Anne Archer

Born: 25 August 1947
Where: Los Angeles, California, USA

The actress picked up an Oscar nomination, Golden Globe and BAFTA nod as Michael Douglas' "perfect" wife in the thriller Fatal Attraction.

She is also known for playing CIA agent Jack Ryan's beleaguered wife, Cathy, in Tom Clancy's Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger.

The daughter of actors John Archer and Marjorie Lloyd, she studied theatre at Claremont College before landing her first role alongside Jon Voight in All-American Boy.

She landed her first screen lead in 1976's Lifeguard, opposite Sam Elliott, and continued to work, alternating between TV and film.

In 1978, she auditioned for the role of Lois Lane in Superman - but lost out to Margot Kidder.

Subsequent appearances were unremarkable, including the turkey Raise The Titanic and the low-budget horror Too Scared To Scream.

However, after Fatal Attraction, she began appearing in big-budget high-profile features including Patriot Games, Body of Evidence and Clear and Present Danger.

Archer also won praised for her performance as a clown in Robert Altman's ensemble comedy Short Cuts.

Subsequent roles tended to be on the small screen, with the exceptions of Mojave Moon, where she played Angelina Jolie's mother, and the thriller Dark Summer.

In 2000, she played the wife of an American ambassador in Rules of Engagement alongside Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones and starred in the action thriller The Art of War.

The following year she replaced Amanda Donohoe in the role of Mrs. Robinson in the London stage version of The Graduate.

Offscreen, she has acted as a spokesperson for Applied Scholastics International, a front group for the controversial Church of Scientology.

Recent work includes the love interest of Texas Ranger Tommy Lee Jones in the light comedy Man of the House.