Date of Birth : Jul 25th 1961
The granddaughter of actor Melvyn Douglas and Congresswoman Helen Gahagan, Illeana Douglas was born in Massachusetts. From a young age, Douglas knew she wanted to act and began her initial studies at the prestigious Neighbourhood Playhouse in New York. As a teen, she performed in numerous plays and did stand-up comedy.
The saucer-eyed actress made her film debut in the Shelley Long comedy Hello Again (1987). While working as a publicist’s assistant in NYC, she secured the role of a blood-curdling screamer in Martin Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). This led to further work with the bushy-browed director, most notably Goodfellas (1990) and 1991’s Cape Fear (1991).
Although Douglas was again praised for her workhere portraying a Carole King-like singer/songwriterthe film did poorly among critics and at the box office. The actress went on to do a number of made-for-TV films, including the satirical Weapons of Mass Distraction in 1997. In 1999 she had a full plate, doing both television work (appearing as a prostitute on the Fox series Action) and more film work.