Lois Smith

Actor

Lois Smith

Born November 3, 1930 in Topeka, Kansas, USA77 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.

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The best way into Lois Smith's work
Minority Report posterFirst watchMinority Report20027.4as Dr. Iris HinemanA major role in one of their most watched films.John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed.View film

Essential films

Ranked by role, acclaim and reach
Sweet Land poster6.5Sweet Land2005Powder Keg poster6.9Powder Keg2001Twister poster6.6Twister1996Five Easy Pieces poster7.1Five Easy Pieces1970A Dog Year poster6.1A Dog Year2009P.S. poster5.6P.S.2004Lady Bird poster7.2Lady Bird2017Falling Down poster7.4Falling Down1993

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Rated by NookFilm members
The Nice Guys poster7.1The Nice Guys2016

Filmography

77 films as actor
  1. TBAThe Steel HarpHanna
  2. TBAOutside of ClevelandMarjorie
  3. 2025Lightning BugLydia
  4. 2025On the EndTrudie Ferreira
  5. 2025The UninvitedHelen
  6. 2022Mack & RitaBetty
  7. 2021The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening SunUpshur 'Maw' Clampette
  8. 2020Uncle FrankAunt Butch
  9. 2020The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in AmericaHarper Pitt
  10. 2020TeslaThe Grande Dame
  11. 2017Lady BirdSister Sarah Joan
  12. 2017Marjorie PrimeMarjorie
  13. 2016The ComedianMiriam
  14. 2016The Nice GuysMrs. Glenn
  15. 2015Run All NightMargaret Conlon
  16. 2013The Man Who Came Out Only at NightThe Youngest Daughter (later)
  17. 2012The Odd Life of Timothy GreenAunt Mel
  18. 2012RoadieMom
  19. 2010Please GiveMrs. Portman
  20. 2009A Dog YearLois Blair
  21. 2008KillshotLenore
  22. 2008Diminished CapacityBelle
  23. 2008Turn the RiverAbby
  24. 2006Griffin & PhoenixDr. Imberman
  25. 2006HollywoodlandHelen Bessolo
  26. 2006Little FugitiveElizabeth
  27. 2005Sweet LandInge (as an older woman)
  28. 2004P.S.Ellie Silverstein
  29. 2004Iron Jawed AngelsReverend Anna Howard Shaw
  30. 2004The Best Thief in the WorldHelen
  31. 2003A Foreign AffairMa Adams
  32. 2003Red BetsyHelen Rounds
  33. 2002Minority ReportDr. Iris Hineman
  34. 2002The Laramie ProjectLucy Thompson
  35. 2001Powder KegMother
  36. 2001The PledgeHelen Jackson
  37. 1999TumbleweedsGinger
  38. 1998The EternalMrs. Ferriter
  39. 1997Hudson River BluesJulia
  40. 1996Larger Than LifeLuluna
  41. 1996TwisterAunt Meg
  42. 1995Dead Man WalkingHelen's Mother
  43. 1995How to Make an American QuiltSophia
  44. 1995TrumanMadge Wallace Gates
  45. 1994Holy MatrimonyOrna
  46. 1993Falling DownD-Fens' Mother
  47. 1993SkylarkLou Wheaton
  48. 1992Deadly Matrimony
  49. 1992Keep the ChangeLureen
  50. 1992Hard PromisesMrs. Bell
  51. 1991Fried Green TomatoesMama Threadgoode
  52. 1991White Hot: The Mysterious Murder of Thelma ToddAlice Todd
  53. 1991The Grapes of WrathMa Joad
  54. 1990Green CardBrontë's Mother
  55. 1988Midnight RunMrs. Nelson
  56. 1987Fatal AttractionMartha
  57. 1987Black WidowSara
  58. 1985DoubletakeSarah
  59. 1985The Execution of Raymond GrahamMary Neal
  60. 1985TwistedHelen Giles
  61. 1984RecklessMrs. Prescott
  62. 1983Reuben, ReubenMare Spofford
  63. 1981Four FriendsMrs. Carnahan
  64. 1981The House of MirthBertha Dorset
  65. 1980ResurrectionKathy
  66. 1980The Jilting of Granny WeatherallCornelia
  67. 1980FoxesMrs. Axman
  68. 1976Next Stop, Greenwich VillageAnita Cunningham
  69. 1972Up the SandboxElinore
  70. 1972Particular MenAnne Starr
  71. 1970Dragon CountryWoman (segment "Talk to Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen")
  72. 1970Five Easy PiecesPartita Dupea
  73. 1970The Way We Live NowJane Aldridge
  74. 1967Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good NightEvelyn
  75. 1960The Master BuilderHilda
  76. 1955Strange Lady in TownSpurs O'Brien
  77. 1955East of EdenAnne