Dana Ivey- Biography

Also Credited As:

Dana Robins Ivey

About Dana Ivey

She settled in NYC in the 1980s, where she made her Broadway debut in Noel Coward's "Present Laughter" and won critical praise (and two OBIE Awards) for creating the roles of Melanie in "Quartermaine's Terms" (1982-83) and the title role of Daisy Werthan in Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning "Driving Miss Daisy" (1986-87). She received two 1984 Supporting Actress Tony nominations for her work on Broadway in the play "Heartbreak Hotel", with Rex Harrison and Amy Irving and in the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine musical "Sunday in the Park With George", with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters.

On the small screen, Ivey made her TV debut in the CBS soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" (1978) and appeared in the primetime NBC miniseries "Little Gloria...Happy at Last" (1982). She went on to be featured in the comedy series "Easy Street" (NBC, 1986-87) and reprised her roles from "Heartbreak House" (1984) "Sunday In the Park With George" (1985) for Showtime/American Playhouse specials. In features, Ivey made a stern if benign mistress to Oprah Winfrey's belligerent-turned-meek character in "The Color Purple" (1985), and had memorable roles in such features as "The Addams Family" (1991) and its 1993 sequel "Addams Family Values", "Home Alone 2: Alone in New York" (1992) and "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993). Ivey also scored as Harrison Ford's tart-tongued secretary in the Sydney Pollack's remake of "Sabrina" (1995).

Family

Brother

John Ivey. Born c. 1945

Father

Hugh Daugherty Ivey. Divorced from Ivey's mother; had taught at Georgia Tech; later worked for the Atomic Energy Commission; died of cancer in the late 1960s

Mother

Mary Nell Santacroce. Appeared in the Georgia production of "Driving Miss Daisy"; taught at Georgia State; died in 1999 of leukemia and bone cancer

Step-Father

Dante Santacroce. Married Ivey's mother in 1957

Education

Rollins College, Winter Park , Florida

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art

Career Milestones

Appeared in regional theaters in US and Canada

Began career with Front Street Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee

Served as Director of Drama Tech at Georgia Institute of Technology

Worked as disc jockey at WGKA-AM in Atlanta, Georgia

1977

Moved to New York City

1978

Made TV debut on the CBS soap opera "Search for Tomorrow"

1982

Earned plaudits for her stage work in "Quartermain's Terms"

1982

Made Broadway debut in "Present Laughter"

1982

TV debut in a miniseries, "Little Gloria...Happy at Last"

1983

First stage role in Shaw's "Heartbreak House"; earned first Tony nomination as featured actress in a play

1984

Earned another Tony Award nomination as featured actress in a musical for "Sunday in the Park with George"

1985

Co-starred with Rosemary Harris in the Broadway drama "Pack of Lies"

1985

Essayed the role of the Countess in the play "The Marriage of Figaro"

1985

Feature debut, "Explorers"

1986

Debut as regular on TV sitcom, "Easy Street"

1987

Originated role of Daisy Werthan in stage play, "Driving Miss Daisy"

1989

Debut in a TV-movie, "Die Laughing"

1991

Had featured role as Margaret, the love interest to Cousin It, in "The Addams Family"

1991

Starred opposite John Mahoney in the first NYC stage revival of "The Subject Was Roses"

1992

Offered an affecting turn as an abusive adoptive parent in the NBC TV-movie "A Child Lost Forever"

1993

Played the Widow Douglas in "The Adventures of Huck Finn"

1993

Reprised role of Margaret in the sequel "Addams Family Values"

1994

Acted in the Off-Broadway play "Kindertransport"

1995

Appeared as Harrison Ford's secretary in the remake of "Sabrina"

1995

Succeeded Eileen Atkins in the role of Leonie in "Indiscretions"

1996

Played the prudish wife of a politician in Christopher Durang's comedy "Sex and Longing"

1997

Starred in Alfred Uhry's award-winning Broadway play "The Last Night of Ballyhoo"

1998

Cast as Ashley Judd's mother in "Simon Birch"

1998

Teamed with Roger Rees in the stage comedy "The Uneasy Chair"

1999

Reunited with Rosemary Harris in the stage play "Waiting in the Wings"

2003

Cast in "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde" as Congresswoman Libby Hauser

2003

Starred in the award winning play "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg"

2004

Starred in the Broadway revival of "The Rivals"; earned a Tony nomination for her role

2006

Cast in the Broadway revival of "Butley" opposite Nathan Lane; earned a Tony award nomination