Early life

Barkin was born in The Bronx, New York, the daughter of Evelyn (née Rozin), a hospital administrator who worked at Jamaica Hospital, and Sol Barkin, a chemical salesman. Barkin was raised in a lower-middle-class Jewish family, a descendant of immigrants from Siberia and the Belarusian-Polish border.

Barkin received her high school diploma at Manhattan's High School of Performing Arts. She then attended Hunter College and double majored in history and drama. At one point, Barkin wanted to teach ancient history. She continued her acting education at New York City's Actors Studio. According to Time, she studied acting for ten years before landing her first audition.

Career

Her break-out role was in the comedy-drama film Diner (1982), written and directed by Barry Levinson, for which she received favorable reviews. Barkin was cast in the drama film Tender Mercies (1983) after impressing its director Bruce Beresford during an audition in New York City, despite her inexperience and his lack of familiarity with her work. Robert Duvall, who played the lead role in Tender Mercies, said of Barkin, "She brings a real credibility to that part, plus she was young and attractive and had a certain sense of edge, a danger to her that was good for that part." She also appeared in the 1983 rock & roll drama film Eddie and the Cruisers.

Barkin later appeared in several successful films, including the thrillers The Big Easy (1987), opposite Dennis Quaid and Sea of Love (1989), opposite Al Pacino. Barkin also appeared in off-Broadway plays, including a role as one of the roommates in Extremities, about an intended rape victim played by Susan Sarandon who turns the tables on her attacker. About her performance in the play Eden Court, The New York Times critic Frank Rich summarized: "If it were really possible to give the kiss of life to a corpse, the actress Ellen Barkin would be the one to do it. In Eden Court, the moribund play that has brought her to the Promenade Theater, Miss Barkin is tantalizingly alive from her bouncing blond ponytail to the long legs that gyrate wildly and involuntarily every time an Elvis Presley record plays on stage".

Barkin has also done work in made-for-television films like Before Women Had Wings (1997), for which she won an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie and The White River Kid (1999). Currently, she voices the start of each Theme Time Radio Hour with host Bob Dylan on XM's "Deep Tracks". In 2005, Barkin set up a film production company with her brother, George, along with her husband at the time and billionaire investor, Ronald Perelman.

Barkin appeared in her Broadway debut as Dr. Brookner in The Normal Heart, for which she won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Barkin has received acclaim for her performance in Another Happy Day. IndieWire cited her turn as one of the best female performances of the year. In 2015, she starred as Dani Kirschenbloom, in the Showtime comedy-drama series Happyish.

In 2016, Barkin began starring as Janine "Smurf" Cody, the crime family's matriarch, in the TNT drama series Animal Kingdom. The series based on thr 2010 Australian film then Smurf was played by Jacki Weaver.

Personal life

Barkin has a brother, George, who was formerly the editor-in-chief of National Lampoon and High Times. Barkin is the mother of two children, Jack Daniel (born 1989) and Romy Marion (born 1992), from her first marriage, to actor Gabriel Byrne. The two separated in 1993 and divorced in 1999, but are still close; Byrne even attended Barkin's 2000 wedding to multi-billionaire and businessman Ronald Perelman. According to New York magazine, that marriage ended in a messy divorce in 2006 with Barkin receiving "not one penny more" than $20 million, according to a friend of hers. In 2007, Barkin sued Perelman for $3.4 million in investment funds he allegedly promised to invest in their film production company. He was ordered to pay her $4.3 million. She dated director/writer Sam Levinson in 2011.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	Up in Smoke	Woman playing guitar	Uncredited
1981	Kent State	Student	Television movie
1981	We're Fighting Back	Chris Capoletti	Television movie
1982	Diner	Beth Schreiber
1982	Parole	Donna	Television movie
1983	Tender Mercies	Sue Ann
1983	Daniel	Phyllis Isaacson
1983	Enormous Changes at the Last Minute	Virginia
1983	Eddie and the Cruisers	Maggie Foley
1984	Harry & Son	Kate Wilowski
1984	Terrible Joe Moran	Ronnie	Television movie
1984	The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension	Penny Priddy
1985	Terminal Choice	Mary O'Connor
1986	Desert Bloom	Aunt Starr
1986	Act of Vengeance	Annette Gilly
1986	Down by Law	Laurette
1986	The Princess Who Had Never Laughed	Princess Henrietta	Television movie
1987	The Big Easy	Anne Osborne
1987	Made in Heaven	Lucille	Uncredited
1987	Siesta	Claire
1988	Clinton and Nadine	Nadine Powers	Television movie Nominated—CableACE Award for Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie
1989	Johnny Handsome	Sunny Boyd	Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress
1989	Sea of Love	Helen Cruger	Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress
1991	Switch	Amanda Brooks	Nominated—American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
1992	Mac	Oona Goldfarb
1992	Man Trouble	Joan Pruance
1992	Into the West	Kathleen
1993	This Boy's Life	Caroline Wolff Hansen
1995	Bad Company	Margaret Wells
1995	Wild Bill	Calamity Jane
1996	The Fan	Jewel Stern	Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Adventure/Drama
1996	Mad Dog Time	Rita Everly
1997	Before Women Had Wings	Glory Marie Jackson	Television movie Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film
1998	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Waitress at North Star Cafe
1999	Drop Dead Gorgeous	Annette Atkins
1999	The White River Kid	Eva Nell La Fangory
2000	Crime and Punishment in Suburbia	Maggie Skolnick
2000	Mercy	Det. Cathy Palmer
2001	Someone Like You	Diane Roberts
2004	She Hate Me	Margo Chadwick
2004	Palindromes	Joyce Victor
2005	Trust the Man	Norah
2007	Ocean's Thirteen	Abigail Sponder
2009	Brooklyn's Finest	Agent Smith
2009	Happy Tears	Shelly
2010	Operation: Endgame	Empress
2010	Twelve	Jessica's mother
2010	The Chameleon	Kimberly Miller
2010	Shit Year	Colleen West
2011	Another Happy Day	Lynn
2014	Very Good Girls	Norma Berger
2014	The Cobbler	Elaine Greenawalt
2016	Hands of Stone	Stephanie Arcel
2016	Active Adults	Lucy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	King of the Hill	Lenore	Episode: "Hank and the Great Glass Elevator"
2012	Modern Family	Mitzi Roth	Episode: "Send Out the Clowns"
2012-2013	The New Normal	Jane Forrest	22 episodes
2015	Happyish	Dani Kirschenbloom	9 episodes
2016	Animal Kingdom	Janine "Smurf" Cody	Lead role

[ Source: Wikipedia ]