Born:
August 29, 1961
in
Santa Rosa, California
Best Known For:
Risky Business, and The Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
Early-life:
Born Rebecca George on August 29, 1961, in Santa Rosa, California. Her father was Wally George, a local TV and radio personality. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was adopted by her mother's second husband Richard De Mornay. He died when she was five. She has a step-brother, Peter, and several half-siblings whom she has never met via her birth father. De Mornay attended schools in Britain and Austria, where her family was based, before returning to the US to study acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute.
Career:
De Mornay's first movie was One From the Heart in 1982, but it was Risky Business a year later which put her firmly on the map. Movies such as a remake of And God Created Woman, Dealers, The Trip to Bountiful and Backdraft followed. In 1992, De Mornay scored a huge hit playing the villain in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, but struggled to capitalise on its success. Other career highlights include Guilty as Sin, The Three Musketeers, a miniseries version of The Shining and TV series A Girl Thing. Her recent films include American Venus, Music Within, Flipped, Mother's Day and American Reunion.
Quote:
"It's a very difficult thing for people to accept, seeing women act out anger on the screen. We're more accustomed to seeing men expressing rage and women crying."
Trivia:
She starred in the 1985 music video for Starship's song Sara.