BIO
Ellen Barkin's break-out role was in the comedy-drama film Diner (1982), written and directed by Barry Levinson, for which she received favorable reviews. Barkin was cast in the drama film Tender Mercies (1983) after impressing its director Bruce Beresford during an audition in New York City, despite her inexperience and his lack of familiarity with her work. Robert Duvall, who played the lead role in Tender Mercies, said of Barkin, "She brings a real credibility to that part, plus she was young and attractive and had a certain sense of edge, a danger to her that was good for that part." She also appeared in the 1983 rock and roll drama film Eddie and the Cruisers.
Barkin later appeared in several successful films, including the thrillers The Big Easy (1987), opposite Dennis Quaid and Sea of Love (1989), opposite Al Pacino. Barkin also appeared in off-Broadway plays, including a role as one of the roommates in Extremities, about an intended rape victim played by Susan Sarandon who turns the tables on her attacker. About her performance in the play Eden Court, The New York Times critic Frank Rich summarized: "If it were really possible to give the kiss of life to a corpse, the actress Ellen Barkin would be the one to do it. In Eden Court, the moribund play that has brought her to the Promenade Theater, Miss Barkin is tantalizingly alive from her bouncing blond ponytail to the long legs that gyrate wildly and involuntarily every time an Elvis Presley record plays on stage".
Barkin has also done work in made-for-television films such as Before Women Had Wings (1997), for which she won an Emmy as Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie and The White River Kid (1999). She voiced the start of each Theme Time Radio Hour with host Bob Dylan on XM's Deep Tracks. In 2005, Barkin set up a film production company with her brother, George, along with her husband at the time and billionaire investor, Ronald Perelman.
Barkin appeared in her Broadway debut as Dr. Brookner in The Normal Heart, for which she won the 2011 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Barkin has received acclaim for her performance in Another Happy Day. IndieWire cited her turn as one of the best female performances of the year. In 2015, she starred as Dani Kirschenbloom, in the Showtime comedy-drama series Happyish.
From 2016 through 2019, Barkin starred as Janine "Smurf" Cody, the crime family's matriarch, in the TNT drama series Animal Kingdom. The series is based on the 2010 Australian film where Smurf was played by Jacki Weaver.
Movies
Diner
[ 1982 ] Beth
Eddie and the Cruisers
[ 1983 ] Maggie Foley
Daniel
[ 1983 ] Phyllis Isaacson
Tender Mercies
[ 1983 ] Sue Anne
Enormous Changes at the Last Minute
[ 1983 ] Virginia
Harry & Son
[ 1984 ] Katie Wilowski
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension
[ 1984 ] Penny Priddy
Terminal Choice
[ 1985 ] Mary O Connor
The Big Easy
[ 1986 ] Anne Osborne
Desert Bloom
[ 1986 ] Aunt Starr
Down by Law
[ 1986 ] Laurette
Siesta
[ 1987 ] Claire
Sea of Love
[ 1989 ] Helen
Johnny Handsome
[ 1989 ] Sunny Boyd
Switch
[ 1991 ] Amanda Brooks
Man Trouble
[ 1992 ] Joan Spruance
Into the West
[ 1992 ] Kathleen
Mac
[ 1992 ] Oona Goldfarb
This Boy's Life
[ 1993 ] Caroline
Wild Bill
[ 1995 ] Calamity Jane
Bad Company
[ 1995 ] Margaret Wells
The Fan
[ 1996 ] Jewel Stern
Mad Dog Time
[ 1996 ] Rita Everly
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
[ 1998 ] North Star Waitress
Drop Dead Gorgeous
[ 1999 ] Annette Atkins
The White River Kid
[ 1999 ] Eva Nell La Fangroy
Mercy
[ 2000 ] Det. Cathy Palmer
Crime + Punishment in Suburbia
[ 2000 ] Maggie Skolnick
Someone Like You
[ 2001 ] Diane Roberts
Palindromes
[ 2004 ] Joyce Victor
She Hate Me
[ 2004 ] Margo Chadwick
Trust the Man
[ 2005 ] Norah
Ocean's Thirteen
[ 2007 ] Abigail Sponder
Brooklyn's Finest
[ 2009 ] Agent Smith
Happy Tears
[ 2009 ] Shelly
Shit Year
[ 2010 ] Colleen West
Operation: Endgame
[ 2010 ] Empress
Twelve
[ 2010 ] Jessica's Mother
The Chameleon
[ 2010 ] Kimberly Miller
Letters to Juliet
[ 2010 ] producer
Another Happy Day
[ 2011 ] Lynn
Very Good Girls
[ 2013 ] Norma
The Cobbler
[ 2014 ] Elaine Greenawalt
Hands of Stone
[ 2016 ] Stephanie Arcel
Active Adults
[ 2017 ] Lucy
Breaking News in Yuba County
[ 2021 ] Debbie
The Man from Toronto
[ 2022 ] The Handler
The Out-Laws
[ 2023 ] Lilly McDermott