Kelly McGillis
| Kelly McGillis | |
|---|---|
 McGillis at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival | |
| Born |
Kelly Ann McGillis July 9, 1957 Newport Beach, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Juilliard School |
| Occupation | Actress, Producer, Teacher, Restaurateur |
| Years active | 1983–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Boyd Black (m. 1979; div. 1981) Fred Tillman (m. 1989; div. 2002) |
| Partner(s) | Melanie Leis (2010–2011) civil union |
| Children | 2 |
Kelly Ann McGillis (born July 9, 1957)[1] is an American actress. She has found fame for her acting roles in several films since the 1980s including: her role as Rachel Lapp in Witness (1985) with Harrison Ford, for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations, the role of Charlie in the huge Blockbuster hit Top Gun (1986) with Tom Cruise, and the role of attorney Kathryn Murphy in The Accused (1988), with Jodie Foster.
Early
Kelly McGillis was born July 9, 1957, in Newport Beach, California, the daughter of Virginia Joan (née Snell), a homemaker, and Dr. Donald Manson McGillis, a general practitioner of medicine.[2][3]
McGillis was raised in Los Angeles, and attended the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, California.[4] After graduating high school in 1979, she moved to New York City to study acting at the Juilliard School,[5] where she graduated in 1983.[4][6] While at Juilliard she performed in William Congreve's Love for Love, directed by John Bletchley.[7]
Career
Her breakout role was that of an Amish mother in the 1985 film Witness with Harrison Ford, for which she received Golden Globe and BAFTA award nominations. Her next high-profile role was that of flight instructor Charlie in the 1986 fighter-pilot film Top Gun with Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer. After 1988's The Accused, she appeared in Cat Chaser with Peter Weller, a film she despised and which discouraged her from pursuing an acting career.[8][9] McGillis appeared in dozens of television and film roles throughout the 1990s before taking a break from acting for a few years.
In 1992, Ms. McGillis plays a Ziegfeld Follies showgirl who becomes Babe Ruth's (played by John Goodman) second wife. She prepared for the role by reading Billie Burke's autobiography about her career with the Follies, "With a Feather on My Nose."[10]
The featured actor has always, however, had a love of the stage, which was nurtured by her years at Juilliard. Since her graduation, McGillis has found time on a regular basis to perform live theatre – classics by Chekov, Shaw, Ibsen, Shakespeare and O’Neill. She has often appeared in starring roles with the prestigious Shakespeare Theatre of Washington, DC.[11]
In 2004, she appeared in the stage play The Graduate as Mrs. Robinson, touring the United States. She began working in television again in 2006, then in 2007, she joined the cast of Showtime's The L Word for its fifth season. McGillis starred in a Pasadena Playhouse stage production of Little Foxes by Lillian Hellman in May 2009, co-starring with Julia Duffy.
She had a role in the 2010 vampire film Stake Land,[12] directed by Jim Mickle.[13] She stars alongside Nick Damici, Connor Paolo and Danielle Harris.[14] McGillis was featured in a breast cancer docu-drama titled 1 a Minute, released in 2010.[15] She also appeared in a production of Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally, which toured the United Kingdom in 2010.[16] She starred in Ti West's 2011 thriller Innkeepers.[17]
Personal life
McGillis married Boyd Black in 1979. They divorced in 1981.
In February 1982, McGillis and her live-in girlfriend were assaulted, verbally abused, and raped at knifepoint by two men who broke into their New York apartment. One of the rapists was 15-year-old Leroy Johnson, who was on the run from juvenile detention.[18] This experience encouraged the actress to pursue her film role as the lawyer who supports Jodie Foster's character in The Accused.[19]
She married Fred Tillman in 1989, and they had two daughters: Kelsey and Sonora. The couple divorced in 2002. She also has four grandchildren.
McGillis came out as a lesbian in April 2009 during an interview with SheWired.[20][21] McGillis said that coming to terms with her sexual orientation has been an ongoing process since age 12, and she was long convinced that God was punishing her for being homosexual with the aforementioned rape incident.[20][21] In 2010, McGillis entered into a civil union with Melanie Leis, a Philadelphia-based sales executive; she and McGillis met in 2000 when Leis was a bartender at the Kellys' Caribbean Bar Grill & Brewery in Key West, Florida, which she owned with her then-husband.[22] Leis and McGillis broke up in 2011.
McGillis worked full-time with drug addicts and alcoholics at Seabrook House Drug Alcohol Rehab Center, a rehabilitation center in Bridgeton, New Jersey, when she and Leis shared a home in Collingswood.[23][24]
McGillis currently lives in Hendersonville, North Carolina. She teaches acting at The New York Studio for Stage and Screen in Asheville.[25]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Reuben, Reuben | Geneva Spofford | |
| 1985 | Witness | Rachel | |
| 1986 | Top Gun | Charlotte Blackwood | |
| 1987 | Unsettled Land | Anda | |
| 1987 | Made in Heaven | Annie Packert / Ally Chandler | |
| 1988 | House on Carroll Street, TheThe House on Carroll Street | Emily | |
| 1988 | Accused, TheThe Accused | Kathryn Murphy | |
| 1989 | Rabbit Ears: Thumbelina | Storyteller | Video short |
| 1989 | Winter People | Collie Wright | |
| 1989 | Cat Chaser | Mary DeBoya | |
| 1991 | Grand Isle | Edna Pontellier | |
| 1992 | Babe, TheThe Babe | Claire Hodgson Ruth | |
| 1994 | North | Amish Mom | |
| 1998 | Painted Angels | Nettie | |
| 1998 | Ground Control | Susan Stratton | |
| 1999 | At First Sight | Jennie Adamson | |
| 1999 | Settlement, TheThe Settlement | Ellie / Fake Barbara | |
| 2000 | Monkey's Mask, TheThe Monkey's Mask | Prof. Diana Maitland | |
| 2001 | No One Can Hear You | Trish Burchall | |
| 2001 | Morgan's Ferry | Vonnie Carpenter | |
| 2007 | Supergator | Kim Taft | Video |
| 2010 | Stake Land | Sister | |
| 2011 | What Could Have Been | Margaret | |
| 2011 | Innkeepers, TheThe Innkeepers | Leanne Rease-Jones | |
| 2013 | We Are What We Are | Marge | |
| 2013 | Tio Papi | Elizabeth Warden | |
| 2013 | Grand Street | Isabelle | Post-production |
| 2015 | Blue | Ms. Hutcherson |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Sweet Revenge | Katherine Dennison Breen | TV film |
| 1984 | One Life to Live | Glenda Livingston | TV series |
| 1985 | Live from the Lincoln Center | Host | Episode: "Juilliard at 80" |
| 1985 | Private Sessions | Jennifer Clles | TV film |
| 1986 | Santabear's First Christmas | Narrator (voice) | TV film |
| 1987 | Santabear's High Flying Adventure | Missy Bear (voice) | TV short |
| 1992 | Perry Mason: The Case of the Fatal Framing | Mrs. Winston Hope | TV film |
| 1993 | Bonds of Love | Rose Parks | TV film |
| 1994 | In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness | Susie Lynch | TV film |
| 1995 | Dark Eyes | Mila McGann | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1995 | Remember Me | Menly Nichols | TV film |
| 1996 | We the Jury | Alyce Bell | TV film |
| 1997 | Third Twin, TheThe Third Twin | Dr. Jean "Jeannie" Ferrami | TV film |
| 1998 | Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister | Jamie Marshall | TV film |
| 1998 | Perfect Prey | Audrey Macleah | TV film |
| 2000 | Wild Thornberrys, TheThe Wild Thornberrys | Winema (voice) | Episode: "Pack of Thornberrys" |
| 2000 | Outer Limits, TheThe Outer Limits | Nicole Whitley | Episode: "Final Appeal" |
| 2000 | Buzz Lightyear of Star Command | Gorgeous Woman (voice) | Episode: "Planet of the Lost" |
| 2006 | Cold Shoulder | TV film | |
| 2006 | Black Widower | Nancy Westveld | TV film |
| 2008 | L Word, TheThe L Word | Col. Gillian Davis | Episodes: "Lesbians Gone Wild", "Lay Down the Law" |
| 2014 | Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio | Bertha Troyler | TV film |
| 2014 | Z Nation | Helen | Episode: "Sisters of Mercy" |
TRIVIA
- Owner of restaurant "Kelly's Caribbean Bar Grill &Brewery" in Key West, Florida. Historic buildings located at birthplace of Pan American World Airways.
- Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1984" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 36.
- Wanted to play the role of "Kathryn Murphy", the district attorney in The Accused (1988), because she and her roommate were assaulted and raped by two men in their apartment in 1982.
- Claimed that she was a lonely, overweight adolescent.
- Sisters: Karen (b. July 1959) and Kathleen (b. August 1961).
- Was fired from the film Bachelor Party (1984) allegedly because the producers thought she wasn't pretty or sexy enough.
- Kelly McGillis actually had to return to employment waiting tables after having been a prominent character in an Oscar nominated film (her first movie, Reuben, Reuben: ).
- Auditioned for the role of Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct (1992).
- In April, 2009 Kelly McGillis confirmed long-held rumors that she's a lesbian, according to an interview on the website SheWired.
- Is also a professional counselor, primarily concerning substance abuse.
- Gave birth to her 1st child at age 32, a daughter Kelsey Lauren Tillman on May 24, 1990. Child's father is her 2nd husband, Fred Tillman.
- Gave birth to her 2nd child at age 35, a daughter Sonora Ashley on April 10, 1993. Child's father is her 2nd husband, Fred Tillman.
- She has English, Welsh, Scots-Irish (Northern Irish), and German ancestry.
References
- ↑ According to the State of California. California Birth Index, 1905-1995. Center for Health Statistics, California Department of Health Services, Sacramento, California. At Ancestry.com
- ↑ "Kelly McGillis Biography (1957-)". filmreference.com.
- ↑ "Miss Snell Picks Date". Los Angeles Times. December 10, 1955.
- 1 2 Stark, John (February 18, 1985). "Kelly McGillis Plays the Amish Love of Harrison Ford in Witness—and Kisses Waitressing Goodbye". People.
- ↑ McGillis, Kelly (November 14, 1988). "Memoir of a Brief Time in Hell". People.
- ↑ Cruz, Alicia (May 23, 2011). "'Top Gun' actress Kelly McGillis working for N.J. rehab, enjoying life". NewJerseyNewsRoom.com.
- ↑ Stotsky 2000, p. 262.
- ↑ Hasted, Nick (March 29, 2001). "Kelly McGillis: The star who threw herself to earth". The Independent. Archived from the original on October 24, 2011.
- ↑ Davis, Steven Paul (2001). The A-Z of Cult Films and Film-makers. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-8704-6.
- ↑ Gerstel, Judy (April 26, 1992). "Kelly McGillis takes 'vacation' with 'The Babe'".
- ↑ The featured actor has always, however, had a love of the stage, which was nurtured by her years at Juilliard. Since her graduation, McGillis has found time on a regular basis to perform live theatre – classics by Chekov, Shaw, Ibsen, Shakespeare and O’Neill. She has often appeared in starring roles with the prestigious Shakespeare Theatre of Washington, DC.
- ↑ Kelly McGillis a Top Gun in Stake Land
- ↑ Massive Set Visit Report: A Trip to 'Stake Land'
- ↑ Badass Stake Land Teaser
- ↑ "Mcg - Indian Star Rallies Celebrity Support For Cancer Movie", Oct 2009
- ↑ Dreamwidth Studios, Elisa. "Elisa - My reviews and Ramblings LGBT reviews and ramblings since 2006 Kelly McGillis & Melanie Leis".
- ↑ First Images from Ti West's The Innkeepers
- ↑ "Revealed: How rape made Top Gun star Kelly McGillis walk away from Hollywood". Mail Online. 2 October 2010.
- ↑ Scott, Paul. "Revealed: How rape made Top Gun star Kelly McGillis walk away from Hollywood". DailyMail.co.uk.
- 1 2 Jarchow, Boo (April 30, 2009). "Kelly McGillis Says She's Gay on SheWired's 'Girl Rock'". SheWired. Here Media.
- 1 2 Broverman, Neal (April 30, 2009). "Top Gun Star Comes Out: Not Tom". The Advocate. Archived from the original on May 2, 2009.
- ↑ Schwartz, Paula (September 15, 2010). "Kelly McGillis, Melanie Leis". The New York Times.
- ↑ Nutt, Amy Ellis (April 18, 2011). "Kelly McGillis traded Hollywood for Collingswood - and a contented existence". The Star-Ledger. pp. 23, 25. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ↑ Seabrook House web site
- ↑ http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/kelly-mcgillis-recalls-top-gun-love-scene-lot-215315250.html
Bibliography
- Stotsky, Sandra (2000). What's at Stake in the K-12 Standards Wars. Peter Lang International Academic Publishers. ISBN 978-0-82044-490-1.
External links
- Kelly McGillis at AllMovie
- Kelly McGillis at TCM Movie Database
- Kelly McGillis at the Internet Movie Database
- Kelly McGillis at Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Kelly McGillis in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
- Kelly McGillis at Rotten Tomatoes
- Kelly's Caribbean Bar & Grill at Yelp
- Kelly's Caribbean Bar & Grill at TripAdvisor
|