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Lois Smith

Actor

Lois Smith

Born November 3, 1930 in Topeka, Kansas, USA76 films

Lois Arlene Smith (née Humbert; born November 3, 1930) is an American actress. She made her film debut in the 1955 drama film East of Eden, and later played supporting roles in a number of movies, including Five Easy Pieces (1970), Resurrection (1980), Fatal Attraction (1987), Fried Green Tomatoes (1991), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Dead Man Walking, Twister (1996), Minority Report (2002), The Nice Guys (2016) and Lady Bird (2017).

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In 2017, Smith received critical acclaim for her leading performance in the science-fiction drama film Marjorie Prime, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Awards, Gotham Awards and Saturn Award, and well as won Satellite Award. Smith also has had many roles on television, both daytime and prime time. She was regular cast member in the HBO horror drama True Blood, and well as received Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series nomination for The Americans.

Smith also is known for her extensive work in the theatre, receiving two Tony Award nominations for originating the role of Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath (1990) and for the role of Halie in a revival of Buried Child in 1996. She also starred in an acclaimed Off-Broadway revival of The Trip to Bountiful in 2005 for which she received an Obie Award for Best Actress, an Outer Critics Circle Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, and a Drama Desk Award. Smith is an ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago.

Description above from the Wikipedia article Lois Smith, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

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The best way into Lois Smith's work
Falling Down posterFirst watchFalling Down19937.4as D-Fens' MotherAn ordinary man frustrated with the various flaws he sees in society begins to psychotically and violently lash out against them.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Minority Report poster7.4Minority Report2002Lady Bird poster7.2Lady Bird2017The Nice Guys poster7.1The Nice Guys2016Fried Green Tomatoes poster7.7Fried Green Tomatoes1991The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun poster7.0The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun2021Twister poster6.6Twister1996Dead Man Walking poster7.3Dead Man Walking1995Midnight Run poster7.2Midnight Run1988

Filmography

76 films as actor
  1. TBAThe Steel HarpHanna
  2. 2025Lightning BugLydia
  3. 2025On the EndTrudie Ferreira
  4. 2025The UninvitedHelen
  5. 2022Mack & RitaBetty
  6. 2021The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening SunUpshur 'Maw' Clampette
  7. 2020Uncle FrankAunt Butch
  8. 2020The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in AmericaHarper Pitt
  9. 2020TeslaThe Grande Dame
  10. 2017Lady BirdSister Sarah Joan
  11. 2017Marjorie PrimeMarjorie
  12. 2016The ComedianMiriam
  13. 2016The Nice GuysMrs. Glenn
  14. 2015Run All NightMargaret Conlon
  15. 2013The Man Who Came Out Only at NightThe Youngest Daughter (later)
  16. 2012The Odd Life of Timothy GreenAunt Mel
  17. 2012RoadieMom
  18. 2010Please GiveMrs. Portman
  19. 2009A Dog YearLois Blair
  20. 2008KillshotLenore
  21. 2008Diminished CapacityBelle
  22. 2008Turn the RiverAbby
  23. 2006Griffin & PhoenixDr. Imberman
  24. 2006HollywoodlandHelen Bessolo
  25. 2006Little FugitiveElizabeth
  26. 2005Sweet LandInge (as an older woman)
  27. 2004P.S.Ellie Silverstein
  28. 2004Iron Jawed AngelsReverend Anna Howard Shaw
  29. 2004The Best Thief in the WorldHelen
  30. 2003A Foreign AffairMa Adams
  31. 2003Red BetsyHelen Rounds
  32. 2002Minority ReportDr. Iris Hineman
  33. 2002The Laramie ProjectLucy Thompson
  34. 2001Powder KegMother
  35. 2001The PledgeHelen Jackson
  36. 1999TumbleweedsGinger
  37. 1998The EternalMrs. Ferriter
  38. 1997Hudson River BluesJulia
  39. 1996Larger Than LifeLuluna
  40. 1996TwisterAunt Meg
  41. 1995Dead Man WalkingHelen's Mother
  42. 1995How to Make an American QuiltSophia
  43. 1995TrumanMadge Wallace Gates
  44. 1994Holy MatrimonyOrna
  45. 1993Falling DownD-Fens' Mother
  46. 1993SkylarkLou Wheaton
  47. 1992Deadly Matrimony
  48. 1992Keep the ChangeLureen
  49. 1992Hard PromisesMrs. Bell
  50. 1991Fried Green TomatoesMama Threadgoode
  51. 1991White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma ToddAlice Todd
  52. 1991The Grapes of WrathMa Joad
  53. 1990Green CardBrontë's Mother
  54. 1988Midnight RunMrs. Nelson, Mardukas's Friend
  55. 1987Fatal AttractionMartha
  56. 1987Black WidowSara
  57. 1985DoubletakeSarah
  58. 1985The Execution of Raymond GrahamMary Neal
  59. 1985TwistedHelen Giles
  60. 1984RecklessMrs. Prescott
  61. 1983Reuben, ReubenMare Spofford
  62. 1981Four FriendsMrs. Carnahan
  63. 1981The House of MirthBertha Dorset
  64. 1980ResurrectionKathy
  65. 1980The Jilting of Granny WeatherallCornelia
  66. 1980FoxesMrs. Axman
  67. 1976Next Stop, Greenwich VillageAnita Cunningham
  68. 1972Up the SandboxElinore
  69. 1972Particular MenAnne Starr
  70. 1970Dragon CountryWoman (segment "Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen")
  71. 1970Five Easy PiecesPartita Dupea
  72. 1970The Way We Live NowJane Aldridge
  73. 1967Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good NightEvelyn
  74. 1960The Master BuilderHilda
  75. 1955Strange Lady in TownSpurs O'Brien
  76. 1955East of EdenAnne