Ellen Barkin

Born in the Bronx, N.Y., on April 16, 1954, blond bombshell Ellen Barkin earned her acting stripes in off-Broadway theater before scoring her first on-camera role in the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow."

But it was her husky voice and smoldering good looks that earned her attention as one of the hottest screen sirens of the 1980s, starring opposite leading men such as Dennis Quaid, Gabriel Byrne (who would later become her husband) and Al Pacino in films including The Big Easy (1987), Siesta (1987) and Sea of Love (1989).

After a standout dramatic role opposite Robert De Niro in This Boy's Life (1993), Barkin turned her attention back to television, a strategy that earned her an Emmy Award for her role as an embittered alcoholic in the Oprah Winfrey-produced made-for-television movie Before Women Had Wings (1997).

Filmography