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Academy Award nominated and Emmy-winning actress Patricia Clarkson has taken on roles as varied as the platform in which she plays them. Her comfort in taking on roles from motion pictures, television and the theater has earned her great accolades and success, and she has become one of today's most respected actresses in the entertainment industry.

This spring, Clarkson was honored at ShoWest with the Independent Award for Acting Excellence for her continuous innovative work in independent film. This summer, Clarkson teamed up once again with Woody Allen in Whatever Works alongside Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood. The film opened this year's Tribeca Film Festival.

She was recently seen in Phoebe in Wonderland opposite Elle Fanning and Felicity Huffman. Peter Travers from Rolling Stone raved "She's a sorceress of an actress who makes wicked magic, be it on TV (Six Feet Under) or stage (A Streetcar Named Desire) and in movies from High Art and Far from Heaven to Pieces of April, The Station Agent and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Clarkson is at her brilliant best in Phoebe in Wonderland."

Last year, Clarkson received praise for her work in Isabel Coixet's Elegy opposite Sir Ben Kingsley, Penélope Cruz and Dennis Hopper. Additionally, Clarkson appeared in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, written and directed by Woody Allen, as well as Ira Sachs' Married Life alongside Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan. Additional credits include Lars and the Real Girl, Blind Date, All the King's Men, Goodnight, and Good Luck., The Dying Gaul, The Woods, Far from Heaven, Miracle, High Art, Dogville, Welcome to Collinwood, The Pledge, The Green Mile, Everybody's All- American, The Dead Pool, Rocket Gibraltar, Tune in Tomorrow, Joe Gould's Secret, Wendigo and Brian De Palma's The Untouchables, her film debut.

In 2003, Clarkson's work in two independent films earned her unparalleled recognition. She was nominated for an Academy Award, Golden Globe, SAG Award, Broadcast Film Critics Award and an independent Spirit Award for her role in Pieces of April. In addition, the Sundance Film Festival awarded her the Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance in Pieces of April, The Station Agent and All the Real Girls. Her performance in The Station Agent earned her SAG Award nominations for Best Actress and Best Ensemble Cast. The National Board of Review and the National Society of Film Critics named her Best Supporting Actress of the Year for her work in Pieces of April and The Station Agent.

She also won Best Supporting Actress Awards from the New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics for her performance in Todd Haynes' Far from Heaven. That role also earned her a nomination from the Chicago Film Critics. Her performance as Greta in Lisa Cholodenko's High Art earned her a nomination for an Independent Spirit Award.

On television, Clarkson won an Emmy in 2002 and 2006 for her guest-starring role on HBO's acclaimed drama Six Feet Under.

Clarkson made her professional acting debut on the New York stage. Her theatre credits include Eastern Standard (on and off-Broadway), Maidens Prayer (for which she received Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Award Nominations), Raised in Captivity, Oliver Oliver, The House of Blue Leaves and Three Days of Rain. Her regional credits include performances at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, South Coast Repertory and Yale Repertory.

Born and raised in New Orleans, Clarkson began acting in school plays in her early teens. After studying speech at Louisiana State University for two years, she transferred to Fordham University in New York, where she graduated summa cum laude with a degree in theater arts. She earned her MFA at the prestigious Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in Electra, Pacific Overtures, Pericles, La Ronde, The Lower Depths and The Misanthrope.

She currently lives in New York.