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Annette Bening
Bening at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Annette Francine Bening May 29, 1958 (1958-05-29) (age 50) Topeka, Kansas
Years active	1986 - present
Spouse(s)	J. Steven White (1984-1991) Warren Beatty (1992-)
Awards won BAFTA Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role 1999 American Beauty Golden Globe Awards Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 2004 Being Julia Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Cast in a Motion Picture 1999 American Beauty Outstanding Actress - Motion Picture 1999 American Beauty Other awards NBR Award for Best Actress 2004 Being Julia NSFC Award for Best Supporting Actress 1990 The Grifters OFCS Award for Best Ensemble 1999 American Beauty SDFCS Award for Best Actress 1999 American Beauty Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 2004 Being Julia SEFCA Award for Best Actress 2004 Being Julia Walk of Fame - Motion Picture 6927 Hollywood Blvd

Annette Francine Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an Academy Award-nominated and Golden Globe-, BAFTA- and Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actress.

Biography

Early life

Bening was born in Topeka, Kansas, the daughter of Shirley, a church singer and soloist, and Grant Bening, a sales training consultant and insurance salesman.¹² Her parents, natives of Iowa, were practicing Episcopalians and conservative Republicans.³⁴ Her sister and two brothers are Jane Bening (born 1953), Bradley Bening (born 1955) and Byron Bening (born 1957). The family moved to Wichita, Kansas, in 1959, where she spent her early childhood. In 1965, her father took a job with a company in San Diego, California, and they moved there. She began acting in junior high school, playing the lead in The Sound of Music. She studied drama at Patrick Henry High School.

She then spent a year working as a cook on a charter boat taking fishing parties out on the Pacific Ocean, and scuba diving for recreation. She attended San Diego Mesa College, then completed an academic degree in theatre arts at San Francisco State University. Bening joined the acting company at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco while studying acting as part of the Advanced Theatre Training Program. During this time she established herself as a formidable acting talent in roles like Shakespeare's Lady Macbeth.

Career

Bening moved to New York City, where she debuted off-Broadway at Second Stage Theatre (McGinn-Cazale Theatre) in the role of 'Holly Dancer' in Tina Howe's widely acclaimed Coastal Disturbances (1986) opposite Tim Daly. However, despite the praise and recognition, it took some time for that success to translate to her film career. Her television debut was with the made-for-TV movie Manhunt for Claude Dallas (1986). Her first major role in a theatrical feature was in The Great Outdoors (1988) playing 'Kate Craig' opposite Dan Aykroyd and John Candy. Her next role was as the Marquise de Merteuil in Valmont (1989) opposite Colin Firth.

Bening's next major feature, Stephen Frears's The Grifters (1990) starring Anjelica Huston and John Cusack, met with critical acclaim. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Grifters. She followed that with her appearance in Bugsy. Bening was offered the role as Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992), but after she became pregnant, the role went to Michelle Pfeiffer. In 1994 she played opposite 90-year old acting legend Katharine Hepburn in Love Affair. Bening was paid $3 million to play the role of 'Elise Kraft/Sharon Bridger' in The Siege (1998) co-starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis. Her next role, in the 1999 film American Beauty, would give her the highest-profile role of her career thus far. Bening played a real-estate agent in three different movies: Regarding Henry, American Beauty, and What Planet Are You From?. She has appeared in three different Mike Nichols' movies: Postcards From The Edge, Regarding Henry, and What Planet Are You From?

She was originally cast as the mother in Disney's Freaky Friday, but dropped out. She replaced Julianne Moore in her most recent appearance, Running with Scissors, playing Deirdre Burroughs in the film adaptation of the Augusten Burroughs book. On December 9, 2006, Bening hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guests Gwen Stefani and Akon.

Bening is a council member for the California Arts Council.

Personal life

In 1985, she and her first husband, choreographer J. Steven White, moved to Denver, Colorado, to work at the Shakespeare Festival⁵ in Boulder, Colorado. They separated the following year.

She and Warren Beatty met on the set of Bugsy (1991), in which she played Virginia Hill, and the two began a secret romance. They married in 1992. She and Beatty live in Los Angeles with their four children, Kathlyn Elizabeth Beatty (born January 8, 1992 in Los Angeles County, California), Benjamin MacLean Beatty (born August 23, 1994 in Los Angeles County, California), Isabel Ira Ashley Beatty (born January 11, 1997) and Ella Corinne Beatty (born April 8, 2000). Her marriage to Beatty provided an additional push to her career, simply because of the large amount of tabloid publicity surrounding the romance and marriage; Beatty had been a life-long "most eligible bachelor" and was considered a playboy, before he met Bening.

She is a student of Iyengar Yoga.

Award nominations

Academy Awards

Nominations:

• 1990 - Best Supporting Actress - The Grifters
• 1999 - Best Leading Actress - American Beauty
• 2004 - Best Leading Actress - Being Julia

BAFTA Awards

For BAFTA awards, see the Infobox.

Nominations:

• 1992 - Best Actress in a Supporting Role - The Grifters

Emmy Awards

Nominations:

• 2006 - Outstanding Lead Actress - Miniseries or a Movie - Mrs. Harris

Golden Globe Awards

For Golden Globe awards, see the Infobox.

Nominations:

• 1992 - Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama - Bugsy
• 1996 - Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama - The American President
• 2000 - Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama - American Beauty
• 2007 - Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy - Running with Scissors
• 2007 - Best Actress in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television - Mrs. Harris

Screen Actors Guild Awards

For Screen Actors Guild Awards, see the Infobox.

Nominations:

• 2005 - Best Actress - Motion Picture - Being Julia

Filmography

• The Great Outdoors (1988) ... Kate Craig
• Valmont (1989) ... Merteuil
• Postcards from the Edge (1990) ... Evelyn Ames
• The Grifters (1990) ... Myra Langtry
• Guilty by Suspicion (1991) ... Ruth Merrill
• Regarding Henry (1991) ... Sarah Turner
• Bugsy (1991) ... Virginia Hill
• Love Affair (1994) ... Terry McKay
• Richard III (1995) ... Queen Elizabeth
• The American President (1995) ... Sydney Ellen Wade
• Mars Attacks! (1996) ... Barbara Land
• The Siege (1998) ... Elise Kraft/Sharon Bridger
• In Dreams (1999) ... Claire Cooper
• American Beauty (1999) ... Carolyn Burnham
• What Planet Are You From? (2000) ... Susan Anderson
• Open Range (2003) ... Sue Barlow
• Being Julia (2004) ... Julia Lambert
• Mrs. Harris (2005) ... Jean Harris
• Running with Scissors (2006) ... Deirdre Burroughs
• 14 Women (2007) ... Narrator
• The Women (2008) ... Sylvia Fowler

References

External links

• Annette Bening at the Internet Movie Database
• Annette Bening at the Internet Broadway Database
• Annette Bening at Allmovie
• Roger Ebert "Movie Answer Man: Hail, Columbia! Mystery solved". Retrieved Aug. 27, 2005.