Lauren Ambrose
| Lauren Ambrose | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso February 20, 1978 New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Sam Handel (m. 2001) |
| Children | 2 |
 |
Lauren Ambrose (born Lauren Anne D'Ambruoso,[1] February 20, 1978) is an American actress and singer.
Ambrose is most known for her television roles as Claire Fisher in Six Feet Under (2001–2005), for which she won two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and as Jilly Kitzinger in Torchwood: Miracle Day (2011). Her film credits include Can't Hardly Wait (1998), Psycho Beach Party (2000) and Where the Wild Things Are (2009). She is the lead singer of the ragtime band Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class.[2]
As of the 2017–18 Broadway season, Ambrose was playing the lead role of Eliza Doolittle in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of My Fair Lady, a performance for which she was nominated for the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and won the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
Early life
Ambrose was born in New Haven, Connecticut. She is the daughter of Frank D'Ambruoso, a caterer and Anne (née Wachtel), an interior designer. She is of Italian descent on her father's side[3] and German, English, and Irish on her mother's. Ambrose attended Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Connecticut, Wilbur Cross High School, High School in the Community, and the ACES Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven. She is also a trained opera singer who studied voice and opera at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute.
Career
Ambrose began her career in New York theater, mainly in Off-Broadway productions. Her early career also included television appearances, most notably playing supporting guest roles on Law & Order, and a feature guest role on the show in the 1998 episode "Damaged" as Valerie Maxwell, a mentally-challenged young woman raped by a group of popular high school students. Her first film role was In & Out (1997), which was followed by a more prominent role in the high school comedy Can't Hardly Wait (1998). She was the ingenue lead, Florence "Chicklet" Forrest, in the cult favorite Psycho Beach Party (2000). Ambrose began her role on Six Feet Under in early 2001. She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Supporting Role Emmy Award twice, following the 2002 and 2003 seasons of the critically acclaimed drama.
In 2006, Ambrose made her Broadway debut in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of Awake and Sing!. In 2007, she appeared as Juliet in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, to great critical acclaim. She appeared as Ophelia in the 2008 performance of Hamlet for Shakespeare in the Park.[4] Ambrose returned to Broadway in Exit the King (by Eugène Ionesco) at the Ethel Barrymore Theater on Broadway, opposite Geoffrey Rush and Susan Sarandon. Ambrose provided the voice of the monster KW in Where the Wild Things Are, which was released in 2009.
In 2011, Ambrose appeared in seven of the ten episodes of Torchwood: Miracle Day. She played Jilly Kitzinger, a "sweet-talking PR genius with a heart of stone who's just cornered the most important client of her career and maybe of all time".[5] For her performance as Kitzinger, Ambrose received a Saturn Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress In Television.[6]
Ambrose is the lead singer of Lauren Ambrose and the Leisure Class, a ragtime dixieland jazz band formed in 2009. They have performed several times at Joe's Pub and charity events.[7]
Ambrose had been previously set to play Fanny Brice in a 2012 Broadway-bound revival of Funny Girl directed by Bartlett Sher, but the production was indefinitely postponed due to financial concerns.[8] In March 2018 Ambrose started appearing as Eliza Doolittle in a new Broadway revival of My Fair Lady directed by Sher,[9][10] a performance for which she was nominated for the 2018 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and won the 2018 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical.
Personal life
Ambrose has been married to professional photographer Sam Handel[11] since September 2001. They have two children.[12][13][14]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | In & Out | Vicky Rayburn | |
| 1998 | Can't Hardly Wait | Denise Fleming | |
| 1998 | Summertime's Calling Me | Tami | |
| 2000 | Swimming | Frankie Wheeler | |
| 2000 | Psycho Beach Party | Florence "Chicklet" Forrest | |
| 2004 | Admissions | Evie Brighton | |
| 2006 | Diggers | Zoey | |
| 2007 | Starting Out in the Evening | Heather Wolfe | |
| 2009 | A Dog Year | Emma | |
| 2009 | Cold Souls | Stephanie | |
| 2009 | Where the Wild Things Are | KW | Voice |
| 2009 | Tonight at Noon | Mae | |
| 2009 | The Other Woman | Mindy | |
| 2011 | Grassroots | Emily Bowen | |
| 2011 | I'm Coming Over | Greta | Short film |
| 2011 | About Sunny | Angela | Also producer |
| 2012 | Sleepwalk with Me | Abby | |
| 2012 | Wanderlust | Almond | |
| 2012 | The River | Maria | Short film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Law & Order | Jessica | Episode: "Skin Deep" |
| 1993 | Law & Order | Maureen McKinnon | Episode: "Pride and Joy" |
| 1995 | The State | Audience Member | Episode: "3.10" |
| 1998 | Law & Order | Valerie Maxwell | Episode: "Damaged" |
| 1999 | Party of Five | Myra Wringler | 5 episodes |
| 2001–2005 | Six Feet Under | Claire Fisher | 63 episodes |
| 2008 | The Return of Jezebel James | Coco Tompkins | 6 episodes |
| 2009 | Loving Leah | Leah Lever | Television film |
| 2011 | Torchwood: Miracle Day | Jilly Kitzinger | 7 episodes |
| 2011 | Weekends at Bellevue | Ellie Harlow | Pilot |
| 2012 | Coma | Susan Wheeler | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Robot Chicken | Anita Radcliffe / Natasha Fatale (voices) | Episode: "Papercut to Aorta" |
| 2013 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Vanessa Mayer | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | Deliverance Creek | Belle Gatlin Barlow | Television film |
| 2015 | Dig | Debbie Morgan | 8 episodes |
| 2015 | Broad Squad | Eileen | Pilot |
| 2016–2018 | The X-Files | Special Agent Liz Einstein | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | The Interestings | Jules Jacobson | Pilot |
Video game
| Year | Title | Voice role |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | The Darkness | Jenny Romano |
Stage
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Buried Child | Shelly | Royal National Theatre |
| 2006 | Awake and Sing! | Hennie Berger | Belasco Theatre |
| 2007 | Romeo and Juliet | Juliet | Delacorte Theatre |
| 2008 | Hamlet | Ophelia | Delacorte Theatre |
| 2009 | Exit the King | Queen Marie | Ethel Barrymore Theatre |
| 2018 | My Fair Lady | Eliza Doolittle | Vivian Beaumont Theatre |
Awards and nominations
References
- ↑ JOHNSON, MALCOLM (June 26, 2007). "TIMELESS TRAGEDY OF LOVE". www.courant.com Hartford Courant. Retrieved April 22, 2009.
- ↑ Lauren Ambrose music biography
- ↑ Windy City Times. "Windy City Times - Interview: Six Feet Under's Lauren Ambrose". Windycitymediagroup.com. Retrieved 2016-06-23.
- ↑ Public Theater - Shakespeare in the Park Archived 2008-05-09 at the Wayback Machine.
- ↑ Hibberd, James. "'Six Feet Under' star Lauren Ambrose joins 'Torchwood' -- EXCLUSIVE". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 14, 2011.
- ↑ Goldberg, Matt (February 29, 2012). "Saturn Award Nominations Announced; HUGO and HARRY POTTER Lead with 10 Nominations Each". Collider. Retrieved March 1, 2012.
- ↑ Schulman, Michael (November 13, 2009). "Lauren Ambrose's Jazz Habit". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 31, 2014.
- ↑ Gans, Andrew (November 3, 2011). "Los Angeles and Broadway Engagements of Funny Girl Postponed". Playbill. Archived from the original on November 4, 2011.
- ↑ Fierberg, Ruthie; Hetrick, Adam. "Read Reviews for Broadway’s Latest Revival of 'My Fair Lady', Starring Lauren Ambrose" Playbill, April 19, 2018
- ↑ Deb, Sopan (October 5, 2017). "Lauren Ambrose to Star in 'My Fair Lady' on Broadway". The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2017.
- ↑ "main". Samhandel.com. Archived from the original on December 30, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2013.
- ↑ Alison Singh Gee. "Six Feet Under's Lauren Ambrose Has a Boy". People.
- ↑ T.L. Stanley (August 25, 2012). "Lauren Ambrose in fully engaged in 'Coma' on A&E". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
- ↑ Nigel M. Smith (August 28, 2012). "'Sleepwalk With Me' star Lauren Ambrose on saying goodbye to 'Six Feet Under' and why she took on A&E medical thriller 'Coma'". Indiewire. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
External links
- Lauren Ambrose on IMDb
- Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lauren Ambrose at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Lauren Ambrose at AllMovie
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