2011 Tony Awards: Ellen Barkin Wins 'Featured Actress in a Play'

The American Theatre Wing's 64th Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony"® Awards were held at Radio City Music Hall on Sunday, June 13, 2011 and broadcast on the CBS Television Network. For more information visit tonyawards.com.

Nominations in 26 competitive categories for the American Theatre Wing's 65th Annual Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards® were announced May 3, 2011 by Tony Award winning actor Matthew Broderick and Tony Award winning actress Anika Noni Rose.

The Antoinette Perry "Tony" Awards are bestowed annually on theatre professionals for distinguished achievement. The Tony is one of the most coveted awards in the entertainment industry and the annual telecast is considered one of the most prestigious programs on television.

To view the complete list of 2011 Tony Award winners, click here.

BroadwayWorld Congratulates
Ellen Barkin
2011 Tony Award Winner
'Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play'

Ellen Barkin ("Dr. Emma Brookner" in The Normal Heart) Ellen Barkin: Ellen Barkin's superb acting skills have enabled her to play roles ranging from an abusive single mother to a sultry femme fatale. Her versatility has made her a sought after and esteemed actress in theater, film and television. Barkin stars in the much-anticipated indie project, Another Happy Day, directed by Sam Levinson. The film-co-starring Kate Bosworth, Demi Moore, Ellen Burstyn and Thomas Haden Church-recently premiered to rave reviews at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. Other recent film credits include Cam Archer's Shit Year, which premiered to rave reviews at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival, Jean-Paul Salome's The Chameleon and Gary Winick's Letters To Juliet, for which she went behind the camera as one of the film's producers. Barkin has had an illustrious and diverse acting career comprised of over forty films that include, in no particular order, Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's 13, Todd Solondz's Palindromes, Antoine Fuqua's Brooklyn's Finest, Mitchell Lichtenstein's Happy Tears, Michael Caton-Jones's This Boy's Life, opposite Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio, Spike Lee's She Hate Me, Tony Scott's The Fan, opposite Robert De Niro, Walter Hill's Wild Bill, opposite Jeff Bridges, Harold Becker's Sea Of Love, opposite Al Pacino, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Terry Gilliam's Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas, Mike Newell's Into The West, Bob Rafelson's Man Trouble, opposite Jack Nicholson, John Tururro's Mac, Jim McBride's The Big Easy, opposite Dennis Quaid; Blake Edwards's Switch, Jim Jarmusch's Down By Law, Bruce Beresford's Tender Mercies, Eugene Corr's Desert Bloom and Sydney Lumet's Daniel. Her first film and breakout performance was in Barry Levinson's Diner. She garnered her first Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress for her performance in Blake Edward's Switch, and received her second Golden Globe nomination and the Emmy Award® for Best Actress for her performance in Oprah Winfrey's Before Women Had Wings. Barkin attended the prestigious High School of the Performing Arts in New York and went on to study both drama and history at Hunter College. She continued her acting studies by participating in workshops at the renowned Actors Studio. Barkin made her acting debut in 1980 in a theatrical production of Irish Coffee, which was soon followed by the original Off-Broadway production of Extremities. A Bronx native, Barkin currently resides in New York City.

 

'Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play'
2011 Tony Award Nominees

Edie Falco ("Bananas Shaughnessy" in The House of Blue Leaves)
Edie Falco most recently appeared on stage in the Naked Angels Off-Broadway production of This Wide Night, for which she received a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning play Side Man, which garnered her a Theatre World Award and a Drama Desk Award nomination. Other Broadway credits include Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and 'night, Mother. Ms. Falco is currently starring as Jackie in the hit Showtime series "Nurse Jackie," for which she won the Emmy Award for Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. As Carmela Soprano in "The Sopranos" Ms. Falco received three Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and two SAG Awards for Lead Actress in a Drama Series. Film credits include Cost of Living (AFI's Best Actress Award), Sunshine State (Los Angeles Film Critics Association and New York Film Critics Online Award for Best Supporting Actress), Laws of Gravity (Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Female Lead Actor), Freedomland, Judy Berlin and 3 Backyards.

Judith Light ("Marie Lombardi" in Lombardi)
Judith Light: BFA: Carnegie Mellon University. Theatre: Guys and Dolls (USO European tour); Milwaukee Repertory Theater; Seattle Repertory Theatre; A Doll's House (Public Theater's Broadway production); Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Foundation; Ojai Playwrights Conference; Hedda Gabler (Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, DC, Helen Hayes Award nomination); MCC Theater, NY production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit (Helen Hayes and Elliot Norton Awards on national tour); Colder Than Here (MCC Theater); Athol Fugard's Sorrows and Rejoicings (Second Stage Theatre and Mark Taper Forum, Drama League Award nomination); Company (L.A. Reprise! Broadway's Best); A.R. Gurney's Children (Westport and Williamstown Theatres). Television: "One Life to Live" (two Best Actress Emmy Awards), "Who's the Boss," "Phenom," "The Stones," CBS' "The Simplie Life," "Law & Order: SVU," "Ugly Betty" (Emmy Award nomination). Fifteen movies for television including "The Ryan White Story" and "A Husband, a Wife, and a Lover" (co-executive producer). Film: The Shoemaker, Ira & Abby and Save Me (actor/producer, premiered Sundance Film Festival 2007). Board member and advocate of various HIV/AIDS and human rights organizations.

Joanna Lumley ("The Princess" in La Bête)
Joanna Lumley, OBE, has starred in several iconic televisions series including "The New Avengers," "Sapphire & Steel," "Class Act," "Sensitive Skin" and as Dolly Bantry in "Miss Marple." She won three BAFTAs for her role as Patsy Stone in "Absolutely Fabulous." Lumley has presented several documentaries including "Girl Friday," "In the Land of the Northern Lights" and "Joanna Lumley's Nile." Lumley is making her Broadway debut in La Bête. Other UK theatre: The Cherry Orchard, Hedda Gabler, Noël and Gertie, Blithe Spirit, The Revengers' Comedies and The Letter. Films include The Cat's Meow, Shirley Valentine, two Pink Panthers, a Dracula, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, James and the Giant Peach and The Tale of Sweeney Todd. Joanna has also written several books.

Elizabeth Rodriguez ("Veronica" in The Motherf**ker with the Hat)
Elizabeth Rodriguez: Member of LAByrinth Theater Company. Broadway debut. Also by Stephen Adly Guirgis: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Public/LAByrinth), Our Lady of 121st Street (u/s, Union Square Theater) and Den of Thieves (Black Dahlia). Other theatre: A View From 151st Street (Public/LAByrinth), Unconditional (Public/LAByrinth), Beauty of the Father (MTC), Roger and Vanessa (Actors' Gang), Robbers (American Place). Film: Miami Vice, Jack Goes Boating, Acts of Worship, Return to Paradise, Dead Presidents, I Think I Do, Fresh, Four Lane Highway, Pound of Flesh. TV: "NY Undercover" (recurring), "The Shield" (recurring), "All My Children" (series regular), "NYPD Blue," "Law & Order," "Just Shoot Me," "Third Watch," "Six Feet Under," "Cold Case," "FlashForward."