Web Quotableonline.com Frasescelebres.org Greatbookscollection.org

Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12 1970 in
the Catskill Mountains, New York) is an United
States|American film Actor|actress. Although she
has been working in the film industry since she
was a teenager, she has only recently received
critical acclaim for her work, most notably for
Requiem for a Dream (2000) and A Beautiful Mind
(2001), for which she won an Academy Award as
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best
Supporting Actress.

Connelly is married to the United Kingdom|British
actor Paul Bettany, whom she met while working on
A Beautiful Mind; the couple's son, Stellan (named
after Stellan Skarsgård), was born August 5,
2003. She has also a five-year-old son, Kai, from
a previous relationship.

Connelly, born to an Irish Catholic immigrant and
a New York-bred Jewish mother, was raised in
Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn near the Brooklyn
Bridge, attending St. Ann's School, except for
four years the family spent living in Woodstock
(town), New York|Woodstock, New York. Her father
was in the garment industry, and one of his close
friends through the trade was an advertising
executive.

The executive friend suggested Jennifer audition
at a model (person)|modelling agency. At the age
of 10, her career started in newspaper and
magazine ads, then moved to television
commercials.

Her first film role was in the 1984 film Once Upon
a Time in America, where she had a small part as
"young Deborah Gelly" in Sergio Leone|Sergio
Leone's gangster epic. She next starred in cult
Italian horror director Dario Argento's Phenomena
(1985).

Connelly became a star on her next picture, the
fantasy Labyrinth (1986). Connelly played Sarah, a
teenager who wishes her baby brother into the
world of goblins ruled by goblin king Jareth
(played by rock superstar David Bowie). Through a
series of adventures reminiscent of Alice In
Wonderland, The Muppets and Monty Python, Sarah
does indeed manage to rescue her brother. A
product of the talents of Jim Henson, George
Lucas, ex-Monty Python member Terry Jones and
designer Brian Froud, the film was a solid hit and
enjoys a cult reputation today.  

Connelly seemed stuck as to how to follow up on
this success. She made a Japanese pop record and
starred in a couple of truly obscure movies -
Etoile (1988) and Some Girls (1988). The Dennis
Hopper directed Hot Spot (1990) was underwhelming,
both critical and commercially. 

She began studying English (language)|English at
Yale University|Yale, but transferred two years
later to Stanford University|Stanford. She did not
graduate from either institution. 

The big-budget Disney film The Rocketeer (1991)
similarly failed to restart Connelly's career. For
most of the 1990s, Connelly would be stuck with
insipid, obscure films or bit parts. The former
ingenue seemed destined to be a fondly remembered
footnote for her role in Labyrinth. 

However, Connelly began one of the screen's great
comebacks in the late 1990s. The moody indie film
Far Harbor (1996), showed her playing against type
and hinted at a much broader range than she had
previously shown. Connelly surprisingly began to
appear in smaller but well regarded films such as
Inventing the Abbotts (1997) and Waking the Dead
(2000). The film Dark City (1998) represented a
retrogression of sorts, with Connelly portraying a

two-dimensional torch singer character in a dark
fantasy world. However, it did afford her the
chance to work with such top-flight actors as
Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Ian Richardson and
Kiefer Sutherland. Similarly, Connelly drug up her
ingenue image again (although in a more
understated way) for the film Pollock
(movie)|Pollock (2000), although the presence of
such talent as Ed Harris (who also directed) and
Marcia Gay Harden must have been an incentive.

Connelly's big breakthrough finally came in the
2000 film Requiem for a Dream.  The edgy,
experimental film started Connelly and Jared Leto
as drug users on the edge of a breakdown.  The
film, which was a big critical success, firmly
established Jennifer Connelly as a serious,
talented actress. Connelly's star was on the rise
and she next starred in Ron Howard's film A
Beautiful Mind (2001).

Connelly essayed the role of Alicia Nash, the
long-suffering wife of a brilliant mathematician
John Nash, (played by Russell Crowe) who struggles
with mental illness. The film, based on real life
events, was a critical and commercial success and
earned Connelly an Academy Award nomination for
best supporting actress - which she won. Clearly
established in film, Connelly could work with the
best and brightest talent in both commercial and
independent film.

Connelly starred in two films in 2003: Hulk
(movie)|The Hulk and House of Sand and Fog. The
Hulk was something of a box office disappointment,
but afforded Connelly the chance to work with
noted director Ang Lee. House of Sand and Fog,
based on the novel by Andre Dubus, was reminiscent
of much of her independent film work of the late
1990s. 

Connelly's most recent film is Dark Water (2005).
Dark Water, based on a Japanese film, was a foray
into subtle horror that failed to win over either
critics or audiences. 

==Selected Filmography==
*Little Children (movie)|Little Children (2006 in
film|2006)
*Dark Water (2005 movie)|Dark Water (2005 in
film|2005)
*House of Sand and Fog (2003 in film|2003)
*Hulk (movie)|Hulk (2003 in film|2003)
*A Beautiful Mind (2001 in film|2001)
*The $treet (2000 in television|2000) (TV series)
*Pollock (movie)|Pollock (2000 in film|2000)
*Requiem for a Dream (2000 in film|2000)
*Dark City (1998 in film|1998)
*Higher Learning (1995 in film|1995)
*The Rocketeer (1991 in film|1991)
*The Hot Spot (1990 in film|1990)
*Labyrinth (film)|Labyrinth (1986 in film|1986)
*Once Upon a Time in America (1984 in film|1984)

==External links==
*imdb name | id=0000124 | name=Jennifer Connelly