From performing on stage to acting for the screens and singing, Amy Irving is as versatile as she’s an accomplished entertainer. Born into an entertainment family, the Palo Alto, California native has dominated the industry for decades in a career almost as old as she is. Irving is probably best known for playing Hadass Vishkower in Barbra Streisand’s 1983 romantic musical drama Yentl, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Before the Yentl role, she had ingrained her charming persona in Hollywood with performances in Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976) and The Fury (1978).
Amy Irving cemented her reputation in the competitive industry in the 80s with roles in Marvin J. Chomsky’s Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) and Joan Micklin Silver’s Crossing Delanc (1988). The films earned her Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV and Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, respectively. She also won the 1988 Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress. This was for her role as Elsa Barlow in an Off-Broadway production of Athol Fugard’s The Road to Mecca.
Amy Irving Made Her Stage Debut When She Was 9 Months Old
The American actress has been performing since she was an infant. The youngest of three children, Amy Irving is the daughter of Priscilla Pointer and Jules Irving. While her mother is a retired actress, her father was an actor, filmmaker, and theater director/producer. He co-founded the Actor’s Workshop theatre company in San Francisco, California, where the Yentl actress spent her early life and attended the American Conservatory Theater. Before this, she had grown accustomed to the stage as she began performing at nine months old when her father featured her in one of his productions.
Amy Irving continued to appear in her father’s plays, leading up to her Broadway debut at age 12 in 1965. She was part of the ensemble cast for William Wycherley’s The Country Wife, performed at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York City. Irving would later study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before making her screen debut. Her first on-screen role was in 1975 when she appeared as Cindy Mullins in an episode of ABC’s The Rookies. She also appeared in an episode of NBC’s Police Woman and two episodes of Happy Days that same year.
She Has Performed With Her Mother In Multiple Films
Amy Irving probably regards performing with her parents as one of the most meaningful rewards of her career. Before her father passed on in July 1979, she worked with him in theatre shows. This is also true for her mother, who has played the mother or mother-in-law of Irvings’ character in multiple films. Right from Amy Irvings’ feature film debut as Sue Snell in Carrie, she performed beside Priscilla Pointer’s Mrs. Snell in the 1976 supernatural horror film. Four years later, the two co-starred in Jerry Schatzberg’s Honeysuckle Rose and Joel Oliansky’s The Competition. The trend continued in 1984’s Micki + Maude, 1987’s Rumpelstiltskin, 1990’s A Show of Force, and 1996’s Carried Away.
Amy Irving Has Been Married Thrice And Divorced Twice
Amy Irving’s first marriage was to Steven Spielberg. She met and started dating the renowned filmmaker in 1976 after auditioning for the Ronnie Neary role in Spielberg’s 1977 sci-fi film Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The part went to Teri Garr, but Irving and Spielberg moved in together. They broke up in 1979, resumed dating in 1984, and wedded in November 1985. Irving and the filmmaker divorced in 1989, paving the way for the actress to pursue a romance with Brazillian film director Bruno Barreto. They wedded in 1996 and divorced in 2005. Amy Irving has been married to her third husband, Kenneth Bowser Jr., since 2007. While she has no biological child with Bowser, she has two sons from her previous marriages: Max Samuel Spielberg and Gabriel Davis Barreto.
The Yentl Actress Received $100 Million When She Divorced Steven Spielberg
For several reasons, including Steven Spielberg’s rumored romance with Kate Capshaw, Amy Irving resolved to part ways with the prominent filmmaker after barely four years of marriage. Their divorce came with a massive cost for Spielberg who was required to pay Irving half of his earnings in their years of marriage. This amounted to $100 million, making the dissolution of their union one of the most expensive celebrity divorces in history. Before exchanging vows in a private ceremony, the former couple drafted and signed a prenuptial agreement on a cocktail napkin. Irving would later argue in court that the prenup was invalid, citing the absence of a legal counsel when she signed the strange prenup.
Amy Irving Released Her First Album In April 2023
Amy Irving has displayed her vocal talents in several films, including An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), Rumpelstiltskin (1987), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), and Honeysuckle Rose (1980). Her song “If You Want Me To Love You I Will” was featured in the soundtrack album of the latter film. Released alongside the Jerry Schatzberg movie, the album has been certified platinum by RIAA.
The actress released her first solo album, Born In a Trunk, on April 7, 2023. Speaking about the album, Amy Irving told The Hollywood Reporter that singing makes her happy. “I considered myself an actor who could carry a tune, not a singer,” she said, adding that “it was so thrilling to step into another world,” she said.
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