Illeana Douglas

Illeana Hesselberg ( ; born July 25, 1961), known professionally as Illeana Douglas, is an American actress and filmmaker. Following her screen debut with a small part in Hello Again, she went on to appear in a variety of mainstream and independent features throughout the 1990s, such as Goodfellas (1990), Cape Fear (1991), Alive (1993), To Die For (1995), Grace of My Heart (1996), Chasing Amy, Picture Perfect (both 1997), Happy, Texas; Message in a Bottle; and Stir of Echoes (all 1999). Her other credits include The Next Best Thing (2000), Ghost World (2001), Dummy (2002), Factory Girl (2006), She's Funny That Way (2014), and Return to Sender (2015).

Outside film, Douglas won the Satellite Award for Best Actress for her starring role as Wendy Ward on the short-lived sitcom Action (1999). She appeared as Angela on the first season of Six Feet Under (2001), receiving a nomination for the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress, and played the recurring role of Gina Bernardo on Law & Order: SVU (2002–2003). Her other work includes Easy to Assemble (2008–2012), a web series she created, wrote, and starred in. Douglas appears regularly on Turner Classic Movies, hosting specials focused on female filmmakers throughout history.

Early life Douglas was born on July 25, 1961 in New Haven, Connecticut, the daughter of Joan Douglas (née Georgescu), a schoolteacher, and Gregory Hesselberg (1926–2017), a painter. Douglas's father was the son of Hollywood actor Melvyn Douglas and his wife, the artist Rosalind Hightower. Douglas had two older brothers, Stefan Gregor Hesselberg (1958–2007), a technician in the histology laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who also trained racehorses in Verona, Italy, and Erik Hesselberg, a journalist.

Douglas grew up primarily in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, and has said that she was also raised in many other cities, in Massachusetts where her father lived, Connecticut where her mother lived, and New York, where her extended family lived. During her childhood she spent time going back and forth between relatives during the summer. Douglas said that her parents were heavily influenced by the 1970s hippie culture—her father especially by the movie Easy Rider. They had a loose parenting style and did not pressure her to go to college. Comedy albums were popular in her family. They would put on dramatic interpretations and performances.

Douglas's mother's side is Roman Catholic from Astoria, Queens. Her maternal grandmother worked in the restaurant at Gertz department store in Astoria; her maternal grandfather was a welder. In the 1940s, Douglas' grandfather and Peter Sellers both served in the military during WWII and met in Burma. In the 1960s, the two men reconnected in London and talked about their time together in the war.

Douglas notes the contrast between her working-class Italian roots and the glamorous Hollywood world of her paternal side of the family. Famous people including Myrna Loy, Gore Vidal, Gloria Steinem, politicians, writers, and others were often present, in a salon-like environment. Douglas has said it took her a long time to reconcile the different lifestyles she was exposed to in her youth. She identifies more with the Italian side of her family, and has said that she developed more of their "rhythms and ways" due to the amount of time she spent with them in Queens. Douglas said that Lorraine Bracco took Douglas under her wing during the shooting of Scorsese's Goodfellas, helping her to find an agent. It was then that Douglas became Scorsese's girlfriend.

Douglas appeared in Scorsese's Cape Fear (1991) – one of four Scorsese films in which she has appeared. After Cape Fear, she had several film roles where her character was eventually cut, including in Household Saints, Jungle Fever, and Quiz Show. "It was kind of depressing," she commented.

In 2016, Douglas appeared opposite Sean Astin in the independent feature film, Unleashed.

Television work On television, Douglas appeared in a memorable role as one of Garry Shandling's love interests towards the end of the series, The Larry Sanders Show, in 1998. In 1999, she had a starring role opposite Jay Mohr in the series Action. She played a television executive who started out as a prostitute who had Mohr as a regular customer.

She guest starred on Seinfeld, Frasier and The Drew Carey Show, and has played a public defender on several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2002 and 2003. She appeared in two episodes of the HBO TV series Six Feet Under, both of which earned Emmy nominations for Guest Actress in a Drama. She appeared as Mrs. Ari's sister Marci in the Season 7 finale of Entourage.

In 2006, she starred in the Lifetime TV film Not Like Everyone Else and played herself in Pittsburgh opposite Jeff Goldblum. In 2007, Douglas was added to the cast of Ugly Betty, playing Sheila, an editor for MODE magazine.

Douglas spent time in Sweden shooting a TV show called Welcome to Sweden, which was produced by Amy Poehler and also starred Greg Poehler and Lena Olin. The series was a Swedish-American co-production that aired on Swedish TV as well as on NBC. Douglas said that she had a great deal of autonomy from sponsor IKEA, whose only condition was that the show be suitable for children and families. It was canceled after 4 seasons.

In 2015, Douglas produced and developed a series for Joey Soloway called The Skinny. Douglas said that curating, writing, and working on this series allowed her to use her movie knowledge while making it funny, entertaining, and informative. The series was also in response to active discussions about the gender imbalance in Hollywood. The series will present work by female pioneers like Dorothy Arzner, Alice Guy-Blaché, Agnès Varda, Lina Wertmüller, as well as interviews with Allison Anders, Amy Heckerling, Julie Dash, and others. The series will be a multi-year event, with the first year's focus on women directors from the 1920s to the present. Each night is themed, with programming topics from foreign films to African-American filmmakers.

Other work In Spärhusen, a spinoff series from Easy to Assemble, Douglas plays Beirget Kattsson, a member of a band called Spärhusen, a Swedish pop group. Douglas describes them: "Spärhusen has had their ups and downs over the years. They’ve been in many plane crashes, but they’ve survived and they’re together." At the Walt Disney World Resort in the Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park, Douglas plays Aerosmith's manager in the preshow video for the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster attraction. She later appeared in an Aerosmith music video as Liv Tyler's mother. Douglas and the comedian Sarah Sweet produced and co-starred in a series professional variety shows called The Living Room Show, that is hosted in various Los Angeles living rooms.

In 2015 Douglas published a memoir called I Blame Dennis Hopper which was released through Flatiron Books. In the memoir, Douglas tells about her life via her love for the movies and her exposure to Hollywood through her paternal grandfather Melvyn Douglas.

Personal life From 1989 until 1997, Douglas was in a relationship with director Martin Scorsese.

On May 16, 1998, she married producer and writer Jonathan Axelrod, the stepson of producer George Axelrod; they divorced in 2001. Douglas said that the period after her divorce was difficult both emotionally and financially, and that she relocated from living in Los Angeles to the New York area, where she took classes at her former school, the Neighborhood Playhouse, and worked in theater. She also began writing and directing.

Douglas is a vegetarian. She was named after Princess Ileana of Romania.

Works and publications

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 1987 Hello Again Mother in park 1988 The Last Temptation of Christ Crowd member 1989 New York Stories Paulette's friend 1990 Goodfellas Rosie 1991 Guilty by Suspicion Nan Cape Fear Lori Davis 1993 Alive Liliana Methol Household Saints Evelyn Santangelo Grief Leslie 1994 Quiz Show Woman at book party 1995 Search and Destroy Marie Davenport Judgement Laurel Short To Die For Janice Maretto Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress 1996 Wedding Bell Blues Jasmine Grace of My Heart Denise Waverly 1997 Picture Perfect Darcy O'Neil Hacks Georgia Feckler 1998 The Thin Pink Line Julia Bullock 1999 Flypaper Laura Stir of Echoes Lisa Weil Happy, Texas Doreen Schaefer Message in a Bottle Lina Paul Nominated—Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Band manager Short 2000 The Next Best Thing Elizabeth Ryder 2001 Ghost World Roberta Allsworth 2002 Dummy Heidi Schoichet The New Guy Kiki Pierce The Adventures of Pluto Nash Dr. Mona Zimmer 2003 The Kiss Joyce Rothman Missing Brendan Julie Conroy 2005 Alchemy KJ The Californians Olive Ransom 2006 Factory Girl Diana Vreeland The Bondage Elaine Edwards 2007 Walk the Talk Jill Order Up Waitress Short Osso Bucco Megan Expired Wilman 2008 The Year of Getting to Know Us Christine Jacobson Otis Kate Lawson 2009 April Showers Sally Reedman Life Is Hot in Cracktown Mommy 2010 Spärhusen Plays The Egyptian Beirget Kattson Short 2011 The Green Trish Knots Miriam 2013 Monarch Lindsey Teller Short Chez Upshaw Rita Upshaw Dark Around the Stars Dayton Max Rose Jenny Flowers A Country Christmas Susan Satcher It's Dark Here Linda Tennies 2014 The Boxcar ChildrenMary Moore (voice) Sister Aunt Connie Outlook Not So Good Mom Short She's Funny That Way Judy 2015 All Stars Billie Road Hard Kim Madsen Pearly Gates Karen Weiner Mega Shark Versus Kolossus Dr. Alison Gray Return to Sender Judy 2016 The Late Bloomer Linda Unleashed Monty 2024 In Fidelity Ethel

Television Year Title Role Notes 1995 Homicide: Life on the Street Gina Doolen Episode: "Autofocus" 1995 The Single Guy Martha Episode: "Sister" 1997 Weapons of Mass Distraction Rita Pasco Television movie 1997 Rough Riders Edith Roosevelt Television movie 1997 Bella Mafia Teresa Scorpio Luciano Television movie 1998 Seinfeld Loretta Episode: "The Strongbox" 1998 The Larry Sanders Show Herself 2 episodes 1999 Brother's Keeper Ginny Episode: "Dating the Teacher" 1999 Lansky Anna Lansky Television movie 1999–2000 Action Wendy Ward 13 episodesSatellite Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy 2001 Frasier Mrs. Daly Episode: "Hungry Heart" 2001 The Drew Carey Show Rachel Murray 2 episodes 2001–2005 Six Feet Under Angela 3 episodesNominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series 2002 Point of Origin Kate Television movie 2002–2003 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Gina Bernardo 3 episodes 2006 Crumbs Shelley 3 episodes 2006 Not Like Everyone Else Toni Blackbear Television movie 2006–2007 Shark Gloria Dent 2 episodes 2007 Ugly Betty Sheila 3 episodes 2008 Law & Order: Criminal Intent Beverly Tyson Episode: "Contract" 2010–2011 Entourage Marcie 2 episodes 2011 The Cape Netta Stilton 2 episodes 2011 Chaos Linda Phillips Episode: "Two Percent" 2013 Maron Herself Episode: "Dominatrix" 2013 Drop Dead Diva Dr. Reza Episode: "The Kiss" 2013 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Ruby Banks Episode: "Passed Pawns" 2013 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Alma Episode: "Man on the Moon" 2014–2015 Welcome to Sweden Nancy 6 episodes 2015 Chasing Life Mariann Russo 2 episodes 2016 Modern Family Janet Episode: "Double Click" 2019 The Simpsons New Age Clerk (voice) Episode: "Crystal Blue-Haired Persuasion" 2019 Goliath Rita 7 episodes 2019 All Rise Beatrix Rycroft Episode: "Dripsy" 2020–2021 Shrill Sheila 3 episodes 2022 Search Party Annabelle Episode: "The Gospel of Judas"

Web series Year Title Role Notes 2008–2012 Easy to Assemble Illeana 48 episodes 2010–2011 The Temp Life Eve Randall 5 episodes 2010 The Webventures of Justin and Alden Herself Episode: "1760" 2010 Suite 7 Livvy Episode: "Soulmates" 2016 The Skinny Jacqueline 5 episodes