Ellen Barkin

**Ellen Rona Barkin** is an American actress who made her breakthrough in the 1982 film Diner. Her early career saw her in starring roles in films like Tender Mercies (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984), The Big Easy (1986), Johnny Handsome, and Sea of Love (both 1989). In 1991, Barkin's lead role in the film 'Switch' earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She has also featured in notable films including Man Trouble, Into the West (both 1992), This Boy's Life (1993), Bad Company, Wild Bill (both 1995), The Fan (1996), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), and Ocean's Thirteen (2007). Barkin received a Primetime Emmy Award in 1998 for her role in the television film 'Before Women Had Wings'. Her Broadway theatre debut in The Normal Heart fetched her the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2011. Barkin has extensively worked in television, with notable roles in the TNT drama series Animal Kingdom and the NBC sitcom The New Normal. She has also produced films like Letters to Juliet, Shit Year (both 2010), and Another Happy Day (2011). Born on April 16, 1954, in the Bronx, New York, Barkin is the daughter of Evelyn (née Rozin), a hospital administrator at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. She completed her high school education at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts before pursuing history and drama at Hunter College. Barkin trained at New York City's Actors Studio. Barkin's personal life has seen two marriages; first to actor Gabriel Byrne and later to billionaire Ronald Perelman. Barkin is also the mother of two children, Jack Daniel and Romy Marion.