Laura Linney

 Laura Leggett Linney was born in New York City on February 5, 1964, into a theatre family. Her father, Romulus Linney (a prominent playwright) was her great-grandfather. He was a North Carolina congressman. Miriam Anderson Leggett, her mother, works as a nurse. While she was not born at the house of her father (her parents divorced when she was an infant) Linney's entire life revolved, in part, around her work since the age of. Linney graduated from Brown University in 1986 and studied acting at Juilliard and the Arts Theatre School in Moscow after which she began a professional career on the Broadway stage. She received acclaim for her performances in such plays as "Hedda Gabler" and "Six Degrees of Separation".Linney's film career began in the early 1990s with small roles in Lorenzo's Oil (1992) and Dave (1993). She was offered the role of Mary Anne Singleton in the PBS film adaptations of Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" series. She portrayed the character in Tales of the City (1993), More Tales of the City (1998) and Further Tales of the City (2001). Linney's debut big-screen appearance was as the ex-girlfriend of Richard Gere's character Primal Fear (1996) and her stunning performance earned her praise and more roles. Clint Eastwood selected Linney to portray his daughter, a prominent role in Absolute Power (1997). This was followed by another billing in The Truman Show (1998).