Patricia Clarkson

Born: December 1959
Where: New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Clarkson - best known for her 2004 Oscar nod for her role in Pieces of April - first gained acclaim for her various stage roles on and off- Broadway including the 1980s revival of John Guare's House of Blue Leaves.

Film appearances have been varied and sporadic after she debuted as the sweet young wife of G-man Elliot Ness in Brian De Palma's The Untouchables.

She followed with diverse appearances as Burt Lancaster's daughter in Rocket Gibraltar, Timothy Hutton's fiancee in Everybody's All American and as a Confederate woman who is forced to give shelter to a contingent of Union soldiers in the period drama Pharaoh's Army.

Clarkson had one of her best screen parts in the showy role of a washed-up, drug-addicted German actress whose lesbian lover begins to pull away from her in the indie High Art in 1998.

Later that year, she was featured in the all-star ensemble of the romantic comedy-drama Playing By Heart followed by a turn as the warden's wife in Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's thriller The Green Mile.

A saavy actress with a sharp sense of role selection, Clarkson spent much of 2002 working with numerous darlings of the independent film world.

In Welcome to Collinwood, Anthony and Joe Russo placed Clarkson in an all-star lineup that included William H. Macy, Sam Rockwell and Luis Guzman for their light-hearted heist comedy.

In Bedrooms and Hallways she played Annette Jennings, a financially struggling suburban mom of two in the film adaptation of A.M. Holmes' darkly satiric collection of short stories.

She reteamed with Safe director Todd Haynes and actress Julianne Moore in Far From Heaven as Eleanor Fine and also appeared in the arthouse hit The Safety of Objects.

With the prolific Lars Von Trier (Breaking the Waves and Dancer in the Dark) she was cast alongside Nicole Kidman and Stellan Skarsgard in the 1930s moody period thriller, Dogville.

At the 2002 Emmy Awards, Clarkson won the Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series award for her portrayal of the free-spirited Sarah in the hit TV series Six Feet Under.