Joan Allen was born on August 20, 1956, in Rochelle, Illinois. After graduating in 1976 from Northern Illinois University, she got her acting start as a member of the ensemble for the Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Before becoming a recognizable film actress, Joan enjoyed considerable success in theatrical performances. Her Broadway debut was in the 1988 play Burn This, and her performance would earn her the Tony Award for Best Actress. The following year, she was again nominated for her performance in The Heidi Chronicles.

Allen has enjoyed a two decade career on the big screen, a testament to her remarkable abilities. Her debut performance was in the 1985 film Compromising Positions. Unfortunately, the film was not a critical or commercial success, and Joan would spend the next several years acting in marginally successful films, including the 1986 film Peggy Sue Got Married, which also featured the then little-known Jim Carrey. In 1993, Allen increased her profile when she played the mother of a Chess prodigy in the Oscar nominated Searching for Bobby Fisher. The next several years would see Joan’s talent finally receiving its much-deserved critical acclaim. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Nixon and The Crucible. Her starring role in the 2002 political thriller The Contender earned her another nod, this time for Best Actress. Since her last nomination, she has shared the screen with Matt Damon in The Bourne Supremacy, starred in Yes, and The Upside of Anger, and is set to star in the upcoming flicks Good Sharma and The Bourne Ultimatum. Like many successful actors, Joan takes her craft very seriously and makes great efforts to prepare for her roles. When she played a blind woman in the film Manhunter, for example, she went to a school for the blind and wore a blindfold for several days to make her portrayal more realistic.

Allen married television and screen actor Peter Friedman, who has appeared in such films as Single White Female and Someone Like You, in 1990. The couple gave birth to daughter Sadie in 1994. Although they separated in 2002, the couple remains on good terms. Presently, they live close to each other and share custody of their only child.

YUDDY