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Dianne Wiest

Dianne WiestBorn: 28-Mar-1948
Birthplace: Kansas City, MO

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Footloose

Wiest's father was in the Army, which necessitated frequent moves for Wiest's family. As a young girl, she wanted to be a ballerina, but in adolescence her body bloomed a little too large for that petite line of work, and Wiest's interest was instead drawn to theater. She majored in drama at the University of Maryland, but dropped out when she was hired by the American Shakespeare Company. After several years on stage in many plays and several TV productions, she made her film debut with a small role in 1980's It's My Turn. Wiest first came to most moviegoers' attention as repressive preacher John Lithgow's longsuffering wife in Footloose.

In Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters, Wiest played the sister adrift, who saw herself as inferior to Mia Farrow and Barbara Hershey. In Edward Scissorhands, she played the Avon saleslady who first discovered the freakish Johnny Depp. In Bullets Over Broadway, she played the overdramatic actress who kept telling John Cusack, "Don't speak!" In I Am Sam, she was the reclusive neighbor who spoke up on Sean Penn's behalf. In Parenthood, she was Steve Martin's divorced and harried sister, struggling with her teenaged daughter, Martha Plimpton. In The Lost Boys, she moved with her sons to a quiet town infested by vampires. She also played the Evil Queen in The Tenth Kingdom. She has won Oscars for Hannah and Her Sisters and Bullets Over Broadway, and was nominated for Parenthood.

Wiest has never married, and has rarely been romantically linked with anyone, though having adopted two daughters. In 2005, her 17-year-old daughter Emily was arrested for beating up a classmate at the tony private Beekman School and stealing his iPod.

Brother: Greg
Brother: Don
Daughter: Emily (adopted, b. 1987)
Daughter: Lily (adopted, b. 1991)
Boyfriend: Sam Cohn (Hollywood agent)

    University: University of Maryland (dropped out)

    Oscar for Best Supporting Actress 1987 for Hannah and Her Sisters
    Oscar for Best Supporting Actress 1995 for Bullets Over Broadway
    Golden Globe 1995 for Bullets Over Broadway
    Emmy 1997 for Road to Avonlea (outstanding guest)

    TELEVISION
    In Treatment Dr. Gina Toll (2008-09)
    Law & Order DA Nora Lewin (2000-02)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    The Mule (10-Dec-2018)
    Sisters (12-Dec-2015)
    The Humbling (30-Aug-2014)
    The Odd Life of Timothy Green (15-Aug-2012)
    Woody Allen: A Documentary (30-May-2012) · Herself
    Darling Companion (26-Jan-2012) · Penny
    The Big Year (14-Oct-2011) · Brenda
    Rabbit Hole (13-Sep-2010) · Nat
    Passengers (26-Sep-2008)
    Synecdoche, New York (23-May-2008) · Ellen Bascomb
    Dan in Real Life (26-Oct-2007)
    Dedication (22-Jan-2007)
    A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (3-Sep-2006) · Flori
    Robots (10-Mar-2005) [VOICE]
    Category 6: Day of Destruction (14-Nov-2004)
    The Blackwater Lightship (4-Feb-2004)
    Merci Docteur Rey (13-Oct-2002)
    I Am Sam (3-Dec-2001)
    The 10th Kingdom (27-Feb-2000)
    The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn (9-May-1999) · Sarah McClellan
    Practical Magic (16-Oct-1998) · Aunt Jet
    The Horse Whisperer (15-May-1998) · Diane Booker
    The Associate (25-Oct-1996) · Sally
    The Birdcage (8-Mar-1996) · Louise Keeley
    Drunks (23-Aug-1995)
    The Scout (30-Sep-1994) · Dr. Aaron
    Bullets Over Broadway (16-Sep-1994)
    Cops and Robbersons (15-Apr-1994) · Helen Robberson
    Little Man Tate (6-Sep-1991) · Jane Grierson
    Edward Scissorhands (7-Dec-1990) · Peg
    Parenthood (2-Aug-1989) · Helen
    Cookie (2-Aug-1989)
    Bright Lights, Big City (1-Apr-1988) · Mother
    September (18-Dec-1987) · Stephanie
    The Lost Boys (31-Jul-1987) · Lucy
    Bigfoot (8-Mar-1987)
    Radio Days (30-Jan-1987) · Bea
    Hannah and Her Sisters (7-Feb-1986) · Holly
    The Purple Rose of Cairo (1-Mar-1985)
    Falling in Love (21-Nov-1984)
    Footloose (17-Feb-1984) · Vi Moore
    Independence Day (21-Jan-1983)
    I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (5-Mar-1982)
    It's My Turn (24-Oct-1980)


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