Matinee Classics - Jennifer Connelly Biography & Filmography

Jennifer Connelly ACTOR

JENNIFER CONNELLY BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Jennifer Connelly was born on December 12th, 1970 in the Catskill Mountains in New York with the middle name Lynn, born to Gerard and Eileen Connelly. She was raised in Brooklyn Heights and attended St. Ann's School. From the age of ten, Connelly began attending modeling auditions and did some work in magazine and newspaper advertisements.

It did not take long before she began auditioning for commercials and in 1984 was cast as in her first role on the British television series, "Tales of the Unexpected" (1979) followed by being cast as a dancer in her first film role, "Once Upon a Time in America". After earning her high school diploma, Connelly went on to study at Yale and then transferred to Stanford University.

Jennifer has appeared in numerous films throughout her career in the industry such as, "Phenomena" (1985), "Étoile" (1989), "Labyrinth" (1986), "Some Girls" (1988), "The Hot Spot" (1990), "The Rocketeer" (1991), "Career Opportunities" (1991), "Mulholland Falls" (1996), "Inventing the Abbotts" (1997) and "Dark City" (1998).

Soon she began working in television when Fox came to her and offered her a re-occurring role on the series, "The $treet" (2000). She continued to appear in more successful film roles such as, "Waking the Dead" (2000) and "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), for which she earned a Spirit Award nomination for her performance.

Some of her more recent roles have been in, "A Beautiful Mind" (2001) starring Russell Crowe and directed by Ron Howard, a role for which she won a Golden Globe, BAFTA, AFI and Oscar as Best Supporting Actress followed by roles in such films as, "Little Children" (2006), "Reservation Road" (2007), "Creation" (2009), "He's Just Not that Into You" (2009), "Virginia" (2009), "The Dilemma" (2011), "Salvation Boulevard" (2011) and soon to release in 2013, "Writers".

In addition to her modeling and acting career, Connelly was also named Amnesty International Ambassador for Human Rights Education in 2005. She has appeared in advertisements that focus on the issues of clean water in for countries suffering from poverty.

Connelly has married only one time to Paul Bettany in 2003 and they have two children together and remain married today. She does have one other son, Kai born in 1997 from a previous relationship she had with a photographer, David Dugan.

Jennifer Connelly has been ranked in the "Top Sexiest Women", "Most Desirable Woman" and chosen as "One of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history" by FHM, Stuff's, Empire and Celebrity Sleuth's magazine.