Annette Bening

Revered by film directors for her ability to take characters into deep, unexpected, emotional places, Annette Bening was a Tony-nominated stage actress before parlaying her dramatic intensity into award-worthy film performances. Early in her movie career, she made an impression as a wise-beyond-her-years sex kitten in "The Grifters" (1990) before exploding onto the scene as sultry mob moll, Virginia Hill, in the biopic, "Bugsy" (1991). And though she never lost that sly, brainy, sex appeal, she became more often associated with complex, professional women on the verge of self-destruction in darkly humorous dramas like "American Beauty" (1999), "Being Julia" (2004) and "Running with Scissors" (2006). The A-list leading actress managed to maintain a solid output of well-received films by limiting herself to just one carefully chosen project per year, and retreating for extended periods into her very private family life with actor and director Warren Beatty and the couple's four children. The formula would prove to be successful, with critically lauded performances in select films like "The Kids Are All Right" (2010), reminding critics and audiences alike that the supremely talented Ms. Bening was an actor still very much in demand and at the top of her game.
Annette Bening was born in Topeka, KS on May 29, 1958, to Shirley and Grant Bening, a professional church singer and a salesman, respectively. She spent the first seven years of her life in Wichita until her father accepted a job offer in San Diego, forcing the family to relocate to the sunny West Coast. Bening was active onstage from the time she appeared in a junior high school production of "The Sound of Music." She participated in the theater program at Patrick Henry High School, graduating in 1975 and going on to study for two years at the theater program at San Diego Mesa College. Bening then headed up to San Francisco, where she earned a BA degree in Theater Arts from San Francisco State University and performed with the American Conservatory Theater. Her formative theatrical years also included starring roles in Shakespeare, Chekhov, and other classic dramas at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, and the Denver Center Theater Company, where she spent a year in 1985.
In New York, Bening's years of study culminated in a Tony-nominated performance in Tina Howe's "Coastal Disturbances," a New England-set summertime saga in which the newcomer starred as a passionate, free-spirited young photographer on a beach vacation. The play opened off-Broadway in 1986 and moved to Broadway in 1987, and its high-profile, year-long run offered the exposure that Bening hoped would help open doors in the film world. One of her earliest big screen roles, as the sexually frustrated wife of Dan Aykroyd in the lackluster comedy "The Great Outdoors" (1988), gave little indication of Bening's talent, but audiences took note of her sultry carriage and superb vocal instrument when she etched an aptly uneasy portrait of wickedness as the Marquise de Merteuil in Milos Forman's "Valmont" (1989). The cool subtlety of her performance caught the attention of Stephen Frears, who had directed his own version of the same tale, "Dangerous Liaisons," six months earlier.
Frears cast Bening alongside John Cusack and Anjelica Huston in his classy film noir "The Grifters" (1990), adapted from the novel by Jim Thompson. Although her nude scenes generated the most publicity, Bening injected considerable verve and authority into her portrayal of a tough young hustler who coolly uses her body as one of the tools of her trade - a performance intentionally modeled after Gloria Grahame's in Fritz Lang's landmark noir "The Big Heat" (1953). The role earned Bening a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, which helped propel her into the front ranks of Hollywood leading ladies and prompted references to her as the "thinking man's sex symbol." She went on to demonstrate her versatility by portraying nurturing, supportive wives in "Guilty By Suspicion" (1991) and "Regarding Henry" (1991) before returning to a more seductive role opposite future husband Warren Beatty in "Bugsy" (1991), earning a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her portrayal of the tempestuous and uncontrollable girlfriend of doomed gangster Bugsy Siegel, Virginia Hill. Her line to Beatty - "why don't you go jerk yourself a soda" - could not have been delivered better by Mae West herself. More important than filling out the vintage gowns and playing Hill to the hilt was winning the heart of her co-star, the most notorious Hollywood playboy of the last 30 years - save Jack Nicholson and Hugh Hefner. Beatty fell hard for Bening - especially impressed with her maturity and no-nonsense handling of him.
During a three year hiatus, Bening became the woman "who tamed the beast" by marrying career bachelor Beatty and immediately starting a family. She relinquished the coveted Catwoman role in "Batman Returns" (1992) to Michelle Pfeiffer when the stork first flew into her life, and dropped out of "Disclosure" (1994) due to her second pregnancy. She returned to the screen in 1994 opposite Beatty in a misbegotten remake of the 1939 film "Love Affair," where the couple played people engaged to others who fall in love after an accidental meeting. The film was oddly devoid of the couple's "Bugsy" chemistry and flopped - though it did contain legend Katherine Hepburn's final film appearance. But Bening bounced back with a pair of highly acclaimed but very different film roles in 1995. She and Michael Douglas paired with sparkling results in the romantic comedy "The American President," in which Bening was feisty and charming as an ambitious lobbyist romanced by a handsome widowed president. The same year, she was praised for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Ian McKellen's adaptation of Shakespeare's "Richard III" (1995).
After appearing in Tim Burton's odd sci-fi comedy "Mars Attacks!" (1996), Bening starred alongside Bruce Willis and Denzel Washington in the controversial thriller "The Siege" (1998) and teamed with Aidan Quinn as a psychic with connections to a killer in Neil Jordan's "In Dreams" (1999). In 1999, she gave a stellar, career-defining performance as the domineering real estate broker married to a man in a midlife crisis in the acclaimed "American Beauty" (1999). For her characterization of the tightly wound, image conscious, suburban overachiever, Bening earned nominations from the Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globes. A follow-up comic turn opposite Garry Shandling in the Mike Nichols-directed comedy "What Planet Are You From?" (2000) paled in comparison, leading the actress to take another lengthy hiatus from the screen. She returned in 2003 to play actor-director Kevin Costner's spirited and refreshingly age-appropriate love interest in the under-appreciated Western revival "Open Range" (2003). She earned some of the best reviews of her career the following year when she starred as a diva stage actress caught up in a May-December romance with a young social climber in "Being Julia" (2004), a bravura turn that earned the stunner a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination.
Bening continued her run of memorable performances in "Running with Scissors" (2006), an adaptation of Augusten Burrough's bestselling memoir about growing up with his mother's therapist (Brian Cox). Bening earned another Golden Globe Award nomination for her role as Burrough's delusional mother, an unpublished p t dealing with a messy divorce with her son's alcoholic father (Alec Baldwin). She earned a second Golden Globe nod that year for her performance in the fact-based HBO movie "Mrs. Harris" (2006), as the emotionally disturbed school headmistress who made national headlines when she shot and killed her lover Dr. Herman Tarnower (Ben Kingsley), the famed cardiologist and creator of the Scarsdale Diet. Two years later, Bening was unfortunately part of the ensemble cast of "The Women" (2008), where the gold-spinning actress was given nothing to work with in Diane English's weak update of the classic 1939 George Cukor film.
In the drama "Mother and Child" (2010) Bening portrayed a bitter woman who never came to grips with the fact that she gave up a baby girl for adoption after becoming pregnant at the age of 14. While her performance in the small film was met with mostly positive notices, it was her turn in the unconventional family dramedy "The Kids Are All Right" (2010) that brought her and co-star Julianne Moore critical raves. In the film, Bening plays one half of a gay couple with two teenage children who were conceived via artificial insemination. When the kids track down their "bio dad" and invite him into their lives, the household is thrown into awkwardly comedic chaos. For her portrayal of the overbearing professional mom, Bening received Indie Spirit, Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award nominations for Best Actress.

• Also Credited As:
  Annette Francine Bening
• Born:
  Annette Francine Bening on May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, USA
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Dancer, Cook, Secretary, Teacher

Family

• Brother: Bradley Bening. Born in 1955
• Brother: Byron Bening. Born in 1957
• Daughter: Ella Corinne Beatty. Born April 8, 2000; father, Warren Beatty
• Daughter: Isabel Ira Ashley Beatty. Born Jan. 11, 1997; father, Warren Beatty
• Daughter: Kathlyn Elizabeth Bening Beatty. Born Jan. 8, 1992; father, Warren Beatty
• Father: A Grant Bening.
• Mother: Shirley Bening.
• Sister: Jane Bening. Born in 1953
• Sister-In-Law: Shirley MacLaine.
• Son: Benjamin Beatty. Born Aug. 23, 1994; father, Warren Beatty

Significant Others

• Companion: Andrew Lack.
• Companion: Ed Begley Jr..
• Companion: Ned Bellamy. Co-founder of the Actors Gang; dated while in college
• Husband: J Steven White. Former director of the American Conservatory Theatre; met Bening when he was directing her in 1981 production of Romeo and Juliet ; married from 1984-1991
• Husband: Warren Beatty. Met during filming of Bugsy (1991); married March 12, 1992; mother of Beatty s four children

Education

• San Francisco State University, San Francisco , California, Theater, Bachelors of Arts, B.A.
• Patrick Henry High School, San Diego , California
• San Diego Mesa College, San Diego , California
• American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco , California

Milestones

• 1980 Performed with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival
• 1985 Performed with Denver Center Theater Company
• 1986 Moved to New York City
• 1986 Off-Broadway stage debut as Holly Dancer in Tina Howe s widely acclaimed Coastal Disturbances
• 1986 TV-movie debut in Manhunt for Claude Dallas (CBS)
• 1987 Landed guest spots on episodes of Miami Vice (NBC) and Wiseguy (CBS)
• 1987 Received a Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Coastal Disturbances
• 1988 Feature film debut as Dan Aykroyd s onscreen wife in The Great Outdoors
• 1988 Played a Central Park Zookeeper in the Off-Broadway production of Michael Weller s Spoils of War
• 1989 First leading role as the manipulative, seductive Marquise de Merteuil in Milos Forman s Valmont
• 1990 Delivered brilliant portrayal as the bubbly, treacherous con-artist Myra Langtry in Stephen Frears s The Grifters ; received Best Supporting Actress Academy Award nomination
• 1990 Offered a strong turn as a ditsy wanna-be actress in Mike Nichols Postcards From the Edge
• 1991 Garnered further acclaim in Regarding Henry (re-teaming her with director Mike Nichols)
• 1991 Met future husband, Warren Beatty co-starring in Barry Levinson s Bugsy
• 1994 Re-teamed with Beatty for Love Affair, a pallid remake of An Affair to Remember (1957) and Love Affair (1939)
• 1995 Co-starred with Michael Douglas in Rob Reiner s The American President ; received a Golden Globe nomination for Actress in a Musical/Comedy
• 1996 Played Jack Nicholson s wife in Tim Burton s blockbuster spoof Mars Attacks!
• 1998 Appeared with Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis in Edward Zwick s The Siege
• 1998 Returned to the stage after a decade as Ibsen s Hedda Gabler at the Geffen Playhouse
• 1999 Played the shrewish, status-seeking wife of a man undergoing a mid-life crisis in American Beauty ; was the feature film debut for writer Alan Ball and director Sam Mendes; received Best Actress Academy Award nomination
• 2000 Co-starred with Garry Shandling in Mike Nichols What Planet Are You From? (third collaboration with Nichols)
• 2002 Voiced Abigail Adams on the short lived PBS animated series Liberty s Kids
• 2003 Starred opposite Kevin Costner (also directed) and Robert Duvall in the western epic Open Range
• 2004 Portrayed an aging British actress in the 1930s in Being Julia ; based on the novel Theatre by W. Somerset Maugham; received Best Actress SAG and Academy Award nominations
• 2006 Played an unstable mother in the film adaptation of Augusten Burroughs Running With Scissors ; received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy
• 2006 Portrayed the title role in Mrs. Harris (HBO); received Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG nominations for Best Actress
• 2008 Played the editor of a prominent fashion magazine in Diane English s female ensemble The Women, a remake of the 1936 play by Clare Boothe Luce
• 2010 Co-starred in Rodrigo García s independent feature Mother and Child
• 2010 Co-starred with Julianne Moore in The Kids Are All Right, about two children conceived by artificial insemination who invite their birth father (played by Mark Ruffalo) into their home
• 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy ( The Kids Are All Right )
• 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead ( The Kids Are All Right )
• 2011 Nominated for the 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role ( The Kids Are All Right )
• Apprenticed with the American Conservatory Theater
• Family moved to San Diego, California in the mid-1960s
• First professional job as a dancer in The Green Show at San Diego s famed Old Globe Theatre
• Moved to Los Angeles
• Raised in Wichita, Kansas until the age of seven
• Spent a year working as a cook on a charter scuba-diving boat at age 17 before college and scuba diving for recreation

Actor Credits

* Mother and Child (2010)
Karen
* The Kids Are All Right (2010)
Nic
* The Women (2008)
Sylvie Fowler
* Dirty Tricks (2006)
* Running With Scissors (2006)
Deirdre Burroughs
* Being Julia (2004)
Julia Lambert
* Open Range (2003)
Sue Barlow
* What Planet Are You From? (2000)
Susan
* American Beauty (1999)
Carolyn Burnham
* In Dreams (1999)
Claire Cooper
* The Book That Wrote Itself (1999)
* The Siege (1998)
Elise Kraft/ Sharon Bridger
* Mars Attacks! (1996)
Barbara Land
* Richard III (1995)
Queen Elizabeth
* The American President (1995)
Sidney Ellen Wade
* Love Affair (1994)
Terry McKay
* Bugsy (1991)
Virginia Hill
* Guilty By Suspicion (1991)
Ruth Merrill
* Regarding Henry (1991)
Sarah Turner
* Postcards From the Edge (1990)
Evelyn Ames
* The Grifters (1990)
Myra Langtry
* Valmont (1989)
Marquise DeMerteuil
* The Great Outdoors (1988)
Kate

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