Judy Davis was born on 23 April 1955 Perth, Western Australia, Australia. She is an Academy Award-nominated Australian actress.

First coming to prominence for her role as Sybylla Melvyn in the coming-of-age saga My Brilliant Career (1979), for which she won BAFTA Awards for Best Actress and Best Newcomer.

She starred in in the television docudrama A Woman Called Golda (1981). In 1992 she played a major role in Woody Allen's Husbands and Wives as one half of a divorcing couple. For this performance she earned an array of critics' awards as well as an Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for best supporting actress.

Later memorable Davis roles include the mysterious, schizophrenic mother of a teenager in boarding school in the well-made but little-seen On My Own (1993), the lifelong Australian Communist Party member reacting to the downfall of the Soviet Union in Children of the Revolution (1996), two more Allen films, Deconstructing Harry (1997) and Celebrity (1998), a high-strung White House Chief of Staff in Absolute Power (1997), a touching performance as a supportive mother in Swimming Upstream (2003) and colorful supporting roles in two 2006 films, The Break-Up and Marie-Antoinette.

She has been married to actor and fellow NIDA graduate Colin Friels since 1984.

Filmography

• "Masters of Science Fiction" (1 episode, 2007)
• "The Starter Wife" (2007)
• The Break-Up (2006)
• Marie Antoinette (2006)
• A Little Thing Called Murder (2006)
• The Reagans (2003)
• Swimming Upstream (2003)
• Coast to Coast (2003)
• The Man Who Sued God (2001)
• Gaudi Afternoon (2001)
• Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows (2001)
• A Cooler Climate (1999)
• Dash and Lilly (1999)
• Celebrity (1998)
• The Echo of Thunder (1998)
• Deconstructing Harry (1997)
• Absolute Power (1997)
• Blood and Wine (1996)
• Children of the Revolution (1996)
• Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story (1995)
• The New Age (1994)
• The Ref (1994)
• Dark Blood (1993)
• Husbands and Wives (1992)
• On My Own (1992)
• Naked Lunch (1991)
• One Against the Wind (1991)
• Where Angels Fear to Tread (1991)
• Barton Fink (1991)
• Impromptu (1991)
• Alice (1990)
• Flowers by Request (1990)
• Georgia (1988)
• High Tide (1987)
• Rocket to the Moon (1986)
• Kangaroo (1986)
• A Passage to India (1984)
• The Merry Wives of Windsor (1982)
• Who Dares Wins (1982)
• A Woman Called Golda (1982)
• Heatwave (1982)
• Winter of Our Dreams (1981)
• Hoodwink (1981)
• Water Under the Bridge (1980)
• My Brilliant Career (1979)
• High Rolling (1977)

Awards

• American Film Institute Award Actor of the Year - Female - Movie or Mini-Series "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" 2001
• Broadcast Film Critics Association Award Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" 2001
• Golden Globe Award Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" 2001
• Golden Satellite Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Television Movie "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" 2001
• The Actor Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" 2001
• Emmy Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie "Life With Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows" 2000 - 1
• Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress "Children of the Revolution" 1996
• Film Critics Circle of Australia Award Best Actress "Children of the Revolution" 1996
• Emmy Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special "Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story" 1994 - 95
• Australian Film Institute Award Best Supporting Actress "On My Own" 1993
• Boston Society of Film Critics Award Best Supporting Actress "Where Angels Fear to Tread" and "Husbands and Wives" 1992
• Chicago Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress "Husbands and Wives" 1992
• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award Best Supporting Actress "Husbands and Wives" 1992
• National Board of Review Award Best Supporting Actress "Husbands and Wives" 1992
• National Society of Film Critics Award Best Supporting Actress "Husbands and Wives" 1992
• Golden Globe Award Best Actress in a Made-for-Television Movie or Mini-Series "One Against the Wind" 1991
• Independent Spirit Award Best Actress "Impromptu" 1991
• New York Film Critics Circle Award Best Supporting Actress "Barton Fink" and "Naked Lunch" 1991
• National Society of Film Critics Award Best Actress "High Tide" 1988
• Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress "High Tide" 1987
• Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress "Kangaroo" 1986
• Australian Film Institute Award Best Actress "Winter of Our Dreams" 1981
• Australian Film Institute Award Best Supporting Actress "Hoodwink" 1981
• Moscow Film Festival Best Actress Award "Winter of Our Dreams" 1981
• British Film Academy Award Best Actress "My Brilliant Career" 1980
• British Film Academy Award Most Promising Newcomer "My Brilliant Career" 1980
• Australian Film and Television Award Overall Excellence "My Brilliant Career" 1979