Jessica Lange Biography (2)

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The recipient of six Academy Award nominations, Lange has built her distinguished career portraying strong and independent women. Raised in Minnesota, she later moved to New York City, where she worked as a model and studied acting. Her first film role was in the remake of King Kong. Two years later, she played the Angel of Death in Bob Fosse's magnum opus All That Jazz, followed by her first comedic role in How to Beat the High Cost of Living.

Lange received critical praise for her performance as Cora in Bob Rafelson's remake of the classic The Postman Always Rings Twice opposite Jack Nicholson, and earned her first Academy Award nomination for her next film, Frances, based on the life of Frances Farmer. That film segued almost immediately into work on Tootsie, for which she won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1983. This marked the first time in twenty-five years that an actor had been nominated for two Oscars in the same year. She went on to both produce and star in Country, after which she portrayed country western legend Patsy Cline in Sweet Dreams. She received Best Actress nominations for both of these roles.

Lange next starred in Crimes of the Heart opposite Sissy Spacek and Diane Keaton, Far North, written and directed by Sam Shepard, Taylor Hackford's Everybody's All-American opposite Dennis Quaid, Men Don't Leave and Costa-Gavre's Music Box, which earned her a fifth Academy Award nomination. Soon after, she starred in Martin Scorsese's remake of Cape Fear opposite Robert DeNiro, with whom she also starred in Night and the City. Other recent films include Losing Isaiah with Halle Berry and David Strathairn and Rob Roy with Liam Neeson.

Lange made her Broadway debut in 1992 as Blanche Dubois in Gregory Mosher's revival of Tennessee William's A Street Car Named Desire. Lange had an exceptionally good year in 1995, in which she won the Best Actress honor at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for her performance in Blue Sky.

Most recently, Lange starred in Jocelyn Moorhouse's A Thousand Acres, with Michelle Pfeiffer and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

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