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Biography for
Rebecca De Mornay

Page 11 of 19

Birth name
Rebecca George

Mini biography
Rebecca was born in northern California, and was raised by her mother Julie and step-father Richard De Mornay until his death when she was 5 years old. Rebecca's mother then moved her and her half-brother Peter to Europe, where she was raised primarily in England and Austria. Rebecca graduated "summa cum laude" from a German-speaking high school in the Austrian alps, and still speaks fluent German and French.

She began her acting training in Los Angeles at Lee Strasberg's Institute, became an apprentice at Francis Coppola's Zoetrope Film Studio, and soon thereafter made her film debut opposite Tom Cruise in the box office hit Risky Business (1983), in which she gave a seductive and critically-acclaimed performance as a street-wise call-girl. She went on to international stardom with her portrayal of a chillingly twisted nanny in the hugely popular Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The (1992). Other acclaimed film work includes _Runaway Train (1985)_ (with Jon Voight), Trip to Bountiful, The (1985) (with Geraldine Page), Backdraft (1991) (with Kurt Russell).

Network television work includes the tour-de-force role of Arlie in the stellar Getting Out (1994) (TV) (based on Marsha Norman's play), the tragic title character in Dominick Dunne's Inconvenient Woman, An (1991) (TV) (with Jason Robards), the remake of "Shining, The" (1997) (mini) (produced by Stephen King), a multi-episode story-arc about a cancer survivor on E.R. (1999) and Hallmark Hall of Fame's Night Ride Home (1999) (TV) (with Ellen Burstyn).

On stage, she starred as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday (1988) at the Pasadena Playhouse, as Charlotte Corday in Marat/Sade (1990) at the Williamstown Festival, and as Anna in Closer (2000) at the Mark Taper Forum.

Rebecca's directing debut was with a segment of Showtime's The Outer Limits starring John Savage and Frank Whaley. Rebecca currently resides in Los Angeles with sportscaster Patrick O'Neal, and their daughters, Sophia and Veronica.

IMDb mini-biography by

Spouse
Bruce Wagner (1989 - 1990) (divorced)
'Patrick ONeil (? - present); 2 children

Trivia
Gave birth to a daughter, Sophia, by Patrick O'Neal (Ryan's son). [1997]

Speaks German fluently.

Daughter Of TV talk show host Wally George.

Was engaged to Leonard Cohen.

Second daughter, Veronica, born in Los Angeles. [31 March 2001]

Has a half sister who was born in 1989. Rebacca has never made contact with her.

Rebecca's last name was changed as a child, when her step-father Richard De Mornay adopted her.

Rebecca attended the radically alternative English boarding school "Summerhill".

Rebecca has several half-brothers and half-sisters who she has never met.

Took her stepfather's name (De Mornay) legally at the age of 5 when he adopted her.

Granddaughter of Eugenia Clinchard

Where are they now
(11/16/1997) Daughter Sophia born. Sophia's paternal grandmother is Leigh Taylor-Young.

Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia:
Attractive blond leading lady who has eschewed typical ingenue roles in favor of more colorful-and sometimes provocativecharacters. Unfortunately, the finished films don't always justify her choice of parts, though her second-billed role in the 1992 hit The Hand That Rocks the Cradle in which she played a psychotic nanny, gave her stock a definite boost. Californiaborn but educated in Europe, De Mornay studied acting at Lee Strasberg's Actors' Studio before making her film debut with a bit part in Francis Ford Coppola's One From the Heart (1982). She first raised eyebrows as the feisty hooker in Risky Business (1983), then won good reviews for a completely different characterization in The Trip to Bountiful (1985). Her sexually charged performance in Roger Vadim's 1987 Americanized remake of his own And God Created Woman went for naught; the highly touted film bombed. Nonetheless, she deserves credit for sticking to her avowed policy of playing "interesting" modern women.

Pleased with her success in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle Touchstone Pictures top-lined her opposite Don Johnson in a 1993 thriller, Guilty as Sin She was also chosen to play Milady de Winter in The Three Musketeers (1993).

OTHER FILMS INCLUDE: 1983: Testament 1985: The Slugger's Wife, Runaway Train 1986: The Murders in the Rue Morgue (a telefilm); 1987: Crack, Beauty and the Beast (the latter a made-for-video production); 1988: Feds 1989: Dealers 1990: By Dawn's Early Light, Grand Tour (both telefilms); 1991: Backdraft

Copyright © 1994 Leonard Maltin, used by arrangement with Signet, a division of Penguin Putnam, Inc.