Naturally brunette/blue-eyed beauty Amy Davis Irving was born in Palo
Alto, California. She is the youngest of three children, and the
daughter of influential theatrical/television director and producer
Jules Irving, and actress
Priscilla Pointer. Her father was of
Russian Jewish descent, and her mother's ancestry includes English,
Scots-Irish, Welsh, Jewish, and German.
Amy was brought up in the world of theater. She was put on stage from
the time she was nine-months-old, her father was the director and her
mother was the actress, they didn't want baby sitters for their
children, so if she wasn't performing, she would stay in the wardrobe
department or her mother used to put her in the second row center where
she could watch her. And, before she was 10-years-old, she had already
worked in several plays. At a young age, Amy Irving was trained at the
American Conservatory Theater and Britain's London Academy of Music and
Dramatic Arts (L.A.M.A.D.A.). She made her off-Broadway debut at the
age of 17 and, from that moment to date, she received critical acclaim,
appearing in such plays as: "Heartbreak House" (1983), "The Road to
Mecca" (1988), "Broken Glass" (1994), "The Three Sisters" (1997), "The
Guys" (2002), "Ghosts" (2002) and "Celadine" (2004), among others.
In 1976, Amy made her film debut, playing "Sue Snell", one of her most
unforgettable characters in
Stephen King's
Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976), a classic in the horror
genre, taken to the big screen by director
Brian De Palma. For the next few years,
Irving continued working in important films,
Teufelskreis Alpha (1978), also directed by De
Palma, Eine Welt ohne Ton (1979) and
Das große Finale (1980). Later, in
1983, she gave a fine performance as "Hadass", in
Barbra Streisand's
Yentl (1983); earning an Oscar nomination. Two of her best
opportunities arrived in the late 80s, when she played "Anna Anderson"
in
Anastasia (1986)
and "Isabelle Grossman" in the romantic comedy,
Sarah und Sam (1988); she
received a Golden Globe nomination for each movie.
Amy was married to director
Steven Spielberg from 1985 to 1989 and
she has a son with him, Max Spielberg.
And, in 1990, after her divorce, she met Brazilian director
Bruno Barreto while they were working on
Die Stärke der Macht (1990). They wed
a few years later and they have a son (Gabriel). In 1997, Irving made a
guest appearance on Woody Allen's
Harry außer sich (1997)
and, in 1999, she came back in the sequel of
Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976),
Carrie 2 - Die Rache (1999).
Unfortunately, her film opportunities narrowed in the
90s. However, in the year 2000, she surprised the whole world again
when she performed as "Mary Ann Simpson", a very funny and sensual, at
the same time, English teacher in the film,
Bossa Nova (2000). She managed to
capture this peculiar character very well. After this romantic comedy,
Amy had a great opportunity, playing "Barbara Wakefield",
Michael Douglas' wife in
Traffic - Macht des Kartells (2000), the film was a huge
success and she won an Actor Award, shared with the rest of the cast.
Then, this beautiful and talented actress continued working in
remarkable films such as
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing (2001),
with her Carrie: Des Satans jüngste Tochter (1976) co-star,
Sissy Spacek, in the Walt Disney
production,
Bis in alle Ewigkeit (2002) and in
the horror film,
Hide and Seek - Du kannst dich nicht verstecken (2005), along with
Robert De Niro. Recently, she had an
important part as "Emily Sloane" in the very-known show,
Alias: Die Agentin (2001).
In addition to her talents as an actress, she is a great dancer and
also showed off her vocal talents, singing in films such as
Falsches Spiel mit Roger Rabbit (1988),
Honeysuckle Rose (1980),
Rumpelstilzchen (1987) and
Feivel, der Mauswanderer im wilden Westen (1991).
Nowadays, Amy Irving continues working on stage in Broadway productions
and spends most of her time with her friends and family, especially
with her two children.
