Ellen Barkin Biography

Ellen Barkin is probably best known for her steamy roles opposite Dennis Quaid in The Big Easy and Al Pacino in Sea of Love. But this unconventionally beautiful actress never believed the hype about her own sex appeal.

Born in the Bronx, N.Y. to a father who was a chemical salesman and a mother who was a hospital administrator, she attended the renowned High School for the Performing Arts in New York and went on to study history and drama at Hunter College.

Barkin continued honing her craft at the famed Actors Studio and made her stage debut in 1980 in the play Irish Coffee.

Like so many actors, she got her start on television in a soap opera. Barkin landed a role on Search for Tomorrow, but continued to appear on stage.

She made the leap to feature films in 1982 playing the sole female lead in the Barry Levinson film Diner. It wasn't until 1987 though, that Barkin had her breakthrough role in The Big Easy and firmly established herself as a sex symbol.