Amy Madigan Career Summary:
Occupational Inheritance:
Social Class:
nationality: US
Education:
Training:
First Film: Love Child (1982); age 32
First Oscar Nomination: Twice in a Lifetime (1985); age 35
First Film and First Nom: 40 Years
Other Oscar Nominations: Weapons 92025)
Other Awards: Emy
Genre (specialties):
Collaborators:
Last Film:
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Career Output:
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Marriage: Ed Harris
Politics:
Retirement:
Death:
Amy Madigan (born September 11, 1950) has acted on stage and screen and has received nominations for an Oscar Award and an Emmy Award.
She has been married to actor Ed Harris since 1983.
Madigan made her film debut in the drama Love Child (1982).
For playing a woman in a difficult marriage in the drama Twice in a Lifetime (1985), Madigan earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
She has also acted in Love Letters (1984), Alamo Bay (1985), Nowhere to Hide (1987), Uncle Buck (1989), Field of Dreams (1989), Female Perversions (1996), Pollock (2000), and Gone Baby Gone (2007).
After a lack of “meaningful roles,” she gained newfound attention for her performances in The Hunt (2020) and the horror film Weapons (2025).
On TV, Madigan portrayed Sarah Weddington in the TV film Roe vs. Wade (1989), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
She also took roles in the HBO series Carnivàle (2003–2005), Grey’s Anatomy (2008–2009), and Fringe (2009).
On stage, she has acted in the Off-Broadway production of The Lucky Spot (1987), for which she was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play, and a 1992 Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire in the role of Stella Kowalski.
Amy Marie Madigan was born September 11, 1950 in Chicago to Dolores (née Hanlon; 1921–1992), an administrative assistant and amateur actress who performed in community theatre, and John J. Madigan (1918–2012), a journalist who worked for Newsweek and provided political commentary on programs such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation; he interviewed a range of political figures, from Richard Nixon to Martin Luther King Jr., and hosted his own show with WBBM (AM).
Madigan is Catholic and third-generation Irish American. She has two brothers, Jack and Jim.
During high school, Madigan performed in school plays.
She attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where she earned a B.A. in philosophy in 1972.
She moved to Los Angeles in 1974. She later studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
In the 1980s, Madigan transitioned from a singing career to acting, and studied at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute.
Her first television role was Adele on an episode of Hart to Hart in 1981; she then had role in the television film Crazy Times.
The following year, she made her film debut as Terry Jean Moore in Love Child.
In 1983, she starred as Alison Ransom in the television film The Day After.
In 1984, she portrayed McCoy in the film Streets of Fire, and had a supporting role as Viola Kelsey in Places in the Heart.
In 1985, she starred in the TV film The Laundromat, written by Marsha Norman, opposite Carol Burnett. She won a CableACE Award for her performance as Deedee Johnson. She then co-starred as Glory Scheer, with her husband Ed Harris, in Alamo Bay, directed by Louis Malle.
Also in 1985, she portrayed Sunny Mackenzie-Sobel in Twice in a Lifetime, for which she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
Madigan made her Off-Broadway debut in 1987, portraying Sue Jack Tiller in “The Lucky Spot” by Beth Henley, for which she won Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play.
In 1988, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her performance in The Prince of Pennsylvania.
That year, she performed in A Lie of the Mind at the Mark Taper Forum.
In 1989, she played the wife of Kevin Costner’s lead character in Field of Dreams, which was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
She was cast as Chanice Kobolowski, the girlfriend of John Candy’s character, in the John Hughes film Uncle Buck.
Also in 1989, she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in Miniseries or Movie for her performance as Sarah Weddington in the TV film Roe vs. Wade.
In 1990, Madigan starred opposite Paula Kelly in Stevie Wants To Play The Blues by Eduardo Machado, for which she won a Drama-Logue Award.[18] In 1991, she starred opposite Olympia Dukakis in the Emmy-nominated television film Lucky Day. She made her Broadway debut in the role of Stella Kowalski in A Streetcar Named Desire in 1992, opposite Jessica Lange and Alec Baldwin, and was nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Debut Performance. Madigan next appeared opposite Timothy Hutton in The Dark Half (1993), a film adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name, directed by George A. Romero.[19]
In 1996, she and Harris produced and starred in the television film Riders of the Purple Sage. She then starred with Tilda Swinton in Female Perversions. In 1997, she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her performance as Brett Armerson in the film Loved. In 2000, she portrayed Peggy Guggenheim in the film Pollock, starring her husband, which he also directed and produced. In 2002 she had a supporting role as Reggie Fluty, the officer who responded to aid the dying Matthew Shepard in the television film The Laramie Project. In 2003–2005, Madigan had the supporting role of Iris Crowe/Irina, sister of villain Justin Crowe, in HBO’s series Carnivále. In 2005, she starred as Lori Lansky in Winter Passing, directed by Adam Rapp.[20] The following year, she had a supporting role as Patricia Carver, a CIA headquarters analyst, in the Emmy-winning television film The Path to 9/11. In 2007, she played the sister-in-law of Helene (Amy Ryan), Beatrice “Bea” McCready, in the film Gone Baby Gone, directed by Ben Affleck. In 2008, Madigan played Dr. Katharine Wyatt on several episodes of ABC’s medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy.[21] She then guest-starred on TNT’s crime drama series Saving Grace as Gretchen Lagardi.
When talking about her career in a 2010 interview with The Los Angeles Times, journalist Susan King described Madigan’s career writing, “Like so many actresses older than 50, [she] has had difficulties finding meaningful roles.”. Madigan opined about her career and the lack of roles for actresses her age saying, “My husband works a lot more than I do…You know what the situation is. The reality is you have to make your peace with it sometimes even when you have a depressive day, which I still have.”
In 2011, she guest-starred in the final episode of TNT’s drama series Memphis Beat.[24] Madigan returned to theater in 2015, directing a stage production of Off the King’s Road at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles.[11] In 2016, she starred as Halie in the revival of Sam Shepard’s play Buried Child for The New Group at the Pershing Square Signature Center. It move to the West End’s Trafalgar Studios in November 2016, where Madigan reprised her role.
In 2018, she had a supporting role in the independent drama American Woman opposite Sienna Miller, followed by a supporting role in Scott Cooper’s horror film Antlers (2021), playing a school principal in a small Oregon town plagued by a supernatural entity.
In 2024, Madigan starred as Judge Motley in the independent drama Bull Street, which premiered as the opening night film at the Sarasota Film Fest.
In 2025, she had a pivotal role in Zach Cregger’s horror mystery film Weapons, playing the eccentric and mysterious great-aunt of a young boy whose classmates go missing in his small community.
In a 2025 interview Madigan spoke of her career saying, “Opportunities as an older actress are less and you just hope that something finds you so you can find it. I don’t take it for granted, because you can go up and then you can go all the way down, as we know.”
Madigan has been married to actor Ed Harris since November 21, 1983. They have one daughter. Madigan and Harris have been frequent collaborators during their careers.
Madigan toured the US performing as a vocalist in several rock bands through the 1970s before relocating to Los Angeles.
She also performed as a solo singer and pianist in Dallas, Texas in the late 1970s and early 1980. Recounting her career as a singer in a 2015 interview, Madigan said: “I had been working in [music] for a very long time. I am not a writer, so I wasn’t generating my own personal material. I just felt myself kind of hitting the same brick wall… I miss music every day. It’s very visceral and emotional. You can pack something into three minutes, and you can’t do that in any other medium.”
Since 2016, Madigan has served on the board of trustees at Reed College.
Acting credits
Film
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1982 Love Child Terry Jean Moore [35]
1983 Love Letters Wendy [35]
1984 Places in the Heart Viola Kelsey [35]
Streets of Fire McCoy [35]
1985 Alamo Bay Glory Scheer [35]
Twice in a Lifetime Sunny Mackenzie-Sobel [35]
1986 Zeisters Woman at Funeral Cameo appearance
1987 Nowhere to Hide Barbara Cutter
1988 The Prince of Pennsylvania Carla Headlee [35]
1989 Field of Dreams Annie Kinsella [35]
Uncle Buck Chanice Kobolowski [35]
1993 The Dark Half Liz Beaumont [35]
1996 Female Perversions Maddie Stephens [35]
1997 Loved Brett Armerson
1998 With Friends Like These… Hannah DiMartino [35]
2000 Pollock Peggy Guggenheim [15]
2002 A Time for Dancing Jackie Russell [15]
2004 The Discontents Beth Walker
Admissions Martha Brighton [15]
In the Land of Milk and Money Arlyne
2005 Winter Passing Lori Lansky [35]
2007 Gone Baby Gone Bea McCready [15]
Doppelgänger Victor’s Mom
2010 Once Fallen Rose Ryan Also executive producer
Virginia Roseanna Tipton [35]
2011 That’s What I Am Principal Evelyn Kelner
2012 Future Weather Grandma Greta [35]
2013 The Lifeguard Justine London
Sweetwater Madame Bovary
2014 Shirin in Love Rachel Harson
Frontera Olivia McNary [35]
2015 Grey Lady Lola [36]
2016 Sensitivity Training Nancy Wolfe
Rules Don’t Apply Mrs. Bransford
2017 Stuck Sue
A Crooked Somebody Joyce Vaughn
2018 American Woman Margaret “Peggy” Callahan [27]
2019 The Last Full Measure Donna Burr
2020 The Hunt Miranda / “Ma”
2021 Antlers Principal Ellen Booth [28]
2023 Go for Grandma Grandma Short film
2024 Bull Street Mary-Ann
Brooklyn, Minnesota Gail
2025 Rebuilding Bess Hadley
Weapons Aunt Gladys Lily
