Elizabeth Perkins Movies and Career Information

Julia Elizabeth Perkins (born November 18, 1960) is an American actress. Perkins was born in Queens, New York City, the daughter of Jo Williams, a drug treatment counselor and concert pianist, and James Perkins, a farmer, writer and businessman. Her paternal grandparents were Greek immigrants from Salonika who anglicized their surname from "Pisperikos" to "Perkins" when they emigrated to the United States. Perkins was raised in Colrain, Massachusetts; her parents divorced in 1963. She began working in theatre with Arena Civic Theatre, a non-profit community theatre group based out of Greenfield, Massachusetts. After finishing high school at Northfield Mount Hermon School she spent three years in Chicago studying acting at the famous Goodman School of Drama. In 1984, she made her theatrical debut on Broadway in Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs", and afterward worked in a number of ensemble companies, including The New York Shakespeare Festival and the Steppenwolf Theater. She has always considered theater work to be a priority in her career. She was listed as one of the twelve "Promising New Actors of 1986" in John Willis' Screen World, and has since landed numerous film roles.