Ann Dowd is an American film, television, and theatre actress.
She appeared as Sandra in the movie Compliance for which she received the National Board
of Review award for Best Supporting Actress.
Dowd has played supporting roles in several films, including Philadelphia, Green Card,
Lorenzo's Oil, Garden State, The Informant!, Marley & Me, The Manchurian Candidate, Flags
of Our Fathers and Side Effects.
Dowd was a series regular on Nothing Sacred and can currently be seen on the HBO series
The Leftovers.
Early life Dowd was born in Holyoke, Massachusetts, the
daughter of John and Dolores Dowd.
She is one of seven children, who were raised by her single mother after her father died
when she was a senior in high school.
Her mother later re-married to Philip Dean, a doctor.
Her brother, Gregory, is a doctor of veterinary medicine and another brother, John Dowd Jr.,
works for The Dowd Agencies, an insurance company started by her great-grandfather.
Her paternal grandfather was James "Kip" Dowd, a former Major League baseball player for
the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Dowd's family is Irish Catholic.
She attended the Williston Northampton School, where she performed in school plays.
Dowd became interested in acting at a young age but was dissuaded by her family at first
because they did not approve of her pursuing an acting career.
She graduated in 1978 from College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass where much of
Dowd's family also attended and she was a premed student and took acting classes.
Dowd credits her instructors and roommate at that time for persuading her to forgo medical
school and follow her passion for acting.
She traveled to New York City to audition for the Goodman School of Drama at Depaul
University in Chicago, where she received an MFA in Acting.
While at Depaul, Dowd received a prestigious scholarship from the Sarah Siddons Society,
an award that had also gone to Carrie Snodgress.
Dowd was classmates with Elizabeth Perkins and also worked as a waitress during this
time.
Dowd spent several years performing in regional theatre in the Chicago area, performing often
at the Court Theatre, later deciding in 1988 to move to New York City to pursue a bigger
stage.
She pounded the pavement and her first acting gig there was with the Hartford Stage Company.
Film Dowd starred in Shiloh and its sequels, Shiloh
2: Shiloh Season and Saving Shiloh as Louise Preston.
She appears in the 1997 cult film All Over Me and in the 1998 film Apt Pupil, in which
she played the mother of Brad Renfro's character.
Dowd has acted in two films directed by Jonathan Demme, as Jill Beckett, sister of Tom Hanks's
character, Andrew Beckett, in Philadelphia, and in The Manchurian Candidate, starring
Meryl Streep.
Also in 2004, Dowd played the mother of Natalie Portman in Garden State and appeared in The
Forgotten starring Julianne Moore.
In 2005, she starred opposite Gretchen Mol in The Notorious Bettie Page, portraying Edna
Page, Bettie Page's mother.
She also played the role of Mrs. Strank in the 2006 Clint Eastwood film Flags of Our
Fathers.
In 2008, Dowd appeared in Marley & Me starring Jennifer Aniston.
She received rave reviews for her work in the 2012 movie Compliance, which premiered
at the Sundance Film Festival.
In the film, Dowd plays Sandra, a fast food restaurant manager caught in a mysterious
ethical nightmare.
For this role, Dowd was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress and
received the National Board of Review award.
She has played supporting roles in two Steven Soderbergh films, The Informant!
in 2009, and Side Effects in 2013 in which she played the mother of Channing Tatum's
character.
Television Dowd's first appearance was in the 1985 television
movie First Steps with fellow Chicago actor Megan Mullally.
She has appeared in many popular television shows including House and Louie, on both of
which she played a nun.
Other shows include Chicago Hope, The X-Files, Third Watch, NYPD Blue, Judging Amy and Freaks
and Geeks, in which she played the mother of Busy Phillips.
Dowd has also appeared in many episodes of the Law & Order franchise.
In 1995 she portrayed Rose Long, Louisiana's first female senator, in the television movie
Kingfish, opposite John Goodman.
In 2008 she appeared in the television movie Taking Chance starring Kevin Bacon.
Dowd was a series regular on Nothing Sacred, which was filmed in Los Angeles and aired
for one season, in which she played a nun.
For this role she was nominated for a VQT award for Best Supporting Actress.
Theatre Dowd has appeared on Broadway three times.
In 1993 she received the Clarence Derwent Award for her Broadway debut performance in
the play Candida starring Mary Steenburgen.
She next appeared in Taking Sides with Elizabeth Marvel, and Vera Farmiga, who was Dowd's understudy.
In 2008 she appeared in The Seagull starring Carey Mulligan and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Dowd has also won three Jeff Awards for her work in Chicago theatre, including a 1987
Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Emma Brookner in The Normal Heart.
In 2007, Dowd played the role of Sister Aloysius in Doubt at the George Street Playhouse.
The New York Times described her performance as "..chilling..and ..masterful in this role.
In 2011, Dowd performed Off-Broadway in Blood from a Stone, playing the mother of Ethan
Hawke.
Personal life Dowd and her husband both coach acting and
are frequent collaborators.
Her husband is Lawrence "Larry" Arancio, a writer and acting chair for the CAP21 program
who has also taught at the HB Studio and Columbia College Chicago.
Arancio has worked with Lady Gaga as her acting coach.
Dowd and Arancio met while students in Chicago, Arancio being from New York City.
They have three children, Liam, Emily, and Trust, and reside in New York City.
Dowd is a foster care advocate.
Filmography References
External links Ann Dowd at the Internet Movie Database
Ann Dowd at the Internet Broadway Database Ann Dowd at the Internet Off-Broadway Database