Elizabeth Perkins | |
|---|---|
 Perkins in 2008 | |
| Born | Elizabeth Ann Perkins November 18, 1960 |
| Education | DePaul University |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
Elizabeth Ann Perkins (born November 18, 1960[1]) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in films including About Last Night (1986), Big (1988), Avalon (1990), and He Said, She Said (1991), The Flintstones (1994), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), and her brief voice role as Coral in the Disney/Pixar animated film Finding Nemo (2003). She is also well known for her role as Celia Hodes in the Showtime TV series Weeds, for which she received three Primetime Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations.
Perkins's paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants from Salonika who anglicized their surname from "Pisperikos" to "Perkins" when they moved to the United States.[2][3][4]
Perkins was raised in Colrain, Massachusetts; her parents divorced in 1963.[5] She began working in theatre with Arena Civic Theatre, a non-profit community theatre group based in Greenfield, Massachusetts.[6] Perkins attended Northfield Mount Hermon School, an elite preparatory school, and then spent 1978 to 1981 in Chicago attaining her Certificate in Acting from the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University.[5] In 1984, she made her theatrical debut on Broadway in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs[7] and afterward, worked in a number of ensemble companies, including The New York Shakespeare Festival and the Steppenwolf Theater.[8]
She was listed as one of the 12 "Promising New Actors of 1986" in John Willis' Screen World, and has since landed numerous film roles. Perkins made her film debut in 1986 in Edward Zwick's About Last Night... and had a career breakthrough co-starring with Tom Hanks in Big. She received critical acclaim for her performance in Barry Levinson's Avalon,[9] and was a standout opposite William Hurt in The Doctor (1991), receiving critical acclaim for her performance as a terminal cancer patient.[5] In 1993, Perkins appeared in the television project For Their Own Good.[10] She later starred in the comedy series Battery Park and has appeared in television and films, including 1994's The Flintstones (starring as Wilma Flintstone) and Miracle on 34th Street (starring as Dorey Walker), and 2000's 28 Days (starring as Sandra Bullock's sister). Perkins also played a small voice role in 2003's Finding Nemo as Coral, a clownfish who is Marlin's wife and Nemo's mom that gets killed and eaten by a barracuda at the beginning of the film. Perkins also appeared as a psychiatrist in 2005's The Ring Two, starring as Naomi Watts.
From 2005 to 2009, Perkins played Celia Hodes, an alcoholic and image-obsessed parent–teacher association (PTA) mother, alongside Mary-Louise Parker and Justin Kirk on the Showtime series Weeds. For her work on Weeds, Perkins received two Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress in a TV Series, Miniseries or Made for TV Motion Picture (in 2006 and 2007).[5] She was also nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Weeds.[5] At a screening of the season 2 finale of Weeds, at the Museum of TV and Radio on October 25, 2006, Perkins said that she considers Celia Hodes her favorite role in her career.[5] On May 6, 2010, she announced that the fifth season of Weeds was her last despite the cliffhanger her character had in the season finale.[11]
She starred in the ABC comedy series How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life).[12] She played Birdie in the Netflix original series GLOW.
Perkins married Terry Kinney in 1984; they divorced in 1988.[13] She has one daughter with Maurice Phillips. In 2000, she married Argentinian-born cinematographer Julio Macat, gaining three stepsons: Maximillian, Alexander and Andreas.[14]
In 2005, at the age of 44, she learned that she had latent autoimmune diabetes, a form of type 1 diabetes that is most often diagnosed in middle age.[15]
In 2017, Perkins held a sign naming the actor James Woods above the hashtag #MeToo during a rally against sexual harassment in Los Angeles.[16]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | About Last Night | Joan | |
| 1987 | From the Hip | Jo Ann | |
| 1988 | Big | Susan Lawrence | |
| Sweet Hearts Dance | Adie Nims | ||
| 1990 | Love at Large | Stella Wynkowski | |
| Enid Is Sleeping | June | ||
| Avalon | Ann Kaye | ||
| 1991 | He Said, She Said | Lorie Bryer | |
| The Doctor | June Ellis | ||
| 1993 | Indian Summer | Jennifer Morton | |
| 1994 | The Flintstones | Wilma Flintstone | |
| Miracle on 34th Street | Dorey Walker | ||
| 1995 | Moonlight and Valentino | Rebecca Trager Lott | |
| 1997 | Lesser Prophets | Susan | |
| 1998 | I'm Losing You | Aubrey Wicker | |
| 1999 | Crazy in Alabama | Joan Blake | |
| 2000 | 28 Days | Lily Cummings | |
| 2001 | Cats & Dogs | Mrs. Caroline Brody | |
| 2002 | All I Want | Blanche | AKA, Try Seventeen |
| 2003 | Finding Nemo | Coral | Voice |
| 2004 | Gilded Stones | Polly | Short film |
| Speak | Joyce Sordino | ||
| Jiminy Glick in Lalawood | Miranda Coolidge | ||
| 2005 | The Ring Two | Dr. Emma Temple | |
| The Thing About My Folks | Rachel Kleinman | ||
| Must Love Dogs | Carol Nolan | ||
| Fierce People | Mrs. Langley | ||
| Kids in America | Sondra Carmichael | ||
| 2011 | Hop | Bonnie O'Hare | |
| 2016 | Ghostbusters | Phyllis Adler | Uncredited |
| 2021 | My Little Pony: A New Generation | Phyllis Cloverleaf | Voice role[17] |
| 2023 | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse | Aunt May Parker |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | For Their Own Good | Sally Wheeler | Television film |
| 1997 | Cloned | Skye Weston | |
| Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women | Gertruda Babilinska | ||
| 1998 | From the Earth to the Moon | Marilyn Lovell | Episode: "The Original Wives Club" |
| 2000 | If These Walls Could Talk 2 | Alice Hedley | Television film |
| Battery Park | Captain Madeline Dunleavy | 6 episodes | |
| 2001 | What Girls Learn | Mama | Television film |
| 2002 | My Sister's Keeper | Judy Chapman | |
| 2002–04 | King of the Hill | Jan Shaw, Mrs. Ashmore, Sherilyn (voice) | Episodes: "Get Your Freak Off," "How I Learned to Stop Worrying," "The Redneck on Rainey Street" |
| 2005 | Hercules | Alcmene | 2 episodes |
| 2005–09 | Weeds | Celia Hodes | 63 episodes |
| 2009 | Monk | Christine Rapp | Episode: "Mr. Monk's Favorite Show" |
| 2011 | Vince Uncensored | Janet Donohue | Television film |
| The Closer | Gail Meyers | Episode: "Road Block" | |
| 2013 | How to Live with Your Parents (For the Rest of Your Life) |
Elaine Green | 13 episodes |
| 2014 | Hell's Kitchen | Herself | Episode: "15 Chefs Compete" |
| How to Get Away with Murder | Marren Trudeau | Episode: "Let's Get to Scooping" | |
| One Child | Katherine Ashley | 3 episodes | |
| 2017–20 | This Is Us | Janet Malone | 5 episodes |
| 2017–19 | GLOW | Birdie | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Curb Your Enthusiasm | Marilyn | |
| 2018 | Sharp Objects | Jackie O'Neill | 8 episodes |
| 2019 | Corporate | The Accountant | Episode: "The Expense Report" |
| The Moodys | Ann Moody | Main role[18] | |
| 2019–20 | Truth Be Told | Melanie Cave | |
| 2022 | Barry | Diane Villa | 3 episodes |
| Minx | Constance | Episode 2.1 | |
| 2023 | The Afterparty | Isabel Minnows | Main role (Season 2) |
| The Morning Show | Elena | Episode: "Update Your Priors" |
| Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | CFCA Award | Best Supporting Actress | The Doctor | Nominated |
| 2005 | Satellite Award | Outstanding Actress in a Series, Comedy or Musical | Weeds | Nominated |
| 2006 | Satellite Award | Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or TV Movie | Nominated | |
| Golden Globe Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or TV Movie | Nominated | ||
| Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2007 | Nominated | |||
| Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or TV Movie | Nominated | ||
| Golden Nymph | Outstanding Actress – Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2019 | Critics' Choice Television Award | Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries[19] | Sharp Objects | Nominated |
