Amy Irving (born September 10, 1953) is an American actress and singer, who has worked in film, stage, and television. Her accolades include an Obie Award, and nominations for two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Awards.
Born in Palo Alto, California, to actors Jules Irving and Priscilla Pointer, Irving was involved in theater in San Francisco before her family moved to New York City during her teenage years. In New York, she made her Broadway theatre debut in The Country Wife (1965–1966) at age 13. Irving studied theater at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater and at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. She made her feature film debut in Brian De Palma's Carrie (1976) and had a lead role in The Fury, a 1978 supernatural thriller.
In 1980, Irving appeared in a Broadway production of Amadeus and the film Honeysuckle Rose (1980). She was cast in Barbra Streisand's musical epic Yentl (1983), for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In 1988, she received an Obie Award for her Off-Broadway performance in a production of The Road to Mecca, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the comedy Crossing Delancey (1988).
Irving went on to appear in the original Broadway production of Broken Glass (1994) and the revival of Three Sisters (1997). In film, she starred in the ensemble comedy Deconstructing Harry (1997), and reprised her role as Sue Snell in (1999) before co-starring opposite Michael Douglas in Steven Soderbergh's crime-drama Traffic (2000). She appeared in the independent films Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001) and Adam (2009). From 2006 to 2007, she starred in the Broadway theatre production of The Coast of Utopia. In 2018, she reunited with Soderbergh, appearing in a supporting role in his horror film Unsane.
Her father co-founded the Actor's Workshop and she was active in local theater as a child. She attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and appeared in several productions there. She also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As a teenager, Irving moved with her family to Manhattan, where her father was appointed the director of the Lincoln Center. She graduated from the Professional Children's School and made her Off-Broadway debut at age 17 in And Chocolate on Her Chin.
Irving auditioned for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, which went to Carrie Fisher. She then starred in the Brian DePalma-directed films Carrie as Sue Snell (her mother was also in Carrie), and The Fury as Gillian Bellaver. In 1999, she reprised her role as Sue Snell in . She starred with Richard Dreyfuss in 1980 in The Competition. Also in 1980, she appeared in Honeysuckle Rose, which also marked her on-screen singing debut. Both her and Dyan Cannon's characters were country-and-western singers, and both actresses did their own singing in the film. In 1983, she featured in Barbra Streisand directorial debut, Yentl, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1984, she co-starred in Micki + Maude. In 1988, she was in Crossing Delancey (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination). That same year, she also gave another singing performance in the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, providing the singing voice for Jessica Rabbit. In 1997, she appeared in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry. Irving also appeared in the TV show Alias as Emily Sloane, portrayed Princess Anjuli in the big-budget miniseries epic The Far Pavilions and headlined the lavish TV production . More recently Irving appeared in the films Traffic (2000), Tuck Everlasting (2002), Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002) and an episode of in 2001.
Irving's stage work includes Amadeus (replacing Jane Seymour due to pregnancy) at the Broadhurst Theatre for nine months, Heartbreak House with Rex Harrison at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Broken Glass at the Booth Theatre and Three Sisters with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Lili Taylor at the Roundabout Theatre. Additional Off-Broadway credits include: The Heidi Chronicles; The Road to Mecca; The Vagina Monologues in both London and New York; The Glass Menagerie with her mother, actress Priscilla Pointer; Celadine, a world premiere at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey; and the 2006 one-woman play, A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop. In 1994, she and Anthony Hopkins hosted the 48th Tony Awards at the Gershwin Theatre, New York.
Irving's last Broadway appearance was in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia at New York's Lincoln Center during its 2006–07 season. In 2009, she played the title role in Saint Joan, in an audio version by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear. In May 2010, Irving made her Opera Theatre of Saint Louis debut in the role of Desiree Armfeldt in Isaac Mizrahi's directorial debut of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. In October 2010, Irving guest-starred in "Unwritten," the third episode of the seventh season of the Fox series House M.D.. In 2013, Irving appeared in a recurring role in Zero Hour. In 2018, she co-starred in the psychological horror film Unsane, directed by Steven Soderbergh.
In April 2023, Irving released her first album, Born In a Trunk, featuring 10 cover songs pulled from her life and career.
In 1989, she became romantically and professionally involved with Brazilian film director Bruno Barreto; they were married in 1996 and divorced in 2005. She has two sons: Max Samuel (with Spielberg), born June 13, 1985; and Gabriel Davis (with Barreto), born May 4, 1990.
She married Kenneth Bowser Jr., a documentary filmmaker, in 2007. He has a daughter, Samantha, from a previous marriage with entertainment lawyer Marilyn Haft. The couple live in a barn converted into a home in rural Westchester County, New York. The building burned down in a fire in 2009, but the couple rebuilt it on the same spot with reclaimed wood, and still live there as of 2025, when the house was profiled in The New York Times "At Home" series. Irving also owns a $9M apartment in New York City which she purchased in 2015.
Career
Personal life
Filmography
Film
Heidi Joan Schoonover Who Framed Roger Rabbit Jessica Rabbit Singing voice Call of the Wylie Mel Short film I'm Not Rappaport Clara Gelber Sue Snell Blue Ridge Fall Ellie Perkins Traffic Barbara Wakefield
Television
Police Woman June Hummel Episode: "The Hit" Happy Days Olivia Episode: "Tell It to the Marines" Dynasty Amanda Blackwood Panache Anne American Masters Novels Voice, episode: "F. Scott Fitzgerald: Winter Dreams"
Stage credits
Ghosts Mrs. A. Classical Stage Co. Celadine Celadine George Street Playhouse Varvara Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Albums
+ List of albums, with selected chart positions and certifications, showing other relevant details
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! scope="col" rowspan="2" style="width:18em;" Album details
! scope="col" colspan="5" Peak chart positions
! scope="col" rowspan="2" Certifications
Accolades
1984 Academy Awards Best Supporting Actress Yentl Drama Desk Award Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Heartbreak House 1987 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Miniseries or Television film 1988 Obie Awards Distinguished Performance by an Actress The Road to Mecca Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Play 1989 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical Crossing Delancey 1994 Drama Desk Award Outstanding Actress in a Play Broken Glass 2001 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture Traffic "Nominations announced for the 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards". Screen Actors Guild. 30 January 2001. Archived from the original on 31 October 2001. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
External links
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