Actress
Judith Ivey
Notes from Evan Smith
"The name you may not recognize, but the face you surely do, in the tradition of Hollywood's greatest character actors. Over a lifetime of choice roles -- few of them starring, but all of them memorable -- Judith Ivey has surely left her mark, and at 55 is much-loved and -admired for her mastery of art and craft. There may be other Texans who do what she does -- Stephen Tobolowsky, G.W. Bailey, and Powers Boothe all come to mind -- but she is a rare triple threat, a fixture for a quarter century or more on the big screen, on TV, and on stages on and off Broadway.
Born in El Paso and raised all over West Texas, Ivey studied acting at Illinois State University and not long after landed her first role, in a Chicago production of Edward Bond's play The Sea. In 1983, she won her first Tony Award, for a largely nude performance in Steaming, and two years later won a second Tony, for her role as an abused go-go dancer in Hurlyburly.
Lately she's been in Texas and elsewhere in the country with her one-woman show, Women on Fire. Her TV credits include a year-long stint on Designing Women and a recurrring role on Frasier. Her film credits include The Lonely Guy, The Woman in Red, Compromising Positions, Brighton Beach Memoirs, In Country, The Devil's Advocate, Mystery Alaska, and, most recently, Clint Eastwood's critically acclaimed Flags of our Fathers.
Two years ago she was inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame, an overdue acknowlegement of an extraordinary career."
- Evan Smith, Texas Monthly Talks, Broadcast 11.9.06
