Joan Cusack Biography

Most young actresses would shun being cast as the geeky sidekick, as Joan was early in her career. But the classically trained actress honed her schtick and wound up with a spot on the Saturday Night Live cast (1985-1986). Hollywood fell for Joan's charisma, too, and cast her in Broadcast News, Married to the Mob and Working Girl, for which she earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nod. Ten years later, she earned her second Oscar nod for In & Out, playing a bride-to-be who gets ditched by her outed fiancee. The mom-of-two doesn't take a lot of high-profile roles these days, but keeps busy with steady voice work for animated films, constant guest spots in brother John's films, and the occasional standout supporting showcase, such as 2006's Friends With Money.


1. Joan has appeared in eight films with her brother, John: Class (1983), Sixteen Candles (1984), Grandview, U.S.A. (1984), Broadcast News (1987), Say Anything… (1989), Grosse Pointe Blank (1997), Cradle Will Rock (1999) and High Fidelity (2000)
2. She was the first regular cast member of Saturday Night Live to be nominated for an Academy Award.
3. She starred in her own sitcom, What About Joan on ABC from 2001-2002.
4. Joan is a trained singer, often lending her voice to her film work.
5. She studied acting at the Piven Theater Workshop in Evanston, Illinois.


On type-casting: "There are way more different character roles for men than there are for women. With women, it's usually you're the babe or you're the supportive friend, sort of brassy and obnoxious, cracking jokes. I'm not the babe."


Husband: Richard Burke, attorney; married 1993-present
Son: Dylan John Burke, born June 1997
Son: Miles, born July 2000


1989: Academy Award nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Working Girl

1998: Academy Award nomination: Best Actress in a Supporting Role, In & Out.
1998: Golden Globe nomination: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture, In & Out.




Toy Story 2 in 3-D - (2010) - Voice
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl - (2008) - Actor
Martian Child - (2007) - Actor
Friends With Money - (2006) - Actor
Peep and the Big Wide World - (2005) - Narrator
View all films


http://www.angelfire.com/in/joanordie/