Jill Clayburgh(1944-2010)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
It came as no surprise to film aficionados when, in 1999, Entertainment
Weekly named Jill Clayburgh on its list of Hollywood's 25 Greatest
Actresses. For decades, she delivered stellar performances
in a wide variety of roles.
Jill Clayburgh was born in 1944 in New York City, into a wealthy family, the daughter of Julia Louise (Dorr), an actress and secretary, and Albert Henry Clayburgh, a manufacturing executive. Her father was from a Jewish family that has lived in the United States since the 1700s, and her mother had English ancestry, also with deep American roots. Jill was educated at the finest schools, including the
Brearley School and Sarah Lawrence College. It was while at Sarah
Lawrence that she decided on a career in acting, and joined the famous
Charles Street Repetory Theater in Boston. She moved to New York in the
late 1960s and had featured roles in a number of Broadway productions, including "The Rothschilds" and "Pippin". She began her career in films
in 1970 and got her first major role in
Portnoy's Complaint (1972) in
1972. In 1978, she rose to screen prominence with her performance in
An Unmarried Woman (1978), for which she received an Oscar nomination. She was again nominated for
the Academy Award in 1979 for her role in
Starting Over (1979). But after
giving a riveting portrayal as a Valium addict in
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982),
her career went into a rapid decline, mainly because of her poor
choices of scripts. She seemed destined for a comeback after appearing
in
Where Are the Children? (1986), with multi-talented child actress
Elisabeth Harnois, but her
excellent performance was largely ignored by critics, who opted to
give the credit for the thriller's success to the performance of the
precocious, six year old Harnois.
After the late 1980s, Jill worked mainly in television and low-budget films, and also had a leading role in the drama Never Again (2001), with Jeffrey Tambor.
Jill was married to playwright David Rabe, with whom she had two children, including actress Lily Rabe.
Jill Clayburgh died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia on November 5, 2010, in Salisbury, Connecticut.
Weekly named Jill Clayburgh on its list of Hollywood's 25 Greatest
Actresses. For decades, she delivered stellar performances
in a wide variety of roles.
Jill Clayburgh was born in 1944 in New York City, into a wealthy family, the daughter of Julia Louise (Dorr), an actress and secretary, and Albert Henry Clayburgh, a manufacturing executive. Her father was from a Jewish family that has lived in the United States since the 1700s, and her mother had English ancestry, also with deep American roots. Jill was educated at the finest schools, including the
Brearley School and Sarah Lawrence College. It was while at Sarah
Lawrence that she decided on a career in acting, and joined the famous
Charles Street Repetory Theater in Boston. She moved to New York in the
late 1960s and had featured roles in a number of Broadway productions, including "The Rothschilds" and "Pippin". She began her career in films
in 1970 and got her first major role in
Portnoy's Complaint (1972) in
1972. In 1978, she rose to screen prominence with her performance in
An Unmarried Woman (1978), for which she received an Oscar nomination. She was again nominated for
the Academy Award in 1979 for her role in
Starting Over (1979). But after
giving a riveting portrayal as a Valium addict in
I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982),
her career went into a rapid decline, mainly because of her poor
choices of scripts. She seemed destined for a comeback after appearing
in
Where Are the Children? (1986), with multi-talented child actress
Elisabeth Harnois, but her
excellent performance was largely ignored by critics, who opted to
give the credit for the thriller's success to the performance of the
precocious, six year old Harnois.
After the late 1980s, Jill worked mainly in television and low-budget films, and also had a leading role in the drama Never Again (2001), with Jeffrey Tambor.
Jill was married to playwright David Rabe, with whom she had two children, including actress Lily Rabe.
Jill Clayburgh died of chronic lymphocytic leukemia on November 5, 2010, in Salisbury, Connecticut.