Jessica Lange Biography

Jessica Lange was born in 1949, in Cloquet, Minnesota, USA, where her father worked as a traveling salesman. She was the third of four children.

She studied art at university, and wanted to be a painter, but she fell in love with Spanish photographer Paco Grande, and left to travel with him.

They married and settled in New York, where Jessica studied mime. She moved to Paris to continue her studies and decided she wanted to be an actress but, by the time she returned to America, her marriage was over.

In New York, she modelled to pay the rent, and was spotted by Dino De Laurentiis, who cast her in his 1976 remake of 'King Kong', but the film was panned. She did not appear in another major film for some time.

Over the next few years, Lange acted in small films and plays, and began a relationship with the Russian dancer, Mikhail Baryshnikov. They had a daughter in 1981.

Her big break came when she was cast opposite Jack Nicholson, in 1981's 'The Postman Always Rings Twice'. The film not only put Jessica Lange back on the map as an actress, but established her as a member of the "A list". As Cora, she was intense and seductive, and showed a range of emotions that her former critics never dreamed she had. Her performance in the film gave her the credibility to choose any role that she wanted.

She garnered an Oscar nomination for 'Frances' in 1982, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress the following year for 'Tootsie', one of the biggest hits of the year. She was also nominated for 'Country' and has now been nominated five times, winning the Academy Award for Best Actress again, in 1994, for 'Blue Sky'.

Lange also starred in a host of other films throughout the 80s and 90s, including 'Men Don't Leave', 'Crimes of the Heart', 'Music Box' and 'Rob Roy' alongside Liam Neeson.

Over the last decade she has appeared in several supporting roles, including roles in 'Big Fish' (2003) and 'Broken Flowers' (2005). In 2006, she formed part of the ensemble cast in 'Bonneville', alongside Kathy Bates and Joan Allen. She also earned an Emmy Award for her performance as Edith Bouvier Beale in the 2009 film 'Grey Gardens'.

She has also enjoyed considerable success on the stage making her Broadway debut playing Blanche in a 'Streetcar Named Desire' in 1992. On the set of 'Frances', Lange met actor and playwright, Sam Sheppard. The couple have two children called Hannah Jane, who was born in 1985, and Samuel Walker born in 1987. They separated in 2010.

In 2005, she returned to Broadway in the Tennessee Williams' play, 'The Glass Menagerie', with actor Christian Slater. The revival was met with mostly negative reviews in New York, although it was acclaimed by the European press.

Lange is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Children's Fund. The actress was also a critic of former US President George Bush and described his administration as "a self-serving regime of deceit, hypocrisy and belligerence".

Not only is she a talented actress on the stage and screen, Lange is also an accomplished photographer. In 2008, she published a collection of her black and white photographs and exhibited them along with a series of her films. As a result of this exhibition, she was given the first George Eastman House Honours Award in 2009. Lange published her second book of photographs in 2010 entitled 'In Mexico'.

She returned to film in 2012 appearing in the romantic drama 'The Vow' and she is currently filming the crime thriller 'Therese Raquin', which is set for release in 2013.

Lange starred in the TV series 'American Horror Story' as the neighbour of a couple who move into a haunted house in 2011. For her performance she won a Golden Globe and SAG Award. On 19 April 2012, a second series was announced, which will feature the same actors including Lange but in different roles. Lange will play the role of someone running a mental asylum on the East Coast.