, Fordham University
Nationality
American
Family
Parents
Arthur Clarkson, Jackie Clarkson
Accomplishments
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress, Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Comedy or Musical, National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress, Boston Society of Film Critics Awar...
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture, Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble...
Movies
Learning to Drive, Friends with Benefits, The Station Agent, Pieces of April, Cairo Time, Easy A, The Green Mile, Far from Heaven, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, October Gale, The Untouchables, Whatever Works, High Art, Shutter Island, Elegy, The Dead Pool, Lars and the Real Girl, Maze Runner: The Scorch...
TV Shows
Murder One, Alex Haley's Queen, Davis Rules, American Masters, Wonderland
[on her appearance in the famous "Motherlover" music video feat. Justin Timberlake] It was just an insane moment of my life, to be a part of that video. And one that will follow me the rest of my life. And one that, you know, you realize there are people in this world that only know me from this video. Oh my God, oh my God. But I had the best time doing it.
2
I've dated several men with motorcycles. I would like to say I've dated several poet laureates, but no. I've dated several men with fucking motorcycles. Motorcycles make me love a man more. Any guy who has a motorcycle--you want to be on the back of his motorcycle, and if your feelings were slightly ambivalent, suddenly they're not. When you hang on, it's just wind. And sex. And speed, And hair.
3
I go where I need to go. If I need to look glamorous or spiffy or young, or battling cancer, or a drugged-out and hippie type, it hopefully will be projected in my face. That's the beauty of acting: hopefully it comes through. It's not about hair and makeup, a different color of hair. It's about being malleable. I just always hope it's going to work because you never know.
4
I think most people see me as much darker, more serious and possessing a certain gravitas, when I'm really quite insane. I guess I want everyone to see my insanity. I have a far more nutty and unpredictable side.
5
There were some movies I passed on early on, and some movies I didn't get, some big studio films. But now I look back and I realize that I really came later in life to a kind of career. I was somewhat typecast as suburban "mom" type roles early on. But I've always had this deep voice, so I think it was tough sometimes for directors to cast me as the ingénue. Because I'd walk in and look a certain way, then open my mouth and have this...voice! So I think I sort of grew into my voice, my face, my body as I got older.
Facts
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Fact
1
After working with director Will Gluck she vowed to star in every movie he would make from then on and subsequently starred in his films Friends with Benefits (2011) and Annie (2014).
2
Nominated in the Outstanding Actress in Made for Television Movie FIVE, at The Women's Image Network (WIN) Awards 2012.
For a few years after Roger Dodger (2002) premiered at the 2002 Tribeca Film Festival, she was the girlfriend of Campbell Scott.
5
Has four sisters.
6
The youngest of five girls.
7
In 2003 she was in two different independent films with prominent cast members from Dawson's Creek (1998). In The Station Agent (2003) Michelle Williams played an acquaintance from the same small town as Patricia's character and in Pieces of April (2003) Patricia played the mother of the title character portrayed by Katie Holmes.
8
Was member of the dramatic jury at the Sundance Film Festival in 2000.
9
Credits Ingrid Bergman as one of her favorite actresses, and the reason she became one.