Early life

Miller was born in Los Angeles, California, the middle daughter of Beatrice (née Ammidown), a costume designer, publicist, and journalist, and Mark Miller, a television actor and producer. Her mother was the goddaughter of businessman Aristotle Onassis and an editor of Harper's Bazaar. She has an older sister, Marisa Miller, who is also a film actress, and a younger sister, Savannah Miller, who is a social worker.

Miller graduated from high school in Los Angeles, then moved to New York City to study theatre.

Career

Her Broadway theatre break came in 1985 when she was cast in the lead (opposite Matthew Broderick) in the Neil Simon play Biloxi Blues. (She would also star with Broderick in the 1988 film version of that play). She played a role in one episode ("Death and the Lady") of the television series Miami Vice (which aired on October 16, 1987), and accepted several other small roles in film and television work. She then returned to Broadway in a revival of Our Town; her portrayal of Emily garnered her a Tony award nomination. She then appeared as Pee-wee Herman's (Paul Reubens) fiancée, Winnie Johnston, in the 1988 release of Big Top Pee-wee.

In 1990, she played Paula in Awakenings, starring Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. She also appeared in the 1990 movies Downtown, with Anthony Edwards and Forest Whitaker, and Kindergarten Cop, alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. Miller plays a teacher, hiding with her son Dominic from her criminal drug-dealing husband Cullen Crisp (Richard Tyson). She subsequently appeared in a number of other theatrical movies, notably as Edna Purviance in Chaplin and with Tim Daly as Margaret "Maggie" Harwood in Peter Yates' film Year Of The Comet, both in 1992, and the following year she appeared opposite Al Pacino in Carlito's Way.

Miller co-starred with Marlon Brando (as his daughter) in 1990's The Freshman and with Gregory Peck (as his lawyer and step-daughter) in 1991's Other People's Money. She also appeared as Margo Lane in The Shadow with Alec Baldwin, as well as in the film Miles from Home directed by Gary Sinise. She had the lead role in the big budget creature feature The Relic (1997) as Dr. Margo Green. In 1998, she portrayed Barbara Henry in Ruby Bridges a made-for-television movie that was made by the Disney company, about Ruby Bridges, the first black student to attend an all-white elementary school in New Orleans. In 2000, she played the scandalous teacher Mary Kay Letourneau in the TV version of a true story, All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story.

In 2002, Penelope Ann Miller starred in the film Dead in a Heartbeat and starred in a two-part episode of A&E's series A Nero Wolfe Mystery. Her 2005 film Funny Money was voted the top film of the Sarasota Film Festival. She appeared in the Fox series Vanished for six episodes, playing the ex-wife of a U.S. senator whose wife has mysteriously disappeared. Her 2007 comedy Blonde Ambition co-starring Jessica Simpson and Luke Wilson performed poorly at the box office. She also guest-starred as Fran on Desperate Housewives. Miller appeared in the horror film The Messengers, co-starring Dylan McDermott and Kristen Stewart. The film was produced by director Sam Raimi's production company, Ghost House Pictures. In 2011 she portrayed Doris, the wife of protagonist George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), in The Artist. After recurring role on the ABC soapy series Mistresses, Miller was cast as regular in ABC crime drama American Crime.

Personal life

In 1994, she married actor Will Arnett. They divorced in 1995.

On May 28, 2000, she married James Huggins. They have two daughters: Eloisa May, born December 10, 2000, and Maria Adela, born March 23, 2009. On March 14, 2012, Miller filed for legal separation from Huggins after 12 years of marriage. On June 15, 2012, Miller withdrew her request for separation.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Hotshot	Mary
1987	Adventures in Babysitting	Brenda
1988	Biloxi Blues	Daisy
1988	Big Top Pee-wee	Winnie Johnson
1988	Miles from Home	Sally
1989	Dead Bang	Linda Kimble
1990	Downtown	Lori Mitchell
1990	Freshman, TheThe Freshman	Tina Sabatini
1990	Awakenings	Paula
1990	Kindergarten Cop	Joyce Palmieri / Rachel Crisp
1991	Other People's Money	Kate Sullivan
1992	Year of the Comet	Margaret Harwood
1992	Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag, TheThe Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag	Mrs. Elizabeth Louise "Betty Lou" Perkins
1992	Chaplin	Edna Purviance
1993	Carlito's Way	Gail
1994	Shadow, TheThe Shadow	Margo Lane
1997	Relic, TheThe Relic	Dr. Margo Green
1997	Little City	Rebecca
1998	Break Up	Grace
1998	Outside Ozona	Earlene Demers
1999	Chapter Zero	Cassandra
2000	Lisa Picard Is Famous	Penelope Ann Miller
2000	Forever Lulu	Claire Clifton
2001	Along Came a Spider	Elizabeth Rose
2001	Full Disclosure	Michelle	Video
2006	Funny Money	Carol Perkins
2007	Messengers, TheThe Messengers	Denise Solomon
2007	Deal, TheThe Deal	Laura Martin
2007	Blonde Ambition	Debra
2008	Free Style	Jeannette Bryant
2009	Saving Grace B. Jones	Bea Bretthorst
2010	Flipped	Trina Baker
2011	Artist, TheThe Artist	Doris Valentin
2011	About Sunny	Louise
2013	Saving Lincoln	Mary Todd Lincoln
2013	Robosapien: Rebooted	Joanna Keller
2015	Bronx Bull, TheThe Bronx Bull	Debbie Forrester	Completed
2016	The Birth of a Nation	Elizabeth Turner

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1985	Tales from the Darkside	Keena	Episode: "Ring Around the Redhead"
1987	Facts of Life, TheThe Facts of Life	Kristen Morgan	Episode: "The Greek Connection"
1987	Family Ties	Joyce	Episode: "Higher Love"
1987	Popcorn Kid, TheThe Popcorn Kid	Gwen Stottlemeyer	Main role (6 episodes)
1987	Miami Vice	Jill Ryder	Episode: "Death and the Lady"
1987	St. Elsewhere	Laurel	Episode: "Ewe Can't Go Home Again"
1988	Tales from Hollywood Hills: Closed Set	Tina	TV film
1989	Great Performances	Emily Webb	Episode: "Our Town"
1991	Morton & Hayes	Jody	Episode: "The Bride of Mummula"
1994	Witch Hunt	Kim Hudson	TV film
1997	Hired Heart, TheThe Hired Heart	Garnet Hadley	TV film
1997	Last Don, TheThe Last Don	Nalene De Lena	TV miniseries
1997	Merry Christmas, George Bailey	Mary Hatch Bailey	TV film
1998	Rhapsody in Bloom	Lilah Bloom	TV film
1998	Ruby Bridges	Barbara Henry	TV film
1998-1999	Closer, TheThe Closer	Erica Hewitt	Recurring role (5 episodes)
1999	Rocky Marciano	Barbara Cousins	TV film
2000	All-American Girl: The Mary Kay Letourneau Story	Mary Kay Letourneau	TV film
2000	Killing Moon	Laura Chadwick	TV film
2001	Dodson's Journey	Meredith Dodson	TV film
2001	Woman's a Helluva Thing, AA Woman's a Helluva Thing	Zane Douglas	TV film
2002	Dead in a Heartbeat	Dr. Gillian Hayes	TV film
2002	Nero Wolfe Mystery, AA Nero Wolfe Mystery	Lucy Valdon	Episodes: "Motherhunt: Parts 1 & 2"
2002	Scared Silent	Kathy Clifson	TV film
2003	Rudy: The Rudy Giuliani Story	Donna Hanover	TV film
2003	National Lampoon's Thanksgiving Family Reunion	Pauline Snider	TV film
2003-2004	Minute with Stan Hooper, AA Minute with Stan Hooper	Molly Hooper	Main role (13 episodes)
2004	Carry Me Home	Harriet	TV film
2005	Personal Effects	Bonnie Locke	TV film
2005	CSI: NY	Rose Whitley	Episode: "What You See Is What You Get"
2005	Desperate Housewives	Fran Ferrara	Episode: "Coming Home"
2006	Vanished	Jessica Nevins	Recurring role (9 episodes)
2008	Deadliest Lesson, TheThe Deadliest Lesson	Gloria	TV film
2009-2011	Men of a Certain Age	Sonia Tranelli	Recurring role (9 episodes)
2013-2014	Mistresses	Elizabeth Grey	Recurring role (10 episodes)
2015	American Crime	Eve Carlin	Main role

Awards and nominations

Saturn Award

• 1995: Nominated, "Best Actress" - The Shadow
• 1997: Nominated, "Best Actress" - The Relic

Chicago Film Critics Association Award

• 1991: Won, "Emerging Actress" - The Freshman

DVD Exclusive Awards

• 2001: Nominated, "Best Supporting Actress" - Full Disclosure

Golden Globe Award

• 1994: Nominated, "Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture" - Carlito's Way

Hollywood Film Festival

• 1998: Won, "Best Acting in a Feature" - Rhapsody in Bloom

[ Source: Wikipedia ]