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Annette Bening

Actor

Annette Bening

Born May 29, 1958 in Topeka, Kansas, USA48 films

Annette Carol Bening (born May 29, 1958) is an American actress. With a career spanning over four decades, she is known for her versatile work across screen and stage. Bening has received numerous accolades, including a BAFTA Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, in addition to nominations for five Academy Awards, two Tony Awards, and a Primetime Emmy Award, making her one of the few artists nominated for the Triple Crown of Acting without winning.

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A graduate of San Francisco State University and the American Conservatory Theater, Bening started her career on stage with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival company in 1980, and played Lady Macbeth in 1984 at the American Conservatory Theater. She made her Broadway debut in the Tina Howe play Coastal Disturbances (1987), for which she received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Making her film debut in 1988, she gained further recognition for her role in The Grifters (1990), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination. This acclaim continued throughout the 1990s and 2000s with further Oscar-nominated performances in the comedy-dramas American Beauty (1999) and Being Julia (2004), which respectively won her the BAFTA and Golden Globe for Best Actress. Bening's performance as the title character in the British television film Mrs. Harris (2005) earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.

In the following decades, Bening received two additional Oscar nominations for her leading roles as a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right (2010) and swimmer Diana Nyad in the Netflix biographical film Nyad (2023), the former of which also won her a Golden Globe. She returned to Broadway in the revival of Arthur Miller's All My Sons (2019), earning another Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Play. Her other roles during this period include the films 20th Century Women (2016), Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017), Captain Marvel (2019), and Death on the Nile (2022), and the miniseries Apples Never Fall (2024).

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

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The best way into Annette Bening's work
American Beauty posterFirst watchAmerican Beauty19998.0as Carolyn BurnhamLester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
Captain Marvel poster6.8Captain Marvel2019Mars Attacks! poster6.4Mars Attacks!1996Death on the Nile poster6.4Death on the Nile2022Ruby Sparks poster7.1Ruby Sparks201220th Century Women poster7.320th Century Women2016Open Range poster7.2Open Range2003The Report poster7.0The Report2019The Kids Are All Right poster6.6The Kids Are All Right2010

Filmography

48 films as actor
  1. TBATurn of MindDr. Jennifer White
  2. TBA42.6 YearsRuthie
  3. 2027In Love
  4. 2026The Bride!Dr. Euphronious
  5. 2024PoolmanDiane Espilnade
  6. 2023NYADDiana Nyad
  7. 2022Jerry & Marge Go LargeMarge Selbee
  8. 2022Death on the NileEuphemia Bouc
  9. 2019Hope GapGrace
  10. 2019The ReportDianne Feinstein
  11. 2019The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten ActsNarrator (voice)
  12. 2019GeorgetownAmanda Brecht
  13. 2019Captain MarvelSupreme Intelligence / Dr. Wendy Lawson
  14. 2018Life ItselfDr. Cait Morris
  15. 2018The SeagullIrina Arkadina
  16. 2017Film Stars Don't Die in LiverpoolGloria Grahame
  17. 201620th Century WomenDorothea
  18. 2016Rules Don't ApplyLucy Mabrey
  19. 2015Danny CollinsMary Sinclair
  20. 2014The SearchHelen
  21. 2013The Face of LoveNikki Lostorm
  22. 2012Ginger & RosaBella
  23. 2012Girl Most LikelyZelda
  24. 2012Ruby SparksGertrude
  25. 2010The Kids Are All RightNic
  26. 2009Mother and ChildKaren
  27. 2008The WomenSylvie Fowler
  28. 2006Running with ScissorsDeirdre Burroughs
  29. 2005Mrs. HarrisJean Harris
  30. 2004Being JuliaJulia Lambert
  31. 2003Open RangeSue Barlow
  32. 2000What Planet Are You From?Susan Anderson
  33. 1999American BeautyCarolyn Burnham
  34. 1999In DreamsClaire Cooper
  35. 1998The SiegeElise Kraft / Sharon Bridger
  36. 1996Mars Attacks!Barbara Land
  37. 1995Richard IIIQueen Elizabeth
  38. 1995The American PresidentSydney Ellen Wade
  39. 1994Love AffairTerry McKay
  40. 1991BugsyVirginia Hill
  41. 1991Regarding HenrySarah Turner
  42. 1991Guilty by SuspicionRuth Merrill
  43. 1990Postcards from the EdgeEvelyn Ames
  44. 1990The GriftersMyra Langtry
  45. 1989ValmontMerteuil
  46. 1988The Great OutdoorsKate Craig
  47. 1988HostageJill
  48. 1986Manhunt for Claude DallasAnn Tillman