Biography
Jessica Lange was born in 1949, in Cloquet, Minnesota, USA, where
her father worked as a traveling salesman. She obtained a
scholarship to study art at the University of Minnesota, but
instead went to Paris to study drama. She moved to New York,
working as a model, until producer 'Dino De Laurentiis' (qv) cast
her as the female lead in _King Kong (1976)_ (qv). The film
attracted much unfavorable comment and as a result Lange was off
the screen for three years. She was given a small but showy part in
‘Bob Fosse’ (qv)’s _All That Jazz (1979)_ (qv), before giving a
memorable performance in 'Bob Rafelson' (qv)'s _Postman Always
Rings Twice, The_ (1981) (qv), as an adulterous waitress. The
following year she won rave reviews for her exceptional portrayal
of actress 'Frances Farmer' (qv) in _Frances (1982)_ (qv) and a
Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her work in 'Sydney
Pollack' (qv)'s _Tootsie (1982)_ (qv) (as a beautiful soap-opera
actress). She was also outstanding as country singer Patsy Cline in
‘Karel Reisz’ (qv)’s _Sweet Dreams (1985)_ (qv) and as a lawyer who
defends her father and discovers his past in _Music Box (1989)_
(qv). Other important films include 'Martin Scorsese' (qv)'s _Cape
Fear (1991)_ (qv) (as a frightened housewife) and 'Tony Richardson'
(qv)'s _Blue Sky (1994)_ (qv), for which she won a Best Actress
Academy Award as the mentally unbalanced wife of a military
officer. She made her Broadway debut in 1992, playing Blanche in
'Tennessee Williams' (qv)' ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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