Amy Irving

Early life

Irving was born on September 10, 1953, in Palo Alto. Her father was film and stage director Jules Irving (born Jules Israel) and her mother was actress Priscilla Pointer. Her brother is writer and director David Irving and her sister, Katie Irving, is a singer and teacher of deaf children. Irving's father was of Russian-Jewish descent, Irving was raised in her mother's faith of Christian Science, and her family observed no religious traditions.

Her father co-founded the Actor's Workshop and she was active in local theater as a child. She attended the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and appeared in several productions there. She also trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. As a teenager, Irving moved with her family to Manhattan, New York, where her father was appointed the director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater. and made her Off-Broadway debut at age 17 in And Chocolate on Her Chin.

Career

Irving's first stage appearance was at nine months old in the production "Rumplestiltskin" where her father brought her on the stage to play the part of his child whom he trades for spun gold. Then at age two, she portrayed a bit-part character ("Princess Primrose") in a play which her father directed. She had a walk-on role in the 1965–66 Broadway show The Country Wife at age 12. Her character was to sell a hamster to Stacy Keach in a crowd scene. The play was directed by family friend Robert Symonds, the associate director of the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater, and who later became her stepfather after her father died and her mother remarried. Within six months of returning to Los Angeles from London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the mid-1970s, Irving was cast in a major motion picture and was working on various TV projects such as guest spots in Police Woman, Happy Days, and a lead role in the mini-series epic Once an Eagle opposite veterans Sam Elliott and Glenn Ford, and a young Melanie Griffith. She played Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Los Angeles Free Shakespeare Theatre in 1975, and returned to the role at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (1982–1983).

Irving auditioned for the role of Princess Leia in Star Wars, which went to Carrie Fisher. She then starred in the Brian DePalma-directed films Carrie as Sue Snell (her mother was also in Carrie), and The Fury as Gillian Bellaver. In 1999, she reprised her role as Sue Snell in The Rage: Carrie 2. She starred with Richard Dreyfuss in 1980 in The Competition. Also in 1980, she appeared in Honeysuckle Rose, which also marked her on-screen singing debut. Both her and Dyan Cannon's characters were country-and-western singers, and both actresses did their own singing in the film. In 1983, she featured in Barbra Streisand's directorial debut, Yentl, for which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In 1984, she co-starred in Micki + Maude. In 1988, she was in Crossing Delancey (for which she received a Golden Globe nomination). That same year, she also gave another singing performance in the live-action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, providing the singing voice for Jessica Rabbit. In 1997, she appeared in Woody Allen's Deconstructing Harry. Irving also appeared in the TV show Alias as Emily Sloane, portrayed Princess Anjuli in the big-budget miniseries epic The Far Pavilions and headlined the lavish TV production Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. More recently Irving appeared in the films Traffic (2000), Tuck Everlasting (2002), Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2002) and an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2001.

Irving's stage work includes Amadeus (replacing Jane Seymour due to pregnancy) at the Broadhurst Theatre for nine months, Heartbreak House with Rex Harrison at the Circle in the Square Theatre, Broken Glass at the Booth Theatre and Three Sisters with Jeanne Tripplehorn and Lili Taylor at the Roundabout Theatre. Additional Off-Broadway credits include: The Heidi Chronicles; The Road to Mecca; The Vagina Monologues in both London and New York; The Glass Menagerie with her mother, actress Priscilla Pointer; Celadine, a world premiere at George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, New Jersey; and the 2006 one-woman play, A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop. In 1994, she and Anthony Hopkins hosted the 48th Tony Awards at the Gershwin Theatre, New York.

Irving's last Broadway appearance was in the American premiere of Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia at New York's Lincoln Center during its 2006–07 season. In 2009, she played the title role in Saint Joan, in an audio version by the Hollywood Theater of the Ear. In May 2010, Irving made her Opera Theatre of Saint Louis debut in the role of Desiree Armfeldt in Isaac Mizrahi's directorial debut of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. In October 2010, Irving guest-starred in "Unwritten," the third episode of the seventh season of the Fox series House M.D.. In 2013, Irving appeared in a recurring role in Zero Hour. In 2018, she co-starred in the psychological horror film Unsane, directed by Steven Soderbergh.

In April 2023, Irving released her first album, Born In a Trunk, featuring 10 cover songs pulled from her life and career.

Personal life

Irving dated American film director Steven Spielberg from 1976 to 1980. She then had a brief relationship with Willie Nelson, her co-star in the film Honeysuckle Rose. The breakup with Spielberg cost her the role of Marion Ravenwood in Raiders of the Lost Ark, which he had offered to her at the time, but they reunited and were married from 1985 to 1989. She received an estimated $100 million divorce settlement after a judge controversially vacated a prenuptial agreement that had been written on a napkin.

In 1989, she became romantically and professionally involved with Brazilian film director Bruno Barreto; they were married in 1996 and divorced in 2005. She has two sons: Max Samuel (with Spielberg), born June 13, 1985; and Gabriel Davis (with Barreto), born May 4, 1990.

She married Kenneth Bowser Jr., a documentary filmmaker, in 2007. He has a daughter, Samantha, from a previous marriage with entertainment lawyer Marilyn Haft. The couple live in a barn converted into a home in rural Westchester County, New York. The building burned down in a fire in 2009, but the couple rebuilt it on the same spot with reclaimed wood, and still live there as of 2025, when the house was profiled in The New York Times "At Home" series. Irving also owns a $9M apartment in New York City which she purchased in 2015.

Filmography

Film

Television

Stage credits

Albums

Accolades

References

References

1. (26 April 2006). "Amy Irving: In Praise Of Older Women". CBS News.
2. (September 21, 2015). "First American Jewish Families". American Jewish Archives.
3. Pacheo, Patrick. (November 8, 1986). "The Amy Chronicles". [[Los Angeles Times]].
4. (7 February 2007). "Famous – and almost famous – people raised in Palo Alto". The Mercury News.
5. Berns, Cherie. (27 March 1978). "Amy Irving's Enjoying a Close Encounter of Two Kinds: Love with Steven Spielberg and Stardom in 'The Fury'". People.
6. "Amy Irving and Dylan Baker to Guest-Star on House". TVGuide.com.
7. Gallagher, Brian. (January 29, 2018). "Unsane Trailer: Steven Soderbergh's First Horror Movie Is Here". MovieWeb.
8. Fekadu, Mesfin. (15 February 2023). "Oscar-Nominated Actress Amy Irving Set to Release First Album (Exclusive)".
9. Nelson, Willie. (30 May 2015). "Willie Nelson's memoir recalls making movies with Robert Redford". The Australian.
10. Perry, George. (1998). "Steven Spielberg: The Making of his Movies". Orion.
11. Hanson, Cynthia. (June 27, 1993). "Starting Over". [[Chicago Tribune]].
12. Caro, Mark. (May 7, 1996). "Irving Revealed". Chicago Tribune.
13. Clarke, Katherine. (October 21, 2014). "'Carrie' star Amy Irving wants $2.5M for her Upper West Side pad". New York Daily News.
14. Keil, Jennifer Gould. (30 November 2015). "Amy Irving buys $8.9M Manhattan apartment". New York Post.
15. Kaufman, Joanne. (March 13, 2025). "Amy Irving". [[The New York Times]].
16. "Amy Irving Filmography". [[American Film Institute]].
17. Wiseman, Andreas. (September 5, 2019). "'A Mouthful Of Air': Amanda Seyfried, Finn Wittrock, Paul Giamatti, Amy Irving & Jennifer Carpenter Set For Maven Pictures Drama".
18. "Amy Irving Credits". [[TV Guide]].
19. "Amy Irving". [[Playbill]].
20. (July 20, 1975). "Group to stage 'Romeo'". Progress Bulletin.
21. Shakespeare, William. (2002). "Romeo and Juliet". Cambridge University Press.
22. (June 24, 1983). "Blithe Spirit". [[The Santa Fe New Mexican]].
23. Hays, Mary. (August 3, 1984). "Easy to be a celebrity in Santa Fe". [[The Santa Fe New Mexican]].
24. DeVries, Hilary. (August 28, 1987). "Williamstown turns up the star power for Chekhov". [[The Christian Science Monitor]].
25. Rich, Frank. (April 13, 1988). "Review/Theater; Athol Fugard's 'Road to Mecca' Examines the Core of Artistry". [[The New York Times]].
26. Allman, Kevin. (October 16, 1990). "The Party Chronicles: a First-Night Fete". [[Los Angeles Times]].
27. (May 14, 2002). "Tom Wopat and Amy Irving Join The Guys, May 14". [[Playbill]].
28. Brantley, Ben. (November 11, 2002). "THEATER REVIEW; An Ibsen Heroine Tries Out 20th-Century Eroticism". [[The New York Times]].
29. "''The Exonerated''". The Lucille Lortel Archives.
30. Gans, Andrew. (November 16, 2004). "Amy Irving Is Celadine at George Street Playhouse Beginning Nov. 16". [[Playbill]].
31. Hernandez, Enio. (March 21, 2006). "Amy Irving Provides ''A Safe Harbor for Elizabeth Bishop'' in Off-Broadway Solo". [[Playbill]].
32. Hetrick, Adam. (July 31, 2008). "Irving, Kaplan, D'Abruzzo and More Slip Into Summer Shorts in NYC July 31". [[Playbill]].
33. Fullerton, Krissie. (June 7, 2010). "PHOTO CALL: A Little Night Music at The Opera Theatre of St. Louis". [[Playbill]].
34. Stasio, Marilyn. (October 12, 2011). "''We Live Here''". [[Variety (magazine).
35. Walls, Seth Colter. (April 26, 2019). ""Review:'Lady in the Dark' is Kurt Weill on the Couch"". [[The New York Times]].
36. "''Honeysuckle Rose'' chart history: Billboard 200".
37. "''Honeysuckle Rose'' chart history: Country Albums".
38. David Kent. (1993). "Australian Charts Book 1970—1992". Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W..
39. (17 July 2013). "Search results for "Honeysuckle Rose" -- Top Albums/CDs".
40. (17 July 2013). "Search results for "Honeysuckle Rose" -- Country Albums/CDs".
41. "Born In A Trunk by Amy Irving - DistroKid".
42. (4 October 2014). "The 56th Academy Awards {{!}} 1984".
43. "1984 Awards – Drama Desk".
44. "Amy Irving".
45. "1988". Obie Awards.
46. "1988 Awards – Drama Desk".
47. "1994 Awards – Drama Desk".
48. [https://web.archive.org/web/20011031175637/http://www.sagawards.org/pr_010130.html "Nominations announced for the 7th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards"]. Screen Actors Guild. 30 January 2001. Archived from [https://www.sagawards.org/pr_010130.html the original] on 31 October 2001. Retrieved 18 June 2021.