ANNETTE BENING

Date of Birth: May 29, 1958

The youngest of four children born in Topeka, Kansas, Annette Bening was raised in San Diego and studied at the local college, completing her drama degree at San Francisco State University. Following graduation, she studied at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater, and joined its acting company. After appearing in summer Shakespeare festivals and regional productions, she relocated to New York to pursue an acting career. It was there she appeared on Second Stage and then Broadway, for which she earned a Tony nomination for "Coastal Disturbances" in 1987.

Her feature film debut came in 1987 in The Great Outdoors (1988) opposite John Candy and Dan Aykroyd. In 1990, she received an Oscar nomination for her work The Grifters (1990). Warren Beatty saw Bening's work in the film and was so impressed that he sought her out for his film Bugsy (1991). She later earned another Oscar nomination in 2000 and won a BAFTA award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her outstanding work in American Beauty (1999). In 2005 she won her first Golden Globe award and her third Oscar nomination, for her work in Being Julia (2004).

Beatty and Bening were married in 1992 and have four children.

FILMOGRAPHY

Dirty Tricks (2010)
The Villa Golitsyn (2010)
The Women (2008)
A Woman of No Importance (2009)
Running With Scissors (2006)
Mrs. Harris (2005)
Diva (2005)
Being Julia (2004)
Open Range (2003)
What Planet Are You From? (2000)
American Beauty (1999)
Siege, The (1998)
Mars Attacks! (1996)
The American President (1995)
Richard III (1995)
Love Affair (1994)
Bugsy (1991)
Guilty by Suspicion (1991)
Regarding Henry (1991)
The Grifters (1990)
Postcards from the Edge (1990)
Valmont (1989)
The Great Outdoors (1988)