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Elizabeth McGovern (born July 18, 1961) is an American movie and theater actress. She was born in Evanston, Illinois. Later her family moved to Los Angeles, where her father, a university professor, accepted a position with UCLA.

McGovern started acting in plays in high school. Agent Joan Scott saw her performance in The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder, was impressed by her talent, and recommended that she take acting lessons. McGovern followed her advice and studied, first at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and then at The Juilliard School in New York City.

While studying at this school, she was offered in 1980 a part in her first movie, Ordinary People, in which she played the girlfriend of troubled teenager Timothy Hutton. It was also Robert Redford's first film as director. The movie won four Oscars. The next year she earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the 19th-century actress Evelyn Nesbit in the movie Ragtime. The following years she completed her education as an actress at the American Conservatory Theatre and at The Juilliard School, and began to act in theater plays, first off-Broadway and later in famous theaters. Since then she has continued performing on stage between film assignments rather than concentrating on becoming a film star. As a movie actress, big-eyed and slightly baby-faced McGovern has given preference to eccentric roles over those parts typically tailored for actresses of her age. Besides cinema and theater, she has also played in several television films.

In 1992 she married English producer and director Simon Curtis, with whom she currently lives in London, together with their two daughters.

  The Truth (2006) .... Donna
"Three Moons Over Milford"
- Pilot (2006) TV Episode .... Janet Montgomery
"The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire" (2003) TV Series .... Helen Shaw
Buffalo Soldiers (2001) .... Mrs. Berman
... aka Army Go Home (Germany)
... aka Buffalo Soldiers - Army Go Home! (Germany: DVD title)
"Hawk" (2001) (mini) TV Series .... Susie Hawkins
... aka Hawkins (UK)
"Table 12"
- Preserves (2001) TV Episode .... Mel
The Flamingo Rising (2001) (TV) .... Edna Lee
The House of Mirth (2000) .... Mrs. Carry Fisher
... aka Chez les heureux du monde (France)
... aka Haus Bellomont (Germany)
Manila (2000) .... Elizabeth
Thursday the 12th (2000) (TV) .... Candice Hopper

The Scarlet Pimpernel and the Kidnapped King (1999) (TV) .... Marguerite Blakeney
The Scarlet Pimpernel Meets Madame Guillotine (1999) (TV) .... Marguerite Blakeney
"The Scarlet Pimpernel" (1999) (mini) TV Series .... Lady Marguerite Blakeney
The Misadventures of Margaret (1998) .... Till Turner
... aka Folies de Margaret, Les (France)
The Man with Rain in His Shoes (1998) .... Diane
... aka If Only... (Australia) (France) (UK)
... aka Lieber gestern als nie (Germany)
... aka Lluvia en los zapatos (Spain)
... aka Twice Upon a Yesterday (USA)
Clover (1997) (TV) .... Sara Kate
The Wings of the Dove (1997) .... Susan 'Susie' Stringham
The Summer of Ben Tyler (1996) (TV) .... Celia Rayburn
Broken Glass (1996) (TV) .... Margaret Hyman
"Tales from the Crypt"
... aka HBO's Tales from the Crypt
- Horror in the Night (1996) TV Episode
"If Not for You" (1995) TV Series .... Jessie Kent
Broken Trust (1995) (TV) .... Janice Dillon
... aka Court of Honor
Wings of Courage (1995) .... Noelle Guillaumet
... aka Guillaumet, les ailes du courage (France)
The Favor (1994) .... Emily
... aka The Favour (UK)
... aka The Indecent Favour (Australia)
The Changeling (1994) (TV) .... Beatrice-Joanna
King of the Hill (1993) .... Lydia, Prostitute
Tales from Hollywood (1992) (TV) .... Helen Schwartz
Me and Veronica (1992) .... Fanny
"Ashenden" (1991) (mini) TV Series .... Aileen Somerville
Tune in Tomorrow... (1990) .... Elena Quince
... aka Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter
A Shock to the System (1990) .... Stella Anderson
The Handmaid's Tale (1990) .... Moira
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990) (TV) .... Vicki

Johnny Handsome (1989) .... Donna McCarty
She's Having a Baby (1988) .... Kristen 'Kristy' Briggs
The Bedroom Window (1987) .... Denise
Native Son (1986) .... Mary Dalton
"Faerie Tale Theatre"
... aka Shelley Duvall's Faerie Tale Theatre (USA)
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1984) TV Episode .... Snow White
Racing with the Moon (1984) .... Caddie Winger
Once Upon a Time in America (1984) .... Deborah Gelly
... aka C'era una volta in America (Italy)
Lovesick (1983) .... Chloe Allen
Ragtime (1981) .... Evelyn Nesbit
Ordinary People (1980) .... Jeannine Pratt

"California Fever"
- Episode dated 2 October 1979 (1979) TV Episode .... Lisa
Last Year's Model (1979)