Celebrity Nooz: Elizabeth McGovern

Elizabeth McGovern (Actress) - She's Having a Baby

Updated: 5/28/09

Name: Elizabeth McGovern

Born: July 18, 1961, Evanston, Illinois

Claim To Fame: She is known for her roles in such films as 1988's She's Having a Baby and Sergio Leone's gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America in 1989.

Family Life: In 1992, she married English producer and director Simon Curtis. They have two daughters.

Info: While attending North Hollywood High School, McGovern began acting in plays and impressed agent Joan Scott with her talent. Upon Scott's recommendation that she taking acting lessons, McGovern studied first at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and then at The Juilliard School in New York City.

In 1980, she was offered her first movie role, in Ordinary People, in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Timothy Hutton. The following year she earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the early 20th century actress Evelyn Nesbit in the movie Ragtime, in which she had a controversial and very lengthy nude scene.

After she finished her education the next year, she began to act in theater plays, first off-Broadway and later in famous theaters. She has since continued performing both in films and on stage. In 1984 she starred in Sergio Leone's gangster epic Once Upon a Time in America playing Robert De Niro's romantic interest Deborah Gelly. In 1989 she played Mickey Rourke's sweet girlfriend in Johnny Handsome, directed by Walter Hill.

McGovern has also appeared in several television films, including Broken Glass (Arthur Miller, 1996); Tales from the Crypt; The Changeling; Tales from Hollywood; HBO Men and Women series; The Man in the Brooks Brothers Shirt; Faerie Tale Theatre - Snow White; and If Not For You (CBS 1995, own series). She also played Marguerite St. Just in an A&E television series loosely based on the novel the Scarlet Pimpernel.

Trivia: Is the older sister of novelist and writer, Cammie McGovern.

Was engaged to Sean Penn after falling in love on the set of Racing with the Moon (1984).

Has a brother, Monty.

Sings and plays guitar in her own band "Sadie And The Hotheads."

Has lived in West London since 1992.

Where Are They Now: Some recent roles include that of Ellen Doubleday in Daphne, a BBC2 television drama, as well as a three-part BBC comedy series called Freezing, written by James Wood and directed and co-produced by her husband Simon Curtis.

McGovern's main passion has become music. In 2008, she turned her focus to being a singer/songwriter, fronting the band Sadie and the Hotheads at The Castle pub venue in Balham.

They released an album featuring a selection of songs that she developed with The Nelson Brothers, musicians and producers, who are now part of the band; plus Ron Knights on bass and Rowan Oliver, borrowed from Goldfrapp, as drummer for the recording sessions.

Write To Elizabeth McGovern:
Elizabeth McGovern
17319 Magnolia Blvd.
Encino, CA 91316

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