Who is Dana Ivey?
An actress known for her support but striking roles, Dana Ivey has over 65 acting credits to her name, and besides her movie and television work, she’s well-known for her stage career. Dana was five times nominated for The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre (Tony Award), and won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play.
Movie lovers perhaps know her best for her roles in “The Adams Family”, “Sabrina”, and “Rush Hour 3”, while television viewers have seen her as Eleanor Standard on “Easy Street”.
If you want to know more about her, let us introduce you to this talented and versatile actress.
Early life, family, and education
Dana Robins Ivey was born in Atlanta, Georgia USA, on 12 August 1941. She was raised by her mother, Mary Nell Ivey Santacroce, who was also an actress, known for her role in “Driving Miss Daisy”, and by her father Hugh Daugherty Ivey, who was a professor at Georgia Tech University.
When her parents divorced, Dana and her younger brother John, moved to live with their mother and her second husband, Dante Santacroce. From this marriage, Dana has a half-brother, Eric.
Speaking of her love for acting, Dana had an interest in performing from an early age, and aged just six, she decided what she wanted to be when she grew-up.
Dana attended Rollins College, in Florida, from where she earned a Fullbright grant and went on to study drama at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, (LAMDA) in England.
Broadway career
Prior to her Broadway debut in 1981, Dana worked as a director of Atlanta’s DramaTech from 1974 until 1977. Before she moved to New York City, she made numerous appearances in Canadian and American stage productions.
Her first major role on the Broadway stage was in the play “Present Laughter” by Noel Coward, for which she won the Clarence Derwent Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play. Her first Tony Award nomination came in 1984, when she apeared in “Sunday in the Park with George” by Stephen Sondheim.
Concurrently with her movie and television career, Dana continued playing in the theatre, and she had numerous roles. Most recently she was seen in the off-Broadway production of “Admissions” by Joshua Harmon, in 2018.
Roles in movies
Dana made her movie debut in the 1982 TV movie “Macbeth”, followed by her role in “Explorers” in 1985. In the same year, she was cast to play Miss Millie in “The Color Purple”, starring Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Oprah Winfrey. This drama, about an African-American woman who struggled to find her identity after being abused by her father and many other persons, has won 14 awards and had 23 other nominations, including 11 for Oscars.
In the following years, among many other movies, Dana was seen in “Another Woman” (1988) and “Postcards from the Edge” (1990) before she was cast to play Margaret Alford in “The Addams Family”, which was nominated for the Oscar for Best Costume Design in 1991.
Next, Dana had a supporting role as a Clerk Desk in “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”, starring Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern.
Some of Dana’s notable roles were in the 1993 movie “The Adventures of Huck Finn”, “Sleepless in Seattle”, and “Addams Family Values”, and then two years later, she was seen in “The Scarlet Letter” and “Sabrina”.
In the early 2000s, Dana acted in “Orange County”, “Two Weeks Notice”, and “Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blondie”. In 2006, she was seen as Betty in “A Very Serious Person”, followed in 2007 by her role as Sister Agnus in the action movie “Rush Hour 3”, starring Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and Max von Sydow,
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Dana had numerous supporting roles during her career, and we will mention some of her most notable such as her role as Mrs Paige in the 2011 movie “Muhammad Ali’s Greatest Fight”, a biographical drama about the life of one of America’s greatest boxers after he refused to fight in the Vietnam War, and which was nominated for two Primetime Emmys.
In the 2018 action comedy “Ocean’s Eight”, starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchet and Anne Hathaway, Dana was seen as Diana, and this is her most recent movie role.
The interesting fact about Dana is that many people think that she starred in “Harry Potter” movies, however, the truth is that she and Maggie Smith (Professor Minerva McGonagall) resemble each other, thus people often mistook Dana for Maggie.
Roles in series
Dana made her first television appearance in an episode of the 1962 series “The Beachcomber”, and her next role came in 1981 when she portrayed a Clinic Nurse in the series “Another World”.
In the following years, Dana mostly guest starred in an episode or two of numerous series, and then from 1986 until 1987, she was seen in 22 episodes of the comedy-drama “Easy Street”.
Dana’s next notable television role came in 1995, cast to play Margie Bolander in “Homicide: Life on the Street”. This mystery crime-drama followed the story of a fictional unit of the Baltimore Police Department, and the series had 82 award nominations and won 25, including four Primetime Emmys.
Another significant role for Dana was her portrayal of Mrs McGarry in the crime-drama series “Boardwalk Empire”, which was broadcast from 2010 until 2014, and among many other awards, won 20 Primetime Emmys.
Love life and relationships
Dana is one of the rare celebrities who’ve managed to keep her personal life under wraps. Nevertheless, there were some rumors concerning her sexual orientation and her love life, but she hasn’t spoken about these assumptions.
There is no record of her dating, marrying or having children, so as of September 2022, it’s assumed that she’s single.
Where is she now?
Since Dana is 81 years old, it isn’t surprising that she has kind of paused her acting career, and judging by her social media platforms posts, she rather enjoys visiting theaters instead playing in one. Her fans can follow her on Twitter and Instagram, on which she posts updates almost daily.
Net worth
If you wondered about the wealth this actress accumulated during her more than 50-year-long career, according to sources, Dana’s net worth has been estimated at over $3 million.
