Wednesday, March 18, 2026
Romancing The Stone (1984)
Romancing the Stone is a 1984 romantic comedy-adventure film directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas and produced by Michael Douglas, who also stars in the film alongside Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito. The film follows a romance novelist who must venture beyond her New York City comfort zone to Colombia to save her widowed sister from criminals who are holding her for ransom.
Thomas wrote the screenplay in 1979. Zemeckis, who at the time was developing Cocoon, liked Thomas's screenplay and offered to direct but 20th Century Fox initially declined, citing the commercial failure of his first two films I Wanna Hold Your Hand and Used Cars. Zemeckis was eventually dismissed from Cocoon after an early screening of Romancing the Stone failed to impress studio executives further. Alan Silvestri, who would collaborate with Zemeckis on his later films, composed the score.[5]
Romancing the Stone was released on March 30, 1984, to positive reviews from critics and earned over $115 million worldwide at the box office. A sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, was released one year and nine months later on December 11, 1985.
Plot
Joan Wilder is a successful but lonely romance novelist living in New York City with her cat, Romeo. After finishing her latest novel, Joan leaves her apartment to meet her editor and friend, Gloria Horne. On the way her neighbor, Mrs. Irwin, hands her an envelope that contains a map, sent by her recently murdered brother-in-law, Eduardo. While she is gone, a man is discovered trying to break into her apartment by the building's superintendent, whom he kills. Returning to her apartment, Joan finds it ransacked. She then receives a frantic phone call from her sister Elaine, Eduardo's widow. Elaine has been kidnapped by antiquities smugglers, cousins Ira and Ralph, and instructs Joan to bring the map to the Colombian coastal city of Cartagena; it is Elaine's ransom.
Flying to Colombia, Joan is diverted from the bus to Cartagena by Colonel Zolo, the same man who killed Joan's brother-in-law and ransacked her apartment. Instead of heading to Cartagena, this bus goes deep into the country's interior. Ralph realizes this and begins following Joan. When Joan distracts the bus driver by asking where they are going, the bus crashes into a Land Rover, wrecking both vehicles. As the rest of the passengers walk away, Joan is menaced by Zolo but is saved by the Land Rover's owner, an American exotic bird smuggler named Jack T. Colton.
Joan promises to pay Jack $375 in traveler's cheques for getting her out of the jungle and to a telephone. The two of them travel the jungle while eluding Zolo and his military police. Reaching a small village, they encounter a drug lord named Juan who is a big fan of Joan's novels and happily helps them escape from Zolo.
After a night of dancing and passion in a nearby town, Jack suggests to Joan that they find the treasure themselves before handing over the map. Zolo's men enter the town, so Jack and Joan steal a car to escape; but it is Ralph's car, and he is sleeping in the back. They follow the clues and retrieve the treasure, an enormous emerald called El Corazón ("The Heart"). Ralph takes the emerald from them at gunpoint, but Zolo's forces appear, distracting Ralph long enough for Jack to steal the jewel back. After being chased into a river and over a waterfall, Jack and Joan are separated on opposite sides of the raging river. Joan has the map, but Jack has the emerald. Jack directs Joan to Cartagena, promising that he will meet her there.
In Cartagena, Joan meets with Ira, who takes the map and releases Elaine. But Zolo and his men arrive, with a captured Jack and a severely beaten Ralph. As Zolo tortures Joan, Jack tries to kick the emerald into a crocodile pool behind Zolo. Zolo catches the emerald, but then a crocodile jumps up and bites his hand off, swallowing the emerald with it. A shootout ensues between Zolo's soldiers and Ira's gang. Joan and Elaine dash for safety, pursued by the maimed Zolo, as Jack tries to stop the crocodile from escaping. He begrudgingly releases it to try to save Joan.
A crazed Zolo charges at Joan; she dodges his wild knife slashes, and he falls into a crocodile pit. As the authorities arrive, Ira and his men escape, but Ralph is left behind. After a kiss, Jack dives into the water after the crocodile with the emerald, leaving Joan behind with her sister.
Some time later, Joan is back in New York City and has written a new novel based on her adventure. Gloria is moved to tears by the story and tells Joan she has another best-seller on her hands. Returning home, she finds Jack waiting for her in a sailboat named the Angelina, after the heroine of Joan's novels, and wearing boots made from the crocodile's skin. He jokes that the crocodile got "a fatal case of indigestion" from the emerald, which he sold, using the money to buy the boat of his dreams. They go off together, planning to sail around the world.
Cast
- Michael Douglas as Jack T. Colton – A brash, rugged American bird hunter living in Colombia who assists Joan in her adventure. He hopes to save money for a sailboat and leave Colombia to travel the world.
- Kathleen Turner as Joan Wilder – A successful but lonely romance novelist from New York City. She longs to meet and fall in love with a man resembling the heroic male characters from her writing.
- Danny DeVito as Ralph – An antiquities smuggler from Queens who takes Joan's sister hostage and pursues Colton and Wilder through the jungle, hoping to acquire the map.
- Zack Norman as Ira – Ralph's cousin and partner in crime. He has an affinity for crocodiles.
- Alfonso Arau as Juan – "The Bellmaker", a man implied to be a drug smuggler who happens to be a huge fan of Joan's work. He helps Colton and Wilder escape from Zolo's forces.
- Manuel Ojeda as Colonel Zolo – Elaine's husband's killer and heartless Deputy Commander of the secret police. After failing to obtain the map from Joan in New York, he follows her to Colombia in pursuit.
- Holland Taylor as Gloria Horne – Joan's friend and publisher.
- Mary Ellen Trainor as Elaine Wilder - Joan's widowed sister
- Eve Smith as Mrs. Irwin
- Joe Nesnow as Super
- José Chávez as Santos
- Evita Muñoz as Hefty Woman
- Camillo García as Bus Driver
- Rodrigo Puebla as Bad Hombre
- Paco Morayta as Hotel Clerk
- Kymberly Herrin as Angelina
- Bill Burton as Jesse Gerrard
- Ted White as Grogan
Production
Screenplay
The screenplay was written five years earlier by Malibu waitress Diane Thomas in what would end up being her only screenplay made into a movie. She died in a car crash a year and a half after the film's release.[6] Jack Brodsky and Michael Douglas purchased the rights to her screenplay as their studio Bigstick Productions' first project under a contract with Columbia Pictures in 1979. However, Douglas could not get the film cast before his deal with Columbia expired in 1983. 20th Century Fox agreed to purchase the rights to the film from Columbia after the success of Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Robert Zemeckis was hired as director because of his association with that film's director Steven Spielberg.[7]
Casting
Douglas initially intended only to produce the film, as he had recently appeared in a series of box-office bombs. Burt Reynolds and Clint Eastwood were considered for the role of Jack T. Colton while the film was at Columbia but declined.[7] Other leads considered include Sylvester Stallone, Paul Newman, and Christopher Reeve for the part of Jack Colton before Douglas hired himself and Debra Winger was the studio's top choice for Joan Wilder.[8][9][10][11] Many of the male stars offered the role of Colton had been displeased that the female character Wilder was the protagonist while Colton was a secondary. After Michael Douglas agreed to star in the film, the early producers (Bigstick Productions) transferred the project to his company, El Corazon Productions. Douglas then set up a "negative pick-up" deal with 20th Century Fox, meaning his company would finance the production independently and the studio would buy it once it was finished.[7]
Filming
Principal photography on the film began on July 11, 1983. It took place in both the United States and Mexico. Filming locations included Veracruz (Fort of San Juan de Ulúa), Huasca de Ocampo, Xalapa, El Arenal, Tonaya, Xico, Barraca Grande, the Valle de Silencio, New York City, and Snow Canyon, Utah.[12] Interior filming was conducted in Mexico City, while the opening scene was filmed in St. George, Utah. The scene where Turner and Douglas get separated on opposite banks on a whitewater river was filmed on the Rio Antigua near the town of Jalcomulco, Veracruz.[13] Production went behind schedule due to the complicated stunts of the film and numerous hazardous storms, although 20th Century Fox pressured the filmmakers to complete the film as soon as possible to avoid competition with Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).[7]
Turner later said of the film's production, "I remember terrible arguments [with Robert Zemeckis] doing Romancing. He's a film-school grad, fascinated by cameras and effects. I never felt that he knew what I was having to do to adjust my acting to some of his damn cameras – sometimes he puts you in ridiculous postures. I'd say, 'This is not helping me! This is not the way I like to work, thank you!'"[14] After production completed, Turner sued the filmmakers to pay for plastic surgery for injuries sustained during shooting.[7] Zemeckis would go on to work with Turner again, casting her as the voice of Jessica Rabbit in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit.[15]
Reception
Box office
Studio insiders expected Romancing the Stone to flop to the point that, after viewing a rough cut of the film, the producers of the then-under-development Cocoon fired Zemeckis as director of that film.[16] However, it became a surprise hit and 20th Century Fox's only big hit of 1984.[17] The film eventually grossed over US$115 million worldwide, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 1984.[18] Zemeckis later stated that the success of Romancing the Stone allowed him to make Back to the Future (1985).[19]
Critical response
The film received positive reviews upon release.[20] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 56 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The website's consensus reads: "Romancing the Stone reaches back to the classic Saturday morning serials of old with an action-filled adventure enlivened by the sparkling chemistry between its well-matched leads."[21] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[22]
Upon the release of Romancing the Stone, Time magazine called the film "a distaff Raiders rip-off".[23] The Washington Post remarked that "Though fitfully thrilling and amusing, [Joan Wilder's] adventures degenerate into a muddle. Neither screenwriter Diane Thomas nor director Robert Zemeckis, good-humored as they strive to be, maintains a coherent perception of how the plot should be contrived to trump the heroine's overactive fantasy life." They elaborated that the stone makes an uncompelling MacGuffin, Joan's character development is incongruous and ultimately unsatisfying, and Joan and Jack lack romantic chemistry.[24] By contrast, Time Out commented that "The script is sharp and funny, the direction sure-footed on both the comedy and action fronts", and compared the film favorably to its contemporary in the same genre, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).[25] Roger Ebert called it "a silly, high-spirited chase picture", saying he greatly enjoyed the film's imaginative perils, colorful cast of villains, and believable relationship between its two lead characters. He likewise compared it favorably to other Raiders of the Lost Ark clones.[26]
Colin Greenland reviewed Romancing the Stone for Imagine magazine, and stated that "Good-humoured, sparky stuff in the manner of Raiders of the Lost Ark."[27]
Filmsite.org included it as one of the best films of 1984,[28] and Entertainment Weekly included it on its list of films that made 1984 one of the best years for Hollywood films.[29]
Then–U.S. President Ronald Reagan viewed the film at Camp David in May 1984.[30]
Awards
Award wins:[31]
- Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy[32]
- Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy – Kathleen Turner[32]
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress – Kathleen Turner
- Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing – ADR
- Stuntman Award for Most Spectacular Stunt – Vince Deadrick Jr., Terry Leonard
Award nominations:
- Academy Award for Best Film Editing – Donn Cambern, Frank Morriss
- American Cinema Editors Award for Best Edited Feature Film – Donn Cambern, Frank Morriss
- Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay – Diane Thomas
In other media
Books
The novelization of Romancing the Stone was written by Catherine Lanigan under "Joan Wilder" as a pen name, along with a novelization of the sequel movie The Jewel of the Nile.[33][34]
Sequels
The success of Romancing the Stone led to a sequel, The Jewel of the Nile, without Zemeckis directing but with Douglas, Turner, and DeVito all returning. The film was released in December 1985 and was commercially successful, but received weaker reviews than the first.[35]
Since 1985, numerous attempts have been made to produce further sequels to the film. Another sequel, called The Crimson Eagle, would have had Jack and Joan take their two teenage children to Thailand, where they are blackmailed into stealing a priceless statue. Filming was scheduled to begin in 1987, following Michael Douglas's shooting of Wall Street, but the production was delayed and ultimately never made it past the development stage.[36] DeVito reunited Douglas, Turner, and himself in his 1989 film The War of the Roses.[15]
In 2005 and again in 2008, Douglas was developing a second sequel, tentatively titled Racing the Monsoon.[37]
Since 2007, 20th Century Fox has considered producing a remake of Romancing the Stone, with the possibility of a reboot series. The roles of Jack Colton and Joan Wilder would be filled by Taylor Kitsch (or Gerard Butler) and Katherine Heigl, respectively.[38] By 2011, the remake was re-worked as a television series.[39]
Crimes Of Passion (1984)
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Crimes of Passion is a 1984 American erotic thriller film directed by Ken Russell and starring Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, and John Laughlin. The film explores themes of human relationships and mental illness. A mix of sex and suspense, the film opened to controversy over its content and to negative reviews.
Plot
Bobby Grady is an ordinary middle-class electronics store owner who occasionally moonlights doing surveillance work. He attends a group therapy session because his wife, Amy, has lost interest in sex and he fears their marriage is in trouble.
Grady is soon approached by the owner of a fashion design house to spy on an employee, Joanna Crane, who is suspected of selling clothing patterns to his competitors. Grady discovers the accusations are unfounded, but also learns that Joanna is moonlighting as a prostitute under the name China Blue, and shedding her business attire for provocative clothing and a platinum wig.
Grady keeps quiet about Joanna's double life. Following a sexual encounter with her in her China Blue persona, Grady begins seeing her on a regular basis, first professionally, then romantically. However, their involvement is complicated by his guilt and her intimacy issues—in addition to her clientele of regular patrons and their bizarre sexual fetishes.
Among them is the "Reverend" Peter Shayne, who alternately spends his time delivering soapbox sermons on the street, visiting peep shows while sniffing amyl nitrite, and patronizing prostitutes. Shayne has been seeing China Blue as a customer and declares a need to save her. Underscoring Shayne's contradictory nature is the cache of sex toys he carries in a small doctor's bag with his Bible.
Grady admits he may leave his wife and children, but Joanna feels put-upon and depressed. She seeks solace in turning tricks because the encounters are not fraught with emotional entanglements. She dominates a young policeman in an S&M session, penetrating him with his nightstick, and endures a botched threesome in a limousine. A session with a dying man whose wife wants China Blue to give him sexual gratification one last time inspires Joanna to reveal her real first name, suggesting for the first time that she is the proverbial "hooker with a heart of gold"---and compelling her to begin facing the truth about herself and her double life.
Shayne grows increasingly psychotic: he carries a sharpened metallic vibrator he nicknames "Superman" and starts stalking Joanna. He moves into a seedy motel next door to her nighttime place of business and watches her activities through a peephole. He also sets up a shrine with candles and numerous photos of her. Sensing that he is mentally unhinged, Joanna no longer wishes to see him, but Shayne follows her home to her actual apartment. Once there, he begs her to kill him.
Grady comes there to tell Joanna that he has left home. He hears shouting from her apartment, breaks down her door and finds someone he assumes is Joanna, cowering in terror, not realizing it is actually Shayne in her China Blue disguise. Joanna, now wearing Shayne's clothing, leaps from the shadows and stabs Shayne with the "Superman" vibrator before he can attack Grady with a large pair of scissors. Shayne dies.
Grady addresses to his group therapist about his new relationship with a woman named Joanna.
Cast
- Kathleen Turner as Joanna Crane / China Blue
- Anthony Perkins as Reverend Peter Shayne
- John Laughlin as Bobby Grady
- Annie Potts as Amy Grady
- Bruce Davison as Donny Hopper
- Joseph Chapman as Walt Pierson
- Norman Burton as Lou Bateman
- Yvonne McCord as Sheila
- Stephen Lee as Jerry
- Louise Sorel as Claudia
- Rick Wakeman as a photographer at the wedding ceremony
Production
Script
The film was based on an original script by Barry Sandler. Sandler started writing it in the late 1970s.
I was tapping into what was going on around me during the eighties, it was just at the beginning of the advent of the AIDS crisis… people had difficulties with their relationships, there was a lot of sex going on and it was very easily accessible and a lot of people were using it as kind of an excuse or a defence or a rationale or some way to avoid intimacy, to avoid relationships.[3]
Sandler said he did "about forty drafts" of the script before Ken Russell saw it. It began as a two character piece of China Blue and Shayne, with Shayne masquerading as a psychiatrist, and China Blue as a single woman who was very sexually compulsive. He introduced the Grady character who became more prominent and Joanna became a prostitute.[3]
Sander had meetings with John Frankenheimer, Bob Rafelson and John Carpenter, as well as Cher, but had trouble getting finance because of the film's content.[4]
Ken Russell
Sandler's agent suggested he send the film to Russell. "They knew it was a very risky, very daring project", said the writer. "And let's face it, you couldn't get more of a risky and audacious filmmaker than Ken Russell!"[3]
Russell says the script "offered something new in dealing with sex and family life and the masks we accept. It's a powerful subject, and I was quite taken with it, especially when I saw it dealt with these religious hucksters on tv. I know I was obsessed with these terrible preachers."[5]
Russell called it a "film about the exploitation of women, especially at the hands of the macho American male... Americans are asked to live in a world of complete fantasy which they can never live up to."[2]
Although Altered States was a financial success Russell had found difficulty making his next film. One project, Beethoven's Secret was about to start shooting when financing fell apart at the last minute. He was attached to do the film of Evita for over a year, but ultimately left the project when he refused to cast Elaine Paige in the lead. A biopic of Maria Callas with Sophia Loren also failed to get financing. However Russell found himself artistically rejuvenated when offered the chance to direct some opera. He did The Rake's Progress, Soldiers and Butterfly.[6]
Sandler says Russell "was very reluctant to get involved with another American film after the experience he had with (Paddy) Chayefsky on ‘Altered States'. He didn't want to risk losing control. Apparently, he had turned down a lot of projects, but there was something about Crimes that connected with him. We talked about it, we had a great relationship that extended for years up until his death."[3]
With Russell attached, Sandler took the film to New World Pictures. They had a new head of production, Jonathan Axelrod who wanted to move the company "into a more sophisticated area" and they agreed to finance in association with Orion Pictures.[3]
Casting
The male lead was given to Tony Perkins. "It's a marvelous role", said Perkins, "unlike anything I've ever done."[7]
Russell had an excellent working relationship with Sandler. Sandler says the biggest change to the script came with the character of Shayne. Originally he was written as a psychiatrist but Anthony Perkins had just played a psychiatrist on Broadway in Equus and did not want to play another psychiatrist. Russell came up with the idea of making him a reverend.[3]
Kathleen Turner had read the script and wanted to do the film, over the advice of her agent, because she wanted to break away from her image in Romancing the Stone.[4]
Sandler says Jeff Bridges read the script and wanted to do the role of Grady, dropping his price from $3 million to $1 million, but the film could not afford him. Patrick Swayze and Alec Baldwin auditioned but it was decided to go with John Laughlin. "He was this guy plucked out of nowhere, so I think he felt a little uneasy and nervous, but it kind of worked for the character", said Sandler. "He sort of saw that in him and actually pushed his buttons in that direction because he thought it worked for the character, who was very uncomfortable and uneasy and all that."[4]
Filming
Filming began in April, 1984 at Zoetrope Studios with a mostly non union crew.[2]
Rock musician Rick Wakeman performed the synthesizer-heavy score, the majority of which is made up of melodies directly lifted from Czech composer Antonín Dvořák's "New World Symphony".
Wakeman has an uncredited role in the film as a wedding photographer.
Sandler says Russell "was most intrigued by the China Blue/Shayne scenes. The scenes with Kathleen and Tony. And that kind of high-pitched almost surreal interplay fascinated him, dealing with themes of masks and facades, illusions and deceptions, with these two outrageous characters going at each other. He was less intrigued with the other aspect of the film which was the Grady home life."[3]
Perkins loved working with Russell. "You spend so much of your career working with directors who just don't want to bother listening to your ideas. It's wonderful to find a man like Ken who not only listens but actively encourages you to come up with your thoughts."[7]
Turner says she felt "really good" about the film "because I feel that was really brave, and I was risking a lot there – in an acting sense. I was satisfied with that. I think that's some of my best work. I don't think the film is as good as it could have been, but I'm very proud of my work in it. Ken made me brave. Ken Russell. And my agent was encouraging. Plus I was feeling a little rebellious around that time. I saw public popularity as a kind of entrapment, and I wanted some danger. I didn't want to get trapped in fulfilling people's conceptions of me over and over again. I felt pressure and I wanted to break out."[8]
Turner wrote in her memoirs that shooting was made difficult by Perkins' drug problem and Russell's heavy drinking.[9]
Russell marriage
At the film's wrap party aboard the Queen Mary on Long Beach, Russell married his longtime companion, Vivian Jolly. The ceremony was officiated by Anthony Perkins, who was an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church.[10] Perkins said Russell was the one who suggested it. "I thought he was kidding", said Perkins. "But then it turned out he'd done some research and discovered that if we paid $25 I could become a member of the Universal Life Church and would be eligible to marry them."[11]
"It's an extraordinary film", said Perkins. "And it will jolt people. Even now that it's trimmed, I expect it will offend some people. Ken Russell's films usually do. But it's adventurous filmmaking of the best kind. And that's what people want, isn't it? Too often recently, delicate subjects have been tackled so timidly that they've found no audience at all. I'm glad it's turned out to be controversial. People will either love it or hate it. And that's what you need if you want people to come and see your film today. Even raves from the critics no longer guarantee you an audience. A film has to be talked about. And this one will be."[7]
Rating controversy
Crimes of Passion was initially given an 'X' rating by the MPAA. Russell, hoping for an 'R' rating, re-cut and re-submitted the film, but was unsuccessful. New World Pictures refused to release the film unless it was rated 'R', so Russell was asked to cut it a third time. "I just don't see an end to it", said Russell. "All we have left is two children drinking orange juice at breakfast."[12]
Sandler said, "In the purest sense, it's justified – you can do anything you want to in your movie, as long as you're willing to go with an 'X' rating. Then you have to face the fact that no distributor wants an 'X'. Or that you won't be able to get advertising in many newspapers. Or that you won't be able to get air time on most TV and radio stations. Some time in the last 10 years, an 'X' rating became an automatic stamp of pornography."[13]
Sandler says the ratings board contacted him and suggested they release the film as an 'X' and reclaim that rating. "Because we had Ken Russell and Kathleen Turner and Tony in a legitimate film, they thought we could re-legitimise the 'X' rating. But the studio didn't want to hear it, so they made us cut the film."[3]
Russell stated that further cuts "would do the film I was commissioned to do irreparable harm. The only thing one can do is make a stand and avoid being steamrolled. Even if you're squashed flat, it's better than conning the public with something you don't believe in."[14]
Robert Rehme head of New World Pictures admitted further cuts "probably would hurt the picture" but felt it would not affect its box office fortunes.[14] Once Russell heard the changes New World were going to make regardless, he agreed to make further cuts and the film got an 'R'.[15]
Sandler said, "We kept cutting a little more each time and, by the fifth round of cuts, I think they were all so beaten down from looking at the thing and from pressure from the press and elsewhere that they finally went with an 'R'."[3]
Russell said the cuts he did were of "a sex shadow show on a wall and a rather climactic sado-masochistic scene, also a scene where China Blue cracks, and several scenes of erotic art that are her mental reactions to what's happening to her. I would think the film in its present form loses some of the motivations. Some of what China Blue does must now seem arbitrary."[5]
A scene that was cut in its entirety was one where Turner takes a police officer home and involves the use of a nightstick. Sandler says when the film was previewed "people were intensely upset by that scene... It was clear that, had we kept it in, it would have made a lot of people extremely uncomfortable."[3]
Brian De Palma said he thought the film "was affected deeply by the cuts that were made in it. You're dealing with a major film artist here. You're not dealing with some guy shooting pornography in a back room somewhere."[16]
An unrated video version was released with an extra 1½ minutes, which sold twice as many copies as the theatrical version.[17]
Reception
Critical
As of December 2022, Crimes of Passion holds a rating of 48% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 27 reviews.[18]
Janet Maslin of The New York Times said "Ken Russell's films have never lacked exuberance or humor, which makes the flat, joyless tone of Crimes of Passion a surprise. Much of this is attributable to a screenplay... filled with smutty double-entendres and weighty ironies. Only intermittently does Mr. Russell break through with the kind of manic flamboyance that is so singularly and rudely his own."[19]
Perkins later said "there are great moments in that film that could only come from a genius. He was on to something about the nature of religion and evil that few people could ever find. Yet, it was, in the end, a bit of a disappointment because it had no plot. . . no story. The images were great, but there was nothing to hang them on."[20]
Box office
The film was a minor success in theatres. However, it was successful on video, making over $4 million.[21]
Lawsuit
In 1986 Russell went to court against New World seeking more than $1 million in damages. He said he had an agreement to direct the film for $578,514 and 20 per cent of the profits. He was paid $68,514 during the production and for the company to retain $500,000 as Russell's investment in the picture.[22] Russell received a payout but says after the lawyers and his agent took a cut "it wasn't worth the aggro".[23]
Kathleen Turner (1954-)
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Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. Known for her deep, husky voice, she is the recipient of two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards.
After debuting both off and on Broadway in 1977, followed by her television debut as Nola Dancy Aldrich on the NBC soap opera The Doctors (1978–1979), Turner rose to prominence with her portrayal of Matty Walker in Body Heat (1981), which brought her a reputation as a sex symbol. She worked solidly throughout the 1980s, in films such as The Man with Two Brains (1983), Crimes of Passion, Romancing the Stone (both 1984), Prizzi's Honor, The Jewel of the Nile (both 1985), Switching Channels, The Accidental Tourist (both 1988), and The War of the Roses (1989). For her portrayal of the title character in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Turner was nominated for the 1987 Academy Award for Best Actress. Subsequent credits include V.I. Warshawski (1991), Serial Mom (1994), Baby Geniuses, The Virgin Suicides (both 1999), Beautiful (2000), Marley & Me (2008), and Dumb and Dumber To (2014).
Outside film, Turner guest-starred as Sue Collini on Showtime's Californication (2009) and Roz Volander on Netflix's The Kominsky Method (2019–2021). She also played Charles Bing, the transgender father of Chandler Bing, on the seventh season of Friends (2001). Turner's voice work includes Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) and Constance in Monster House (2006), as well as characters on television series such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, King of the Hill, and Rick and Morty.
Early life and education
Born June 19, 1954 in Springfield, Missouri[1] to Patsy (née Magee)[2] and Allen Richard Turner, a U.S. Foreign Service officer[2] who grew up in China (where Turner's great-grandfather had been a Methodist missionary), Mary Kathleen Turner is the third of four children. She is the only one of her parents' children to be born in the United States.[3] She has a sister, Susan, and two brothers.[4][5][6]
Raised in a strictly conservative Christian home, Turner's interest in performing was discouraged by both of her parents: "My father was of missionary stock", she later explained, "so theater and acting were just one step up from being a streetwalker, you know? So when I was performing in school, he would drive my mom [there] and sit in the car. She'd come out at intermissions and tell him, 'She's doing very well.'"[5][7]
Owing to her father's position with the Foreign Service, Turner grew up in Canada, Cuba, Venezuela, and in London, England.[8] She attended high school at The American School in London,[9] graduating in 1972.[4] "The start of real acting for me began during high school in London", she stated in her 2008 memoir. "There were seven of us who were sort of a theater mafia. We produced, directed, acted, chose the plays, got one teacher fired and another one hired."[10] Her father died of a coronary thrombosis one week before her graduation,[11][4] and the family returned to Springfield, Missouri. At the age of 19, Turner began volunteering at a local Planned Parenthood office.[12]
She attended Southwest Missouri State University[13] for two years, studying theater. During this period, director Herbert Blau saw her performance in The House of Blue Leaves. Blau invited her to spend her senior year at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County,[14] where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1977.[15] During that period, Turner acted in several productions directed by film and stage director Steve Yeager.[16]
Career
Theatre work and Broadway debut
In 1973, Turner spent the summer with her mother in Midland, Texas. There, at the Yucca Theater, Turner made history when she was cast as the first female villain in the Summer Mummers 1973 melodrama, Plodding Among the Planets.
Several months after moving to New York City in 1977, Turner took over the female lead in Michael Zetter's play Mister T, which co-starred Jonathan Frakes and played at Soho Repertory Theatre. That production marked her off-Broadway debut. Several months later, Turner made her Broadway debut as Judith Hastings in Gemini by Albert Innaurato, staged at The Little Theatre (later the Helen Hayes Theater) and starring Danny Aiello. It opened May 21, 1977, during the time when she was appearing in the soap The Doctors.[17]
Transition to TV and film
In 1978, Turner made her television debut in the NBC daytime soap The Doctors as the second Nola Dancy Aldrich. She made her film debut in 1981 as the ruthless Matty Walker in the thriller Body Heat; the role brought her to international prominence. Empire cited the film in 1995 when it named her one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in Film History.[18] The New York Times wrote in 2005 that, propelled by her "jaw-dropping movie debut [in] Body Heat ... she built a career on adventurousness and frank sexuality born of robust physicality".[7] Turner ultimately became one of the top box-office draws, and most sought-after actresses of the 1980s and early 1990s.
Turner stated in 2018, "Body Heat was a blessing because I went straight to being a leading actor and I didn't have to suffer any of this predatory male behaviour like many young actresses. It doesn't frustrate me that nearly four decades after that film I'm still referred to as a sexual icon. I got over that a long time ago."[19]
Because of her deep, husky voice, Turner was often compared to a young Lauren Bacall. When the two met, Turner reportedly introduced herself by saying, "Hi, I'm the young you."[20]
Stardom
After Body Heat, Turner steered away from femme fatale roles to "prevent typecasting" and "because femme fatale roles had a shelf-life". Consequently, her first project after this was the 1983 comedy The Man With Two Brains. Turner co-starred in Romancing the Stone with Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. Film critic Pauline Kael wrote of her performance as writer Joan Wilder, "Turner knows how to use her dimples amusingly and how to dance like a woman who didn't know she could; her star performance is exhilarating."[21] Romancing the Stone was a surprise hit: she won a Golden Globe for her role in the film, and it became one of the top-ten-grossing movies of 1984.[22] Turner teamed with Douglas and DeVito again the following year for its sequel, The Jewel of the Nile. Pre-production for the movie was fraught with conflict, because Turner refused to commit to the "terrible" script she had been delivered. When she said no, 20th Century Fox threatened her with a US$25 million breach of contract lawsuit. Eventually Douglas, also the film's producer, agreed to undertake rewrites on the script to make it more acceptable to Turner, which led to much back-and-forth between the two as the script was retooled right up to when shooting started in Fez, Morocco.[23]
Several months before Jewel, Turner starred in Prizzi's Honor with Jack Nicholson, winning a second Golden Globe award, and later starred in Peggy Sue Got Married, which co-starred Nicolas Cage. For Peggy Sue, she received the award for Best Actress from the U.S. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures,[24] as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
In 1988's toon-noir Who Framed Roger Rabbit, she was the speaking voice of cartoon femme fatale Jessica Rabbit, intoning the famous line, "I'm not bad, I'm just drawn that way." Her uncredited, sultry performance was acclaimed as "the kind of sexpot ball-breaker she was made for".[25] (Amy Irving provided Jessica Rabbit's singing voice in the scene in which the character first appears in the movie.) That same year, Turner also appeared in Switching Channels, which was a loose remake of the 1940 hit film His Girl Friday; this, in turn, was a loose remake of the Ben Hecht-Charles MacArthur comedy The Front Page.[26]
Turner was the subject of the 1986 song "The Kiss of Kathleen Turner" by Austrian techno-pop singer Falco. In 1989, Turner teamed with Douglas and DeVito for a third time, in The War of the Roses, but this time as Douglas's disillusioned wife, with DeVito in the role of a divorce attorney who told their shared story. The New York Times praised the trio, saying that "Mr. Douglas and Ms. Turner have never been more comfortable a team ... each of them is at his or her comic best when being as awful as both are required to be here ... [Kathleen Turner is] evilly enchanting."[27] In that film, Turner played a former gymnast and, as in other roles, did many of her own stunts. (She broke her nose two years later, filming 1991's V.I. Warshawski.)[28][29]
Slowed by rheumatoid arthritis
Turner remained an A-list film star leading lady in the early 1990s, starring in V.I. Warshawski and Undercover Blues, until rheumatoid arthritis seriously restricted her activities. She also blamed her age, stating, "when I was 40, the roles started slowing down, I started getting offers to play mothers and grandmothers."
In 1992, during the filming of Serial Mom, she began experiencing "inexplicable pains and fevers."[30] The rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis was made about a year later.[7] Turner's appearance changed after the rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis.[31] In 2005, an article in The New York Times stated: "Rumors began circulating that she was drinking too much." In her memoir, she said: "Many people bought the assumption that I'd turned into a heavy drinker. I couldn't publicly refute them because I believed it was worse to have people know that I had this terrible illness... We – Jay, my agent, myself – felt it was imperative to keep my rheumatoid arthritis quiet."[32]
Her career as a leading lady went into a steep decline and she was seen in fewer and fewer very successful films. She turned down lead roles in Ghost and The Bridges of Madison County, both of which became big hits. She appeared in the low-budget House of Cards as well as the comedy-drama Moonlight & Valentino, and had supporting roles in A Simple Wish, The Real Blonde, and Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides. She also provided the voice of Malibu Stacy's creator, Stacy Lovell, in the episode "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" on The Simpsons.
Turner was originally cast as Zira in Disney's The Lion King II: Simba's Pride. Turner talked about the role and even sang a portion of her character's song (stating the film would be her singing debut) during an interview on The Rosie O'Donnell Show on March 10, 1998.[33] She was replaced by Suzanne Pleshette in the final film.
Remission
Turner's rheumatoid arthritis progressed for about eight years. Then, thanks to newly available treatments, it went into remission. She was seen increasingly on television, including three episodes of Friends, where she appeared as Chandler Bing's father, a drag performer.
In 2006, Turner guest-starred on FX's Nip/Tuck, playing a phone sex operator in need of laryngeal surgery. She appeared in a small role in 2008's Marley & Me and also played a defense attorney on Law & Order. In 2009, she played the role of Charlie Runkle's sexually hyperactive boss in season three of the television series Californication.
Turner starred in the indie film The Perfect Family in 2011 and had supporting roles in Nurse 3D (2013) and the comedy sequel Dumb and Dumber To in 2014.
She appeared in two episodes of the Hulu series The Path (2016–17), starred in an episode of the anthology series Dolly Parton's Heartstrings (2019) and guest-starred on two episodes of the CBS comedy series Mom in 2020. On the Netflix dramedy series The Kominsky Method, Turner was a guest in season 2 (2019) and became a main cast member in season 3 (2021). The series reunited her with fellow actor Michael Douglas for the first time since The War of the Roses.
Voice acting
Turner provided the voice of Jessica Rabbit in the 1988 live action/animated film Who Framed Roger Rabbit, its three animated short film spinoffs, and in the Disneyland attraction spinoff, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin. In 2006, Turner voiced the character Constance in the animated film Monster House. Later, she provided radio commercial voice-overs for Lay's potato chips. BBC Radio 4 produced four radio dramas based on the V. I. Warshawski novels by Sara Paretsky. Two of them, Killing Orders and Deadlock, released in 2007, featured Turner reprising her 1991 film role, which had been based on Paretsky's novel Deadlock; however, the final series, Bitter Medicine, released in 2009, had Sharon Gless take over the part.[34] In 2015, she narrated the anthology drama film Emily & Tim. Turner also had voice guest roles on the animated series King of the Hill, Family Guy, 3Below: Tales of Arcadia, Rick and Morty, Summer Camp Island, and Wizards: Tales of Arcadia.
Stage career
After 1990s roles in Broadway productions of Indiscretions and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (for which she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress), Turner moved to London in 2000 to star in a stage version of The Graduate. The BBC reported that initially mediocre ticket sales for The Graduate "went through the roof when it was announced that Turner, then aged 45, would appear naked on stage". While her performance as the seductive Mrs. Robinson was popular with audiences, with sustained high box office for the duration of Turner's run, she received mixed reviews from critics.[35] The play transferred to Broadway in 2002 to similar critical reaction.
In 2005, Turner beat a score of other contenders (including Jessica Lange, Frances McDormand, and Bette Midler)[7] for the role of Martha in a 2005 Broadway revival of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Longacre Theatre. Albee later explained to the New York Times that when Turner read for the part with her eventual co-star Bill Irwin, he heard "an echo of the 'revelation' that he had felt years ago when the parts were read by [Uta] Hagen and Arthur Hill." He added that Turner had "a look of voluptuousness, a woman of appetites, yes ... but a look of having suffered, as well."[7]
Ben Brantley praised Turner at length, writing:
As the man-eating Martha, Ms. Turner, a movie star whose previous theater work has been variable, finally secures her berth as a first-rate, depth-probing stage actress ... [A]t 50, this actress can look ravishing and ravaged, by turns. In the second act, she is as predatorily sexy as she was in the movie Body Heat. But in the third and last act, she looks old, bereft, stripped of all erotic flourish. I didn't think I would ever be able to see Virginia Woolf again without thinking of Ms. Hagen [Uta Hagen]. But watching Ms. Turner in that last act, fully clothed but more naked than she ever was in The Graduate, I didn't see the specter of Ms. Hagen. All I saw was Ms. Turner. No, let's be fair. All I saw was Martha.[36]
As Martha, Turner received her second Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play, losing to Cherry Jones. The production was transferred to London's Apollo Theatre in 2006. She starred in Sandra Ryan Heyward's one-woman show, Tallulah, which she toured across the U.S.
In August 2010, Turner portrayed the role of Sister Jamison Connelly in Matthew Lombardo's drama High at Hartford TheaterWorks.[37] The production transferred to Broadway at the Booth Theater where it opened in previews on March 25, 2011, officially on April 19, 2011, and an announced quick closing on April 24, 2011.[38] However, in a rare move, the production was revived, still headed by Turner, to undertake a national tour which began in Boston in December 2012.[39]
From August to October 28, 2012, Turner appeared in Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, a play about the legendary liberal Texas columnist Molly Ivins, at Arena Stage in Washington, DC.[40] In December 2014 and January 2015, Turner performed the same show at Berkeley Repertory Theatre.[41] She appeared again at Arena Stage in the title role of Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, which opened in February 2014,[42] and playing Joan Didion in the one-woman show The Year of Magical Thinking, based on Didion's memoir of the same name, in October and November 2016.[43] In February 2019, Turner made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City in the speaking role of The Duchess of Krakentorp in Donizetti's opera La fille du régiment.[44]
Other work
In addition to her work on stage and screen, Turner has taught acting classes at New York University.[12][45]
Reception and public image
Turner's performance in Body Heat gave her a reputation as a sex symbol.[46] She is considered one of the most prominent sex symbols of the 1980s,[47] a designation largely attributed to her performance in Body Heat.[48] Turner worked to avoid being typecast in similar roles.[49] She described "rage" as a common theme running through most of her characters.[49] Her deep, husky voice has been considered a trademark throughout her career.[50][51][52] Ann Lee of The Guardian described her as "magnetic" on screen "fierce, bold and sultry, with an impeccable sense of comic timing to match that oh-so-husky and commanding voice".[49]
By the late 1980s, Turner had acquired a reputation for being difficult, what The New York Times called "a certifiable diva". She admitted that she had developed into "not a very kind person", and actress Eileen Atkins—with whom she starred in the play Indiscretions on Broadway—referred to her as "an amazing nightmare".[7] In 2018, she commented on her reputation, stating: "The 'difficult' thing was pure gender crap. If a man comes on set and says, 'Here's how I see this being done', people go, 'He's decisive.' If a woman does it, they say, 'Oh, fuck. There she goes.'"[23] Turner has defended herself against Atkins' claims, saying that Atkins harbored animosity towards her because she was having trouble memorizing her lines, which Atkins found very unprofessional. Turner later realized that medication she was taking for her rheumatoid arthritis was making her "fuzzy." She added that, on days when the rheumatoid arthritis in her wrist was especially bad and she warned the other cast members not to touch it, Atkins would intentionally sit on it during a scene where Turner had to play dead, causing Turner extreme pain.[23] Speaking about the major differences between theatre and film acting in terms of the dynamics between the individual and the collective, performing arts scholar Octavian Saiu praised Turner for her great generosity as a veritable team player who finds herself more at home on stage for that reason.[53]
Personal life
Turner married real estate entrepreneur Jay Weiss of New York City in 1984, and they had one daughter, singer Rachel Ann Weiss, who was born on October 14, 1987. Turner and Weiss divorced in December 2007, but Turner has said, "[Jay]'s still my best friend."[54]
Health
In 1992, Turner began experiencing "inexplicable pains and fevers."[30] She was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis about a year later. By the time she was diagnosed, she "could hardly turn her head or walk, and was told she would end up in a wheelchair".[7] Of this period, she has said: "My body could respond only with excruciating pain whenever I tried to move at all. The joints in my hands were so swollen, I couldn't hold a pen. Some days I couldn't hold a glass to get a drink of water. I couldn't pick up my child... my feet would blow up so badly that I couldn't get them into any kind of shoes, let alone walk on them."[55]
Turner's appearance changed after the rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis. "The press were merciless," she states in her memoir. "They snipped that I had become fat and unrecognizable because I was an angry, washed-up diva, an out-of-control has-been, when in truth the changes in my physical appearance were caused by drugs and chemotherapy and were not within my control. Still, I did not reveal what was happening to me."[31]
As her rheumatoid arthritis progressed, alcohol consumption became a problem. "I drank consciously at first to kill the pain....Later, after I got the new medicines and the pain began to subside, I kept drinking too much... It didn't damage my work, but it damaged me personally."[32] Turner has admitted that the drinking made her difficult to be around.[56]
Despite drug therapy to help her condition, Turner's rheumatoid arthritis progressed for about eight years. Then, thanks to newly available treatments, it went into remission.
A few weeks after leaving the production of the play The Graduate in November 2002, Turner was admitted into the Geisinger Marworth Treatment Center in Waverly, Pennsylvania, for the treatment of alcoholism. "I have no problem with alcohol when I'm working", she explained. "It's when I'm home alone that I can't control my drinking ... I was going toward excess. I mean, really! I think I was losing my control over it. So it pulled me back."[7]
Activism
Turner has worked with Planned Parenthood of America since age 19, and later became a chairperson. She also serves on the board of People for the American Way, and volunteers at Amnesty International and Citymeals-on-Wheels. She was one of John Kerry's first celebrity endorsers. She has been a frequent donor to the Democratic Party. She has also worked to raise awareness of rheumatoid arthritis.[57]
Memoirs and interviews
In the mid-2000s, Turner collaborated with Gloria Feldt on the writing of her memoirs, Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles. The book was published in 2008.[58][59] In the book, Turner claimed that, while they were filming Peggy Sue Got Married, her co-star Nicolas Cage had got drunk and stolen a Chihuahua that he liked.[60] In turn, Cage filed a lawsuit against Turner and her book publisher in the UK, who took an excerpt from the book and posted it on their website (before publication).[60] Cage argued defamation and damage to character and won the case, resulting in retractions, legal fees, and a donation to charity.[60] Turner later publicly apologized.[61] During an interview on The View, Turner apologized for any distress she might have caused Cage regarding an incident that took place 20 years earlier.[62][63]
On August 7, 2018, Vulture published an in-depth interview with Turner, wherein she expressed her opinion on a wide range of issues, from Elizabeth Taylor's acting skills to what it was like meeting Donald Trump in the 1980s.[64] Turner's frankness and certain revelations she made caused the article to be widely shared in different media outlets, which led to her name trending on Google.[65]
Filmography
| † | Denotes film or TV productions that have not yet been released |
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Body Heat | Matty Walker | |
| 1983 | The Man with Two Brains | Dolores Benedict | |
| 1984 | Romancing the Stone | Joan Wilder | |
| A Breed Apart | Stella Clayton | ||
| Crimes of Passion | Joanna Crane / China Blue | ||
| 1985 | Prizzi's Honor | Irene Walkervisks / Irene Walker | |
| The Jewel of the Nile | Joan Wilder | ||
| 1986 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Peggy Sue Bodell | |
| 1987 | Julia and Julia | Julia | |
| 1988 | Switching Channels | Christy Colleran | |
| Who Framed Roger Rabbit | Jessica Rabbit (voice) | Uncredited | |
| The Accidental Tourist | Sarah Leary | ||
| 1989 | Tummy Trouble | Jessica Rabbit (voice) | Short film |
| The War of the Roses | Barbara Rose | ||
| 1990 | Roller Coaster Rabbit | Jessica Rabbit (voice) | Short film |
| 1991 | V.I. Warshawski | Victoria "V. I." Warshawski | |
| 1993 | Trail Mix-Up | Jessica Rabbit (voice) | Short film |
| Naked in New York | Dana Coles | ||
| House of Cards | Ruth Matthews | ||
| Undercover Blues | Jane Blue | ||
| 1994 | Serial Mom | Beverly R. Sutphin | |
| 1995 | Moonlight and Valentino | Alberta Trager | |
| The Snow Queen | The Snow Queen (voice) | English dub | |
| 1997 | Bad Baby | Gloria Goode (voice) | |
| A Simple Wish | Claudia | ||
| The Real Blonde | Dee Dee Taylor | ||
| 1999 | Baby Geniuses | Elena Kinder | |
| Love and Action in Chicago | Middleman | ||
| The Virgin Suicides | Mrs. Lisbon | ||
| 2000 | Beautiful | Verna Chickle | |
| Prince of Central Park | Rebecca Cairn | ||
| 2006 | Monster House | Constance (voice) | |
| 2008 | Marley & Me | Ms. Kornblut | |
| 2011 | The Perfect Family | Eileen Cleary | |
| 2013 | Nurse 3D | Head Nurse Betty Watson | |
| Gods Behaving Badly | Styx | Unreleased | |
| 2014 | Dumb and Dumber To | Fraida Felcher | |
| 2015 | Emily & Tim | The Narrator (voice) | |
| 2017 | Someone Else's Wedding[66] | Barbara Haines | Released as Another Kind of Wedding |
| 2022 | The Swearing Jar | Bev | |
| The Estate | Aunt Hilda | ||
| 2024 | The Long Game | Mariah McKay | |
| 2025 | Animal Farm | Benjamin (voice) [67] | |
| Listen to Me | Gertrude Stein |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–1979 | The Doctors | Nola Dancy Aldrich | 86 episodes[68] |
| 1994 | The Simpsons | Stacy Lovell (voice) | Episode: "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy" |
| 1995 | Friends at Last | Fanny Connelyn | TV movie |
| 1998 | Legalese | Brenda Whitlass | |
| 2000 | Cinderella | Claudette | |
| King of the Hill | Miss Liz Strickland (voice) | 3 episodes | |
| 2001 | Friends | Charles Bing / Helena Handbasket | Episodes: "The One with Chandler's Dad", "The One with Chandler and Monica's Wedding"[69] |
| 2006 | Law & Order | Rebecca Shane | Episode: "Magnet" |
| Nip/Tuck | Cindy Plumb | Episode: "Cindy Plumb" | |
| 2009 | Californication | Sue Collini | 10 episodes |
| 2016–2017 | The Path | Brenda Roberts | 2 episodes |
| 2017 | Family Guy | Herself (voice) | Episode: "Foxx in the Men House" |
| 2019 | Lovestruck | Grace | TV movie |
| 3Below: Tales of Arcadia | Gwendolyn (voice) | Episode: "There's Something About Gwen (of Gorbon)" | |
| Heartstrings | Mary "Old Bones" Shaw | Episode: "These Old Bones"[70] | |
| Rick and Morty | Monogatron leader's Wife (voice) | Episode: "The Old Man and the Seat"[71] | |
| 2019, 2021 | The Kominsky Method | Roz Volander | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Mom | "Cookie" | 2 episodes[72] |
| Summer Camp Island | Mole Judge (voice) | Episode: "Molar Moles" | |
| Prop Culture | Herself | Episode: "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" | |
| Wizards: Tales of Arcadia | Lady of The Lake (voice) | Episode: "Lady of the Lake" | |
| 2022 | HouseBroken | Nancy (voice) | Episode: "Who's Found Themselves in One of Those Magical Christmas Life Swap Switcheroos?" |
| 2023 | White House Plumbers | Dita Beard |
Theater
| Year | Play | Role | Venue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Gemini | Judith Hastings | Little Theatre, Broadway | Replacement |
| 1981 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Titania[73] | Arena Stage, Regional | |
| 1989 | Love Letters | Melissa Gardner [74][75] | Promenade Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 1990 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Maggie | Eugene O'Neill Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1995 | Indiscretions | Yvonne | Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2000 | The Graduate | Mrs. Robinson | Gielgud Theatre, West End | |
| 2000–2001 | Tallulah | Tallulah Bankhead | National tour | |
| 2002 | The Graduate | Mrs. Robinson | Plymouth Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2004 | The Exonerated | Sunny Jacobs[76] | Casa Mañana Theatre, Regional | |
| 2005 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Martha | Longacre Theatre, Broadway | |
| 2006 | Apollo Theatre, West End | |||
| 2007 | National tour | |||
| Crimes of the Heart | Unknown | Williamstown Theatre Festival, Regional | Directed only | |
| 2008 | Laura Pels Theatre, Off-Broadway | |||
| 2009 | The Third Story | Peg / Dr. Rutenspitz | Lucille Lortel Theatre, Off-Broadway | |
| 2010 | Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins | Molly Ivins | Philadelphia Theatre Company, Regional | |
| High | Sister Jamison Connelly | TheaterWorks, Regional | ||
| Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Regional | ||||
| The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Regional | ||||
| 2011 | Booth Theatre, Broadway | |||
| 2012 | Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins | Molly Ivins | Geffen Playhouse, Regional | |
| Arena Stage, Regional | ||||
| The Killing of Sister George | June Buckridge | Long Wharf Theatre, Regional | Also directed | |
| 2014 | Mother Courage and Her Children | Mother Courage | Arena Stage, Regional | |
| Bakersfield Mist | Maude Gutman | Duchess Theatre, West End | ||
| 2014–2015 | Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins | Molly Ivins | Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Regional | |
| 2015 | Would You Still Love Me If... | Victoria Pruitt | New World Stages Stage V, Off-Broadway | Also directed |
| 2016 | The Year of Magical Thinking | Joan Didion | Arena Stage, Regional | |
| 2017 | An Act of God | God | George Street Playhouse, Regional | |
| 2024 | A Little Night Music | Madame Armfeldt[77] | Ogunquit Playhouse, Regional |
Audio
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | White House Plumbers Podcast | Herself | Episode 2 |
Accolades
| Association | Year | Nominated work | Category | Results | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Academy Awards | 1987 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Best Actress | Nominated | [78] |
| Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival | 2015 | N/a | Honorary Award | Won | |
| BAFTA Awards | 1983 | N/a | Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles | Nominated | |
| Chicago International Film Festival | 1992 | N/a | Piper-Heidsieck Award | Won | |
| Chlotrudis Awards | 1995 | Serial Mom | Best Actress | Nominated | |
| David di Donatello Awards | 1990 | The War of the Roses | Best Foreign Actress | Nominated | |
| Drama Desk Awards | 2005 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Outstanding Actress in a Play | Nominated | [79] |
| DVD Exclusive Awards | 2001 | Love and Action in Chicago | Best Supporting Actress | Nominated | |
| Golden Globes | 1982 | Body Heat | New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture | Nominated | |
| 1985 | Romancing the Stone | Best Actress — Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical | Won | [80] | |
| 1986 | Prizzi's Honor | Won | [81] | ||
| 1987 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Nominated | [82] | ||
| 1990 | The War of the Roses | Nominated | [83] | ||
| Grammy Awards | 2001 | The Complete Shakespeare Sonnets | Best Spoken Word Album | Nominated | [84] |
| Hasty Pudding Theatricals | 1989 | N/a | Woman of the Year | Won | |
| Los Angeles Film Critics Association | 1984 | Romancing the Stone / Crimes of Passion | Best Actress | Won | |
| Montréal World Film Festival | 2013 | N/a | Grand Prix Special des Amériques | Won | |
| National Board of Review | 1986 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Best Actress | Won | |
| National Society of Film Critics Awards | 1985 | Romancing the Stone / Crimes of Passion | Best Actress | Nominated | |
| 1987 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Best Actress (tied with Sandrine Bonnaire for Vagabond) | Nominated | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | 1986 | Best Actress | Nominated | ||
| Online Film & Television Association | 2001 | Friends | Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | [85] |
| People's Choice Awards | 1986 | Prizzi's Honor | Favorite Motion Picture Actress | Nominated | |
| 1987 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Nominated | |||
| 1990 | The War of the Roses | Nominated | |||
| Provincetown International Film Festival | 2007 | N/a | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | |
| Sant Jordi Awards | 1986 | Prizzi’s Honor / Crimes of Passion | Best Foreign Actress | Won | |
| 1988 | Peggy Sue Got Married / Giulia e Giulia | Nominated | |||
| Santo Domingo OutFest | 2012 | The Perfect Family | Outstanding Performance | Won | |
| Saturn Awards | 1987 | Peggy Sue Got Married | Best Actress | Nominated | |
| Savannah Film Festival | 2004 | N/a | Lifetime Achievement Award | Won | |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards | 2021 | The Kominsky Method | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | [86] |
| Theatre World Awards | 1990 | Cat on a Hot Tin Roof | Special Award (for Outstanding Broadway Debut) | Won | |
| Tony Awards | Best Actress in a Play | Nominated | [87] | ||
| 2005 | Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? | Nominated | |||
| WorldFest Houston | 1993 | House of Cards | Best Actress | Won |