Rebecca Pidgeon (born October 10, 1965) is an American-British actress who has appeared on stage and in feature films. She is also a singer, songwriter and recording artist.

Early life

Pidgeon was born to English parents in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...

, while her father, Carl R. Pidgeon, was a visiting professor at

MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and sc ...

. Her mother, Elaine, is a yoga teacher. Her paternal grandmother, Monica Pidgeon, the editor of ''

Architectural Design Building design, also called architectural design, refers to the broadly based architectural, engineering and technical applications to the design of buildings. All building projects require the services of a building designer, typically a licen ...

'', was the sister of artist Olga Lehmann and academic Andrew George Lehmann. Pidgeon moved to

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland in 1970 with her parents. She graduated from the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

in London with classmates

Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...

and

Liza Tarbuck Liza Tarbuck ( ; born 21 November 1964) is an English actress, comedian, and television and radio presenter. Early life Liza Tarbuck was born in Liverpool and grew up near Kingston upon Thames. She is the daughter of comedian Jimmy Tarbuck an ...

Career

From 1986 to 1990, Pidgeon was the lead singer of the British folk/pop band Ruby Blue. She left the group shortly after they signed to a major record label. She released the album ''The Raven'' in 1994, followed by ''The New York Girls' Club'' (1996), and ''The Four Marys'' (1998), a collection of traditional

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

folk songs. ''Tough on Crime'' (2005) featured Walter Becker on guitar and

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

on keyboards. '' Behind the Velvet Curtain'' (2008) included a cover version of the

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

song " Wouldn't It Be Nice". ''Slingshot'' was released in 2012. She appeared in her first feature film, '' The Dawning,'' in 1988, then starred in

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, author, and filmmaker. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

's plays and films, beginning with the movie ''

Homicide Homicide is an act in which a person causes the death of another person. A homicide requires only a Volition (psychology), volitional act, or an omission, that causes the death of another, and thus a homicide may result from Accident, accidenta ...

'' and the play '' Oleanna'', a part Mamet wrote for her. She composed the music for the film version, which starred Debra Eisenstadt in her role. Pidgeon has had roles in additional Mamet films, including '' The Spanish Prisoner'' (1997), ''

The Winslow Boy ''The Winslow Boy'' is an English play from 1946 by Terence Rattigan based on an incident involving George Archer-Shee in the Edwardian era. The incident took place at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. Background Set against the strict cod ...

'' (1999), '' State and Main'' (2000), '' Heist'' (2001) and '' Redbelt'' (2008). She had a supporting role in ''

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

'' (2010). In the 2013 television movie ''

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

'', she played a supporting role and also sang "

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

" over the closing credits. She appeared in the U.S. television series ''

The Unit ''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009, with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled ...

'' as Charlotte Ryan, and in the 2007 television film '' Jesse Stone: Sea Change'' as Leeann Lewis, a murder/bank robbery suspect.

Personal life

Pidgeon is married to American writer and director

, whom she met while appearing in his play ''

Speed-the-Plow ''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''St ...

'' at the

National Theatre, London 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, ...

. Pidgeon and Mamet have two children, actress Clara and Noah, in addition to Mamet's two older children, Willa and Zosia. Pidgeon, who was born to a non-practising Christian family, is a student of yoga as taught by

B.K.S. Iyengar Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja Iyengar (14 December 1918 – 20 August 2014) was an Indian teacher of yoga and author. He is the founder of the style of yoga as exercise, known as "Iyengar Yoga", and was considered one of the foremost Modern ...

. She holds dual American/British

citizenship Citizenship is a membership and allegiance to a sovereign state. Though citizenship is often conflated with nationality in today's English-speaking world, international law does not usually use the term ''citizenship'' to refer to nationalit ...

Discography

* ''The Raven'' ( Chesky, 1994) * ''The New York Girls' Club'' (Chesky, 1996) * ''The Four Marys'' (Chesky, 1998) * ''Tough on Crime'' ( Fuel 2000, 2005) * '' Behind the Velvet Curtain'' (Great American Music, 2008) * ''Slingshot'' (Toy Canteen, 2011) * ''Blue Dress On'' (Toy Canteen, 2013) * ''Bad Poetry'' (Toy Canteen, 2014) * ''Sudden Exposure to Light/Comfort'' (Toy Canteen, 2019) * ''Parts of Speech Pieces of Sound'' (Toy Canteen, 2022) * ''Songs of LA'' (2024) With Ruby Blue * ''Glances Askances'' (Red Flame, 1987) * ''Down From Above'' (Fontana, 1990) * ''Broken Water'' (Red Flame 1992) * ''Remasters'' (Universal 2011) As guest *

Luciana Souza Luciana Souza (born 12 July 1966) is a Brazilian jazz singer and composer who also works in bossa nova, pop, classical and chamber music. She won a Grammy Award in 2007, and has been nominated for seven others, most recently in 2024. Souza is con ...

, ''Tide'' (Verve, 2009) *

Madeleine Peyroux Madeleine Peyroux (born April 19, 1974) is an American jazz singer and songwriter who began her career as a teenager on the streets of Paris. She sang vintage jazz and blues songs before finding mainstream success in 2004 when her album ''Carele ...

, ''Bare Bones'' (Rounder, 2009) * Chris Connelly, ''Decibels from Heart'' (Cleopatra, 2015)

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pidgeon, Rebecca 1965 births Actresses from Cambridge, Massachusetts Musicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art American emigrants to Scotland American people of English descent American people of French descent American people of German descent American people of Scottish descent Converts to Judaism from Christianity Jewish American actresses Scottish film actresses Scottish television actresses Scottish stage actresses 20th-century Scottish women singers Scottish folk singers Scottish women singer-songwriters Scottish singer-songwriters Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century Scottish women singers 21st-century American women