Joan Cusack

Born: 11 October 1962
Where: New York

Joan - sister of actor John Cusack - is probably best known for her Oscar nominated role in Working Girl.

She also made an impression in a raft of movies including Broadcast News, Married to the Mob and My Blue Heaven.

She made her feature debut aged 16 in 1980 with My Bodyguard and went on to appear sporadically in films while attending the University of Wisconsin.

After college she joined the cast of Saturday Night Live but was underused and left to appear in a scene-steeling supporting performance as the harried production assistant in Broadcast News.

In 1988 she appeared in Jonathan Demme's Married to the Mob as a Long Island Mafia wife, then gave an Oscar-nominated performance in Mike Nichols' Working Girl.

She continued to build her reputation with a dramatic portrayal of a mature seductress in Men Don't Leave.

Pigeonholed as a comic sidekick or supporting player, Cusack continued to impress with roles in Hero and Toys, and particularly in Addams Family Values as a voluptuous blonde nanny.

She first appeared alongside brother John in 1983's Class followed by roles in the John Hughes comedy Sixteen Candles.

She later played John's on-screen sister in Cameron Crowe's romantic comedy Say Anything, before playing a secretary to a youthful hitman (her brother John Cusack) in Grosse Point Blank.

Cusack graduated to leading lady in Frank Oz's In & Out, providing her with a rich role as the trusting fiancee of a fellow teacher who is outed as gay by a former student at the Academy Awards.

From there, Cusack ventured into more dramatic territory, appearing as Tim Robbins' wife in the thriller Arlington Road and working with Robbins the director in The Cradle Will Rock.

She also continued appearing in comedies, playing Julia Roberts' best friend Peggy, a hair stylist who reads omens in the flights of geese, in Runaway Bride.

She also received kudos for her voice performance as the lonely cowgirl puppet Jesse in Pixar's animated hit Toy Story 2.

The actress teamed up again with brother John in High Fidelity, followed by a role in the comedy Where the Heart Is.

After several character turns, Cusack accepted a project that positioned her firmly as a leading lady as the star of her own sitcom, What About Joan?.

Turning to a TV-movie project, Cusack appeared in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, then satrred in Looney Tunes: The Movie before joining the cast of comedy School of Rock, starring Jack Black.

She was then cast opposite Nicole Kidman in director Frank Oz's remake of The Stepford Wives.

Recent work includes the voice of Abby Mallard in the Disney cartoon Chicken Little.