Elizabeth McGovern Wiki Biography

Elizabeth Lee McGovern was born on 18 July 1961, in Evanston, Illinois USA, and is a musician and actor, probably best known for her Academy Award nominated performance in the film “Ragtime” in which she played Evelyn Nesbit. She was also part of the series “Downtown Abbey” playing Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham. All of her efforts have helped put her net worth to where it is today.

How rich is Elizabeth McGovern? As of early-2017, sources inform us of a net worth that is at $4 million, mostly earned through a successful career in acting, including being nominated for an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for her performance in “Downtown Abbey”. As she continues her career, it is expected that her wealth will increase.

Elizabeth McGovern Net Worth $4 million

During the play “The Skin of Our Teeth”, an agent saw Elizabeth’s performance and recommended that she take acting lessons. She attended the American Conservatory Theater and later went to The Julliard School in New York City, where in 1980 while still studying, she was offered a part in the film “Ordinary People”, playing the girlfriend of Timothy Hutton’s character. After finishing her education, she appeared in several off-Broadway plays, and the following year she became part of “Ragtime”, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Her net worth was well established.

In 1984 McGovern starred in the film “Once Upon a Time in America” as the love interest of Robert De Niro, and was then cast in two more lead roles in “Racing with the Moon” starring Sean Penn and the comedy “Lovesick” appearing as a patient of a psychiatrist played by Dudley Moore. In 1989, she appeared in the Walter Hill film “Johnny Handsome” which starred Mickey Rourke, and later in the year became part of “The Handmaid’s Tale” as a rebellious lesbian. Her next project would be the romantic comedy “She’s Having a Baby”, co-starring with Kevin Bacon, followed by a part in the thriller “The Bedroom Window”, before teaming up with Michael Caine in “A Shock to the System”, and in 1994 starring in “The Favor” alongside Brad Pitt, and would also appear in 20 more films during the 2000s.

For her television projects, she made an appearance in the 2006 episode of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”. Other projects she has been part of include “Tales from the Crypt”, “The Changeling”, and “Agatha Christie’s Poirot”. In 2008, she was cast in the three part series “Freezing” and would later become part of the highly acclaimed series “Downtown Abbey” which she was a part of from 2010 to 2015.

Additionally, she is also the singer-songwriter of the band Sadie and the Hotheads.

For her theatre work, she’s been a part of numerous productions, including “Painting Churches”, “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, “Three Days of Rain” and “The Shawl”, all of which contributed steadily to her net worth.

For her personal life, it is known that she was engaged to actor Sean Penn when she was 23 years old. In 1992, she married film director Simon Curtis and the couple have two daughters.



Full Name Elizabeth McGovern
Net Worth $4 Million
Date Of Birth July 18, 1961
Place Of Birth Evanston, Illinois, U.S.
Height 1.75 m
Profession Actress
Education Juilliard School, American Conservatory Theater
Nationality American
Spouse Simon Curtis
Children Matilda Curtis, Grace Curtis
Parents William Montgomery McGovern Jr., Katharine Wolcott
Siblings Cammie McGovern, William Montgomery McGovern
Twitter
IMDB
Awards Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Nominations Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television, Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Tele…
Movies Once Upon a Time in America, Ragtime, Racing with the Moon, Ordinary People, She’s Having a Baby, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding, Johnny Handsome, The Favor, Woman in Gold, The Bedroom Window, Kick-Ass, The Wings of the Dove, Clash of the Titans, Buffalo Soldiers, Angels Crest, A Shock to the Syst…
TV Shows Downton Abbey, Three Moons Over Milford, The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Freezing, If Not for You
Quote
1 I had reconciled myself to being happily out to pasture, a bit.
2 In today’s world, we all live with the burden of feeling that anything is possible if we’re only clever enough, smart enough, work hard enough.
3 It’s very tough when two creative people are together.
4 I don’t believe in villains – just people who channel their energy in the wrong way.
5 It’s peaceful for people to know how their lives are going to be, pretty much.
6 I can’t just sit around thinking how lucky I am.
7 That feeling of being 19 or 20 and ‘hot’ in Hollywood was so intense.
8 I like writing letters and receiving letters. It’s a shame that we’ve lost the art of letter-writing and saving correspondence. I mourn that.
9 Now we have to contend with overstimulation and too many opportunities all the time, and too many decisions all the time.
10 Well, I have a band, “Sadie and the Hotheads”, and we have an album that is already out that is available on our website.
11 I’ve got my private life – that’s sacred – and I didn’t have that before.
12 Well, when I moved to England I was making a lot of personal adjustments because I was getting married and starting a family, that sort of thing.
13 I have a terrible sense of direction.
14 By definition, an actor’s life is a recipe for regret. There are always roads you could have taken. But I’ve lived long enough to realize that each road has its own rewards.
15 England as a culture has endured so much more than America has as a culture, so it’s given them a different perspective.
16 My family were all into classical music, and I found that very intimidating.
17 I’ve found acting on stage much more challenging than on screen.
18 So the English approach to show business and their work is more – and this is a big generalization, I hasten to say – but it’s more, they work on it as a craft job.
19 My father was an academic, an eccentric. He was a lecturer.
20 North Hollywood isn’t actually Hollywood, it’s in the San Fernando Valley… it’s not the most glamorous part of L.A.
21 I wasn’t ecstatic about being pregnant – I wasn’t somebody who actively wanted kids. Certainly there were no fantasies about nappy-changing.
22 I miss sometimes the buzz of America. A sense that anything can change at the drop of a hat. In a way, it’s an exhausting thing to live with.
23 As far as I can see women who have facelifts don’t look younger, just weirder. You see them on screen with these tight, little porcelain faces – then the hand goes up to the face and it looks like it belongs to an alien. I find it really freaky.
24 I’ve been in things that have impressed people and they’ve come up to congratulate you but in a kind of, you-must-think-you’re-really-special way.
25 I love having the opportunity to explore a part for a great length of time, really get deeper and deeper into it, because you only have a chance to do that once or twice in a career.
26 To me, the lyrics of the song define the kind of style it is.
27 In London, I take the Tube everywhere.
28 I’m someone who’s done the opposite of whatever the received wisdom is, to keep your career going into your 50s.
29 We lack rituals in this modern world.
30 If I feel I can play a part I do everything in my power to try to play it.
31 Whenever I work on anything, there’s always the fantasy that what one is doing is the next ‘Citizen Kane’-slash-‘Sopranos.’
32 Most people grow up dreaming of going to Hollywood and some of them work and work and work and finally end up in Hollywood.
33 I still feel I’m doing the same work I’ve always done.
34 Hollywood never suited me, I didn’t ever feel comfortable with it, it took me a couple of years but I found where I was always meant to be… Chiswick!
35 I just find it fascinating, like everybody, to be in a different life. It’s an escape.
36 My job now is to work hard and learn all I can.
37 I turned down the opportunity to be in some films that went on to be blockbusters.
38 There is nothing in my life where I view myself as a 1920s person.
39 Honestly, I am always shocked when I see myself in the mirror because I feel exactly the same as I did when I was 18 getting off the plane to go to Juilliard in New York.
40 On careers other than acting: “I probably would have become a veterinarian, or I might have lived on a ranch somewhere and raised horses, or I might have become more serious about painting, or I might have worked in a Burger King.”
Fact
1 Can be seen in The Making of ‘Amadeus’ (2002), uncredited. In footage from her screen tests (in costume, apparently testing for the role of Constanze) her face has been blurred but her name can be read clearly on handwritten lists of actors that appear onscreen in a shooting log.
2 She has Scottish, English, and more distant German, ancestry.
3 Met husband-to-be Simon Curtis on Performance: Tales from Hollywood (1992), an episode of the popular BBC TV series Performance (1992), where Curtis was a producer.
4 Her band “Sadie and the Hotheads” (formed 2007) opened for Sting at the Montreux Jazz Festival Switzerland (July 16th, 2013).
5 Appeared opposite Richard Dreyfuss and David Suchet in the disastrous production of Complicit directed by Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic. [January 2009]
6 Recently appeared on British television in a situation comedy written by her husband Simon Curtis. [February 2008]
7 Is appearing in the British series “Downton Abbey” which is presently showing on PBS in the USA. [January 2011]
8 Now lives in England, UK [April 2006]
9 Counts Henry James and Edith Wharton among her favorite authors.
10 Has two daughters named Matilda (b. July 1993) and Grace Curtis (b. 1998).
11 Daughter of Katie and Bill McGovern.
12 Has lived in West London (UK) since 1992.
13 Sings and plays guitar in her own band “Sadie and the Hotheads”.
14 Has a brother, William Montgomery McGovern, “Monty” who is a professor of mathematics.
15 Was engaged to Sean Penn after falling in love on the set of Racing with the Moon (1984).
16 As a young actress on the New York stage, McGovern was required in one play to pray over some candles that were set on a bed. Realizing that the bed had caught fire halfway through her monologue, McGovern kept talking while trying to pat out the flames. She thought she had the situation pretty well under control, when firefighters suddenly arrived onstage to clear the theater.
17 Dropped out of college when she was studying acting at The Juilliard School in order to accept the ingénue role in Ordinary People (1980).
18 Her younger sister Cammie McGovern is a novelist, whose latest novel [2006] is “Eye Contact.”

Actress

Title Year Status Character
The Commuter 2017 post-production
Showing Roots 2016 Shirley
Downton Abbey 2010-2015 TV Series Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham
Swung 2015 Dolly
Woman in Gold 2015 Judge Florence Cooper
Unexpected 2015 Carolyn
Text Santa 2014 2014 TV Movie Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham
Civil War: The Untold Story 2014 TV Mini-Series documentary Narrator (voice)
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding 2012 Mrs Thatcham
Wallis Simpson: The Secret Letters 2011 TV Movie Wallis Simpson (voice)
Angels Crest 2011 Jane
Clash of the Titans 2010 Marmara
Kick-Ass 2010 Mrs. Lizewski
10 Minute Tales 2009 TV Series Ex Wife
Freezing 2008-2009 TV Series Elizabeth
Agatha Christie’s Poirot 2008 TV Series Dame Celia Westholme
Inconceivable 2008 Tallulah ‘Tutu’ Williams
A Room with a View 2007 TV Movie Mrs. Honeychurch
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 2007 TV Series Dr. Faith Sutton
Daphne 2007 TV Movie Ellen Doubleday
Three Moons Over Milford 2006 TV Series Laura Davis
The Truth 2006 Donna
The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire 2003 TV Series Helen Shaw
Thursday the 12th 2003 TV Movie Candice Hopper
Buffalo Soldiers 2001 Mrs. Berman
Hawk 2001 TV Movie Susie Hawkins
Table 12 2001 TV Series Mel
The Flamingo Rising 2001 TV Movie Edna Lee
The House of Mirth 2000 Mrs. Carry Fisher
Manila 2000 Elizabeth
The Scarlet Pimpernel 1999 TV Series Lady Marguerite Blakeney
Twice Upon a Yesterday 1998 Diane
The Misadventures of Margaret 1998 Till Turner
Clover 1997 TV Movie Sara Kate
The Wings of the Dove 1997 Susan
The Summer of Ben Tyler 1996 TV Movie Celia Rayburn
Broken Glass 1996 TV Movie Margaret Hyman
Tales from the Crypt 1996 TV Series Laura Kendall
Tracey Takes On… 1996 TV Series Judge Loring
If Not for You 1995 TV Series Jessie Kent
Broken Trust 1995 TV Movie Janice Dillon
Wings of Courage 1995 Noëlle
The Favor 1994 Emily Embrey
Performance 1992-1993 TV Series Beatrice-Joanna Helen Schwartz
Me and Veronica 1993 Fanny
King of the Hill 1993 Lydia
Ashenden 1991 TV Mini-Series Aileen Somerville
Women and Men: Stories of Seduction 1990 TV Movie Vicki
Tune in Tomorrow… 1990 Elena Quince
A Shock to the System 1990 Stella Anderson
The Handmaid’s Tale 1990 Moira
Johnny Handsome 1989 Donna McCarty
She’s Having a Baby 1988 Kristy Briggs
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam 1987 TV Movie documentary Me (voice)
The Bedroom Window 1987 Denise
Native Son 1986 Mary Dalton
Faerie Tale Theatre 1984 TV Series Snow White
Racing with the Moon 1984 Caddie Winger
Once Upon a Time in America 1984 Deborah Gelly
Lovesick 1983 Chloe Allen
Ragtime 1981 Evelyn Nesbit
Last Year’s Model 1980 Short
Ordinary People 1980 Jeannine
California Fever 1979 TV Series Lisa Bannister

Writer

Title Year Status Character
Inconceivable 2008 devised in collaboration with – as Elizabeth Mcgovern

Soundtrack

Title Year Status Character
Angels Crest 2011 writer: “One Thing Leads To Another”

Thanks

Title Year Status Character
Teen Knight 1999 special thanks

Self

Title Year Status Character
Our Queen at Ninety 2016 TV Movie documentary Herself – Narrator (US version) (voice)
Million Dollar American Princesses 2015-2016 TV Mini-Series Herself
Live with Kelly and Michael 2015 TV Series Herself – Guest
PBS NewsHour 2015 TV Series Herself
The Talk 2015 TV Series Herself
The Chew 2015 TV Series Herself
Good Morning America 1990-2015 TV Series Herself – Guest
BBC News 8pm Summary 2015 TV Series short Herself
The Making of Woman in Gold 2015 Video documentary short Herself / Judge Florence Cooper
The Kumars 2014 TV Series Herself
Tavis Smiley 2013 TV Series Herself – Guest
Cheerful Weather for the Wedding: Behind the Scenes 2013 Video documentary short Herself / Mrs Thatcham
Loose Women 2013 TV Series Herself
Arena 2012 TV Series documentary Herself – Narrator
Charlie Rose 2012 TV Series Herself – Guest
Skavlan 2012 TV Series Herself – Guest
Sunday Brunch 2012 TV Series Herself – Guest
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Shirley MacLaine 2012 TV Movie Herself
The 69th Annual Golden Globe Awards 2012 TV Special Herself – Nominee: Best Actress in a Mini-Series or TV-Movie
Downton Abbey: Behind the Drama 2011 TV Movie Herself
The 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards 2011 TV Special Herself – Nominated: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Daybreak 2011 TV Series Herself
My Life in Books 2011 TV Series Herself
The Graham Norton Show 2010 TV Series Herself – Guest
Frostrup on Sunday 1999 TV Series Herself
Late Night with Conan O’Brien 1994 TV Series Herself – Guest
The 62nd Annual Academy Awards 1990 TV Special Herself – Presenter: Best Makeup
Today 1985 TV Series Herself – Guest
Working in the Theatre 1985 TV Series documentary Herself
The 55th Annual Academy Awards 1983 TV Special Herself – Co-Presenter: Best Visual Effects

Archive Footage

Title Year Status Character
Downton Abbey Revisited 2012 TV Movie documentary Cora Crawley, Countess of Grantham
OK! TV 2011 TV Series documentary Cora, Countess of Grantham
Remembering ‘Ragtime’ 2004 Video documentary short Evelyn Nesbit (uncredited)
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson 1990 TV Series Elena Quince from film TUNE IN TOMORROW…

Won Awards

Year Award Ceremony Nomination Movie
2016 Actor Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey (2010)
2015 Actor Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey (2010)
2013 Actor Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey (2010)

Nominated Awards

Year Award Ceremony Nomination Movie
2015 BAFTA Scotland Award BAFTA Awards, Scotland Best Actress – Film Swung (2015)
2014 Actor Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Downton Abbey (2010)
2012 Golden Globe Golden Globes, USA Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Downton Abbey (2010)
2012 OFTA Television Award Online Film & Television Association Best Actress in a Drama Series Downton Abbey (2010)
2011 Primetime Emmy Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Downton Abbey (2010)
2011 Gold Derby TV Award Gold Derby Awards TV Movie/Mini Lead Actress Downton Abbey (2010)
2011 OFTA Television Award Online Film & Television Association Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries Downton Abbey (2010)
2011 Satellite Award Satellite Awards Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television Downton Abbey (2010)
2011 WIN Award Women’s Image Network Awards Actress Made For TV Movie / Mini Series Downton Abbey (2010)
1993 CableACE CableACE Awards Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries Ashenden (1991)
1991 CableACE CableACE Awards Actress in a Movie or Miniseries Women and Men: Stories of Seduction (1990)
1982 Oscar Academy Awards, USA Best Actress in a Supporting Role Ragtime (1981)
1982 Golden Globe Golden Globes, USA New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture Ragtime (1981)