Elizabeth Lee McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including a Screen Actors Guild Award, three

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are awards presented for excellence in both international film and television. It is an annual award ceremony held since 1944 to honor artists and professionals and their work. The ceremony is normally held every Janua ...

nominations, and one Academy Award nomination. Born in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

on July 18, 1961, McGovern spent most of her early life in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. After attending the American Conservatory Theater and the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

, she made her feature film debut in '' Ordinary People'' (1980). For her role as

Evelyn Nesbit Florence Evelyn Nesbit (December 25, 1884 or 1885 – January 17, 1967) was an American model (person), artists' model, chorus girl, and actress. She is best known for her career in New York City, as well as her husband, railroad scion Har ...

in the film adaptation of '' Ragtime'' (1981), she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. She subsequently had lead roles in a number of major studio films, including '' Once Upon a Time in America'' (1984), '' She's Having a Baby'' (1987), '' The Bedroom Window'' (1987), '' The Handmaid's Tale'' (1990), and '' The Wings of the Dove'' (1997). In 2007, McGovern, after years of studying guitar, formed the musical group Sadie and the Hotheads, with whom she has released four studio albums since 2016. She gained further international attention for her portrayal of Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, in the British drama series ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. It first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV (TV network), ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United St ...

'' (2010–2015), for which she was nominated for an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and

. She reprised her role as Cora in the subsequent films ''

'' (2019) and '' Downton Abbey: A New Era'' (2022).

Early life

McGovern was born in

, the daughter of Katharine Wolcott (née Watts), a high school teacher, and William Montgomery McGovern, Jr., a university professor. She is of Irish, English, and Scottish descent. Her younger sister is novelist Cammie McGovern. Her paternal grandfather was adventurer William Montgomery McGovern, her maternal great-grandfathers were U.S. diplomat Ethelbert Watts and Admiral Charles P. Snyder, and her maternal great-great-grandfather was Congressman Charles P. Snyder. When McGovern was 10 years old, she relocated with her family from Illinois to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, where her father accepted a teaching position at UCLA School of Law. She attended North Hollywood High School, where she began performing in school plays. After high school, she attended the American Conservatory Theater in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and studied toward a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama at the

in New York City as a member of Group 12 from 1979 to 1981.

Career

In 1980, while studying at Juilliard, McGovern was offered a part in what became her first film, '' Ordinary People'', in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Conrad Jarrett ( Timothy Hutton). The following year she completed her acting education at the American Conservatory Theater and Juilliard, and began to appear in plays, first

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

and later in famous theaters. In 1981, she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as

in the film '' Ragtime''. She then appeared in ''Beginners'' (1982). In 1984, she starred in Sergio Leone's gangster epic '' Once Upon a Time in America'' as Robert De Niro's romantic interest Deborah Gelly. She had leading roles in two other films that year, '' Racing with the Moon'', a coming-of-age story also starring Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage, and the comedy '' Lovesick'', as a patient whose psychiatrist ( Dudley Moore) falls in love with her, risking his practice. In 1989, she played Mickey Rourke's girlfriend in '' Johnny Handsome'', directed by Walter Hill, and the same year she appeared as a rebellious

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

in Volker Schlöndorff's film '' The Handmaid's Tale''. McGovern co-starred with

Kevin Bacon Kevin Norwood Bacon (born July 8, 1958) is an American actor. Known for various roles, including leading man characters, Bacon has received numerous accolades such as a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Bacon made his featu ...

in a romantic comedy, '' She's Having a Baby'', directed by John Hughes, and starred in the thriller '' The Bedroom Window'', directed by

Curtis Hanson Curtis Lee Hanson (March 24, 1945 – September 20, 2016) was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Born in Reno, Nevada, Hanson grew up in Los Angeles. After dropping out of high school, Hanson worked as photographer and edito ...

. She teamed with Michael Caine in 1990's '' A Shock to the System'', a comic mystery about a man who plots the murder of his wife. In a 1994 comedy, '' The Favor'', McGovern played a woman who cheats on her boyfriend (played by Brad Pitt) by becoming her married best friend's proxy in a tryst with a man the friend has fantasized about. McGovern appeared in a number of films in the 21st century, including '' Woman in Gold'', a drama starring Helen Mirren and directed by her husband Simon Curtis. In 2018, McGovern starred in '' The Chaperone'', directed by Michael Engler and written by Julian Fellowes, whom she also worked with on the British drama series

. Based on the novel by Laura Moriarty, McGovern played Norma Carlisle, a middle-aged wife and mother who volunteers to chaperone the young Louise Brooks to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

to study dance at the Denishawn School. ''The Chaperone'' is the first film that McGovern has also produced. Her husband, Simon Curtis, was an executive producer for the film. McGovern reprised her role as Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham for the ''

'' film in 2019 and its 2022 sequel. The films continue the storyline of the TV series.

Television

McGovern has appeared in several television productions, mostly in the UK. In 1999 and 2000, McGovern played Marguerite St. Just in a

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

television series loosely based on the novel '' The Scarlet Pimpernel''. She also starred in the four-part television crime drama series '' Thursday the 12th'' that same year. On American TV, she appeared in a 2007 episode of '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' titled "

Harm Harm is a morality, moral and law, legal concept with multiple definitions. It generally functions as a synonym for evil or anything that is bad under certain moral systems. Something that causes harm is harmful, and something that does not is har ...

", in which her character of Dr. Faith Sutton was a psychiatrist accused of complicity in detainee abuse. Her other television work includes ''Broken Glass'' ( Arthur Miller, 1996); '' Tales from the Crypt''; '' The Changeling''; ''Tales from Hollywood''; the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

series ''Men and Women'';'' The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt''; '' Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre'' ("Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"); and '' If Not for You'' (CBS 1995, own series). In May 2007, she played Ellen Doubleday, Daphne du Maurier's paramour, in '' Daphne'', a BBC2 television drama by Amy Jenkins based on Margaret Forster's biography of the author. In December 2008, McGovern appeared as Dame Celia Westholme in "Appointment with Death", an episode of '' Agatha Christie's Poirot''. In the same year, she appeared in the three-part BBC comedy series '' Freezing'', written by James Wood and directed and co-produced by her husband Simon Curtis. First broadcast on BBC Four, it was also shown on BBC2 in February 2008. McGovern played an American expatriate actress named Elizabeth, living in Chiswick with her publisher husband, played by Hugh Bonneville, and co-starring Tom Hollander as her theatrical agent. From 2010 to 2015, she portrayed Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham, wife of Robert Crawley, 7th Earl of Grantham (played by Hugh Bonneville) in the British TV series ''

'', and also in the 2019 and 2022 film adaptations. ''Downton Abbey'' was the third time McGovern and Bonneville have been cast as a married couple on screen, having previously co-starred in ''Freezing'' and ''Thursday the 12th'' together.

Music

McGovern is also a singer-songwriter and plays the guitar. In 2008, she began fronting the band Sadie and the Hotheads at The Castle pub venue in Portobello Road, London. The band released an album of songs she developed with The Nelson Brothers, who are now part of the band. The album, ''I Can Wait'', also includes Ron Knights on bass and Rowan Oliver, borrowed from Goldfrapp, as drummer for the recording sessions. Michelle Dockery, who plays McGovern's eldest daughter in ''Downton Abbey'', has occasionally sung with the band. Dockery was also a guest backing vocalist on the band's second album ''How Not To Lose Things'', released in 2012. Terl Bryant also joined the band, taking over from Rowan Oliver as

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and percussionist. Throughout 2013, Sadie and the Hotheads toured the UK and Europe and performed in festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival, Montreux Jazz Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe. At the end of the year they announced that they were working on their third album with support from former direct-to-fan crowdfunding company PledgeMusic. ''Still Waiting'' was released in early 2014 prior to their next UK tour as the support act for

Mike and the Mechanics Mike and the Mechanics (stylised as Mike + The Mechanics) are a British rock supergroup formed in Dover in 1985 by Mike Rutherford, initially as a side project during a hiatus period for his other group Genesis. The band are known for the hit ...

. McGovern recorded three

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

tracks in 2014. Her rendition of ''It Came Upon a Midnight Clear'' and duet with Julian Ovenden performing ''The First Noel'' appear on the double-disc album ''Christmas At Downton Abbey'', produced by Warner Music. Sadie and the Hotheads also released their cover version of the Christmas song The Little Drummer Boy. Following the conclusion of TV series ''Downton Abbey'' in late 2015, McGovern and her band Sadie and the Hotheads began work on a fourth album and embarked on a mini tour of the UK. While they continued to record their new album, the band released a compilation album of songs from their first three albums entitled ''The Collection (Everybody's Got A Song)'' in early 2016. In 2017, McGovern and "Hothead" Simon Nelson collaborated with American singer and musician Duke Robillard on a track for his album ''Duke Robillard & His Dames of Rhythm''. McGovern sings vocals for "Me, Myself and I" while Nelson is a guest musician on electric guitar for the track. McGovern's fifth album, ''The Truth'', was released in early 2019. Unlike her previous albums with her band, ''The Truth'' was released under her name, though it features all of the musicians from Sadie and the Hotheads. The album includes a track on which Samuel L. Jackson appears as a guest vocalist.

Theatre

Roles in New York include: *Melissa Gardner in '' Love Letters'' ( A R Gurney) at the Edison Theatre, October 1989 * Ophelia in '' Hamlet'' with the Roundabout Theater Company at the Criterion Center Stage Right, April 1992. *Mrs. Conway in '' Time and the Conways'' at the American Airlines Theatre, October 2017 In her theatre programme CVs (below), McGovern lists her other theatre work in the U.S. as including: *''My Sister in This House'' (Wendy Kesselman) *'' Painting Churches'' ( Tina Howe) *''The Hitch-Hiker'' * Viola in '' Twelfth Night'' *''A Map of the World'' ( David Hare) *'' Aunt Dan and Lemon'' ( Wallace Shawn) *'' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at the New York Shakespeare Festival, Winter 1987 *''When I Was a Girl I Used to Scream and Shout'' ( Sharman Macdonald) *''Maids of Honour'' *'' Three Sisters'' ( Chekhov) *'' As You Like It'' * Ava Gardner in ''Ava: The Secret Conversations'' at Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, April - May 2023 Since moving to London, McGovern's stage work has included: *Jenny in '' The Misanthrope'' (

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

freely adapted by Martin Crimp) at the Young Vic Theatre, February 1996 *Darlene in '' Hurlyburly'' ( David Rabe) at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

Theatre, March 1997 *Nan and Lina in '' Three Days of Rain'' ( Richard Greenberg) at the Donmar Warehouse, March and November 1999 *Beth in '' Dinner With Friends'' ( Donald Margulies) at the Hampstead Theatre, June 2001 *Hester Prynne in '' The Scarlet Letter'' ( Nathaniel Hawthorne adapted by Phyllis Nagy) at the Minerva Theatre, August 2005 *Jackie Kennedy in Aristo at the Minerva Theatre, September – October 2008 *Judith Brown in '' Complicit'' by Joe Sutton in The Old Vic, January 2009 *Miss A in '' The Shawl'' by David Mamet in the Arcola Theatre, September 2009 *June in ''Sunset at the Villa Thalia'' by Alexi Kaye Campbell at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

, May - August 2016 *Veronica in '' God of Carnage'' by Yasmina Reza at the Theatre Royal, Bath, August – September 2018 *Anne in ''The Starry Messenger'' by Kenneth Lonergan at Wyndham's Theatre, May - August 2019 *Veronica in '' God of Carnage'' by Yasmina Reza, on tour in the UK, January - February 2020 * Ava Gardner in ''Ava: The Secret Conversations'' at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London, January - April 2022 *Martha in '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee at the Theatre Royal, Bath, January - February 2023 McGovern was awarded the 2013 Will Award by the Shakespeare Theatre Company. In early 2020, McGovern was in rehearsal to star in a revival of '' The Little Foxes'' by American playwright

Lillian Hellman Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, Prose, prose writer, Memoir, memoirist, and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway as well as her communist views and political activism. She was black ...

at the Gate Theatre in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. However, due to the Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performing arts, the show has been postponed indefinitely.

Personal life

In 1992, McGovern married British film director and producer Simon Curtis; the couple have two daughters and live in Chiswick, London.

Filmography

Film

Television

Discography

Sadie and the Hotheads

Solo

Album guest appearances

References

* Theatre Record and its annual Indexes

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McGovern, Elizabeth 1961 births Actresses from Evanston, Illinois Actresses from Los Angeles American Conservatory Theater alumni American expatriate actresses American expatriates in England American film actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American women singer-songwriters American people of English descent American people of Irish descent American people of Scottish descent American women guitarists Audiobook narrators Juilliard School alumni Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Musicians from Evanston, Illinois Musicians from Los Angeles North Hollywood High School alumni Singer-songwriters from California Singer-songwriters from Illinois