Actress, born in Catskill Mountains, New York, USA. Brought up in Brooklyn Heights, she began a modelling career and appeared in magazine advertisements and televison commercials. Her acting debut came in an episode of the British TV series Tales of the Unexpected (1979) and her first film role was in Once Upon a Time in America (1984). Later films include The Rocketeer (1991), Mulholland Falls (1996), A Beautiful Mind (2001, Best Actress Golden Globe, BAFTA, Oscar nomination), House of Sand and Fog (2003), and Little Children (2006). She married actor Paul Bettany in 2002.
| Jennifer Connelly | |
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Jennifer Connelly in Central Park, New York City, June 2, 2005 |
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| Birth name | Jennifer Lynn Connelly |
| Born |
December 12, 1970 (age 35) Catskill Mountains, New York |
| Height | 5' 7½" (1.71 m) |
| Notable roles |
Sarah in Labyrinth (1986) Jenny Blake in The Rocketeer (1991) Allison Pond in Mulholland Falls (1996) Marion Silver in Requiem for a Dream (2000) |
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Academy Awards |
Best Supporting Actress (2001) for role of Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind |
Jennifer Lynn Connelly (born December 12, 1970) is an Academy Award-winning film American actress and former child model. Although she has been working in the film industry since she was a teenager and catapulted to fame on the basis of her appearances in films like Labyrinth and Career Opportunities, she did not receive critical acclaim for her work until the 2000 drama Requiem for a Dream, and the 2001 biography A Beautiful Mind, for which she won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
Early life
Connelly was born in the Catskill Mountains, New York to Eileen, an antiques dealer, and Gerard Connelly, who worked in the garment industry.
Her first film role was as "young Deborah Gelly," a small part in Sergio Leone's 1984 gangster epic, Once Upon a Time in America.
Early career
Connelly became a star on her next picture, the fantasy Labyrinth (1986) playing Sarah, a teenager who wishes her baby brother into the world of goblins ruled by goblin king Jareth (David Bowie).
The big-budget Disney film The Rocketeer (1991) similarly failed to ignite Connelly's career;
The moody 1996 indie film Far Harbor played her against type and hinted at a much broader range than she had previously shown. Connelly began to appear in smaller but well regarded films, such as 1997's Inventing the Abbotts and 2000's impressive Waking the Dead.
Breakthrough
Arguably, Connelly's big breakthrough finally came in the 2000 film Requiem for a Dream. The haunting, experimental film starred Connelly and Jared Leto as heroin addicts on the edge of a breakdown. Connelly's star was on the rise, and she next starred in Ron Howard's film A Beautiful Mind (2001). Connelly essayed the role of Alicia Nash, the long-suffering wife of the brilliant, schizophrenic mathematician John Nash, (played by Russell Crowe.) The film, based on real life events, was a critical and commercial success and earned Connelly an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Connelly starred in two films in 2003: Hulk and House of Sand and Fog. Connelly appeared in the 2005 horror film Dark Water, which was based on a Japanese film.
As of now she is on set filming Reservation Road across Mark Ruffalo the movie is planned to release in the fall of 2007.
Personal life
Connelly is married to the English actor Paul Bettany (born 1971), whom she met while working on A Beautiful Mind.
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