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Ellen Barkin
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Offbeat leading lady with looks to match her choice of roles: Short and slender (but curvy), with narrow eyes, bent nose, and crooked mouth, Barkin is anything but beautiful judged in the "traditional" Hollywood manner. But she exudes sensuality and passion, which accounts in large degree for the success she's achieved in a wide variety of films released during the last decade. Barkin first gained attention as a neglected young wife in Diner (1982), following that performance with similarly fine turns in Tender Mercies, Daniel and Eddie and the Cruisers (all 1983). She was a delightfully oddball female lead in the loopy The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension (1984), and raised eyebrows with her steamy stint as a feisty prosecutor in The Big Easy (1987). Since then, Barkin has essayed several roles calling for frank sexuality, in the hopelessly muddled Siesta (1987, with thenhusband Gabriel Byrne), the gritty thriller Sea of Love (1989), and the smarmy sexchange comedy Switch (1991). A teaming with Jack Nicholson promised much but delivered the misfire Man Trouble (1992) instead. She was outstanding as the errant mother in search of a perfect husband in This Boy's Life (1993), appeared with Byrne in Into the West (also 1993), and starred in Bad Company (1995) and Wild Bill (also 1995, as Calamity Jane).

Ellen Barkin stared in: