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Jennifer Connelly extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Jennifer Connelly
Connelly at the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	Jennifer Lynn Connelly December 12, 1970 (1970-12-12) (age 39) Catskill Mountains, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984-present
Spouse(s)	Paul Bettany (m. 2003–present) «start: (2003)»"Marriage: Paul Bettany to Jennifer Connelly" Location: (linkback:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Connelly)
Domestic partner(s)	David Dugan Billy Campbell (1991-1996)

Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an American film actress and former child model. Although starring as early as a teenager in films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Labyrinth and Career Opportunities, she gained critical acclaim following her work in the 1998 science fiction film Dark City, 2000 drama Requiem for a Dream, and the 2001 biopic A Beautiful Mind, for which she won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as the BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Early career 3 Breakthrough and 2000s 4 Personal life 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

Early life

Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains of New York, the daughter of Ilene, an antiques dealer, and Gerard Connelly, a clothing manufacturer who worked in the garment industry.¹² Connelly's father was of Irish Catholic and Norwegian descent, and Connelly's mother was Jewish, a descendant of immigrants from Russia and Poland³⁴ (Connelly's mother was schooled in a yeshiva).⁵ Connelly was raised in Brooklyn Heights, near the Brooklyn Bridge, and attended St. Ann's private school, except for four years the family spent living in Woodstock, New York.⁶ One of her father's friends was an advertising executive, who suggested that she audition at a modeling agency.

At the age of ten, Connelly's career started in newspaper and magazine ads, then moved to television commercials. These led to movie auditions and her first film role was as "young Deborah Gelly", a supporting role in Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster epic, Once Upon a Time in America, filmed mostly in 1982 when she was eleven.⁷ She next starred in Italian horror-director Dario Argento's Phenomena (1985) and in the coming-of-age movie Seven Minutes in Heaven. Balancing work and school, Connelly enrolled at Yale University where she studied English, and later transferred to and graduated from Stanford University.

Early career

Connelly became a star with her next picture, the fantasy Labyrinth (1986), playing Sarah, a teenager who wishes her baby brother into the world of goblins ruled by goblin king Jareth (David Bowie), where she then must journey to retrieve him; the film disappointed at the box office, but became a cult classic in later years with a large fan following still in existence. Connelly starred in several obscure films, such as Etoile (1988) and Some Girls (1988). The Dennis Hopper-directed The Hot Spot (1990) was not a success, critically or commercially; it would be the first of seven movies in which she appeared nude.

Connelly was featured on the cover of Esquire in August 1991, as part of the "Women We Love" feature.⁸ She appeared alongside Jason Priestley in the Roy Orbison music video for "I Drove All Night" in 1992.

The big-budget Disney film The Rocketeer (1991) similarly failed to ignite Connelly's career; after its failure, she took some time off from acting. The 1996 independent film Far Harbor played her against type and hinted at a much broader range than she had previously shown. Connelly began to appear in smaller but well-regarded films, such as 1997's Inventing the Abbotts and 2000's Waking the Dead. She played a collegiate lesbian in John Singleton's 1995 ensemble drama, Higher Learning. The critically favored 1998 science fiction film Dark City afforded her the chance to work with such actors as Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Ian Richardson, and Kiefer Sutherland. Connelly revisited her ingenue image, although in a more understated way, for the 2000 biopic Pollock, in which she played Jackson Pollock's mistress.

Breakthrough and 2000s

Connelly's big breakthrough was the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream. Connelly starred alongside Jared Leto and Marlon Wayans as drug addicts on the edge of a breakdown. Connelly next starred in Ron Howard's film A Beautiful Mind (2001), essaying the role of Alicia Nash, the long-suffering wife of the brilliant, schizophrenic mathematician John Forbes Nash, Jr. (played by Russell Crowe). The film was a critical and commercial success and earned Connelly a Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress; Time magazine called her performance "luminous".⁹

Connelly starred in two films in 2003: Hulk and House of Sand and Fog. Hulk was a moderate success at the box office and afforded Connelly the chance to work with noted director Ang Lee. House of Sand and Fog, based on the novel by Andre Dubus III, was reminiscent of much of her independent film work of the late 1990s. Connelly appeared in the 2005 horror film Dark Water, which was based on a Japanese film. In 2006, Connelly appeared in two films, both of which were nominated for multiple Academy Awards. She played a major role in an adaptation of the novel Little Children alongside Kate Winslet. Although her role as Kathy Adamson is very important in the novel, director Todd Field gave her character less screen time, instead focusing on the characters played by Winslet and Patrick Wilson. She played a journalist in Blood Diamond opposite Leonardo DiCaprio. She next appeared in Reservation Road with Joaquin Phoenix, which was given a limited release in the fall of 2007.

Connelly appeared alongside Keanu Reeves in the 2008 remake of the 1951 sci-fi film The Day The Earth Stood Still. Her 2009 roles include the costume drama biopic Creation, in which she plays Emma Darwin, wife of Charles Darwin, played by her real-life husband, Paul Bettany. She also co-starred in a role opposite Jennifer Aniston and Ginnifer Goodwin in the 2008 romantic comedy He's Just Not That Into You.

In 2008, she was named the face of Balenciaga's ads,¹⁰ as well as the new face for Revlon cosmetics.¹¹

Personal life

Connelly has a son, Kai (born 1997), from her relationship with photographer David Dugan.¹² She is married to actor Paul Bettany, whom she met while working on A Beautiful Mind. The couple's son, Stellan (named after their friend, actor Stellan Skarsgård),¹³ was born on August 5, 2003. His godfather is the actor Charlie Condou.

Connelly was a vegan for years, but resumed eating meat when pregnant with Kai.¹⁴

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1984	Once Upon a Time in America	Young Deborah Gelly
	Phenomena	Jennifer Corvino
1985	Seven Minutes in Heaven	Natalie Becker
1986	Labyrinth	Sarah Williams
1988	Ballet	Claire Hamilton / Natalie Horvath
	Some Girls	Gabriella d'Arc
1990	The Hot Spot	Gloria Harper
1991	Career Opportunities	Josie McClellan
	The Rocketeer	Jenny Blake	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
1992	The Heart of Justice	Emma Burgess	TV Movie
1994	Of Love and Shadows	Irene
1995	Higher Learning	Taryn
1996	Mulholland Falls	Allison Pond
	Far Harbor	Ellie
1997	Inventing the Abbotts	Eleanor Abbott
1998	Dark City	Emma Murdoch / Anna
2000	Waking the Dead	Sarah Williams
	Requiem for a Dream	Marion Silver	Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress
	Pollock	Ruth Kligman
2001	A Beautiful Mind	Alicia Nash	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress American Film Institute Award for Best Supporting Actres BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actress Nominated — Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2003	Hulk	Betty Ross	Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress
	House of Sand and Fog	Kathy Nicolo	Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Nominated — Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
2005	Dark Water	Dahlia Williams
2006	Little Children	Kathy Adamson
	Blood Diamond	Maddy Bowen
2007	Reservation Road	Grace Learner
2008	The Day the Earth Stood Still	Helen Benson
	Inkheart	Roxane	Cameo
2009	He's Just Not That Into You	Janine
	9	7 (voice only)
	Creation	Emma Darwin
2010	What's Wrong with Virginia	Virginia

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jennifer Connelly

• Jennifer Connelly at the Internet Movie Database
• Jennifer Connelly at Yahoo! Movies
• Jennifer Connelly Blood Diamond interview with Leonardo DiCaprio
• Jennifer Connelly at TV.com

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Persondata
NAME	Connelly, Jennifer
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Connelly, Jennifer Lynn
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American actress
DATE OF BIRTH	December 12, 1970
PLACE OF BIRTH	Catskill Mountains, New York, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH