Born:
August 20, 1956
in
Rochelle, Illinois
Best Known For:
A number of acclaimed performances.
Early-life:
Joan was born in Rochelle, Illinois on August 20, 1956 to Dorothea and James. She has an older brother, David, and two older sisters, Mary and Lynn. Joan attended Eastern Illinois University and Northern Illinois University and she became a member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1977.
Career:
Allen's early film credits include Compromising Positions (1985) and Manhunter (1986). In 1988, she won a Tony Award for her performance on Broadway in Burn This. On the big screen, she has received Oscar nominations for Nixon (1995), The Crucible (1996) and The Contender (2000). Her other film credits include The Ice Storm (1997), Face/Off (1997), Pleasantville (1998), The Contender (2000), The Notebook (2004), The Bourne Supremacy (2004), The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) and The Bourne Legacy (2012). She also starred in short-lived TV series Luck.
Quote:
"I was a very good girl for a long time, that's what really drew me to acting. The stage was the perfect place to be outrageous, to be sad, to be angry, to be all these different things."
Trivia:
Allen voiced the character Delphine in the video game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.